St. Croix Travel Forum

Why does St. Croix seem to be the least visited island? I checked out the tips on things to do and it doesn't sound so bad.

st. coix is suppose to be the most beautiful of the US virgin islands.

i guess the lack of tourists has something to do with the infrastructure.

Have been to all 3 of the US Virgin Islands - St. Thomas, St. Johns & St. Croix. St. Thomas is one of the most visited Caribbean Islands by cruise ships (maybe too many), and is the best island for shopping.

St. Johns is easy to visit because of its proximity to St. Thomas - and day trips from St. Thomas are easy and practical. It has great beaches and snorkeling - more than half of the island is a national park.

St. Croix is farther away from the other two, and not practical for a day visit. St. Croix is a pretty island, and there are the usual things to do. However, it is not considered the shopping destination that St. Thomas is and some of their resorts better days are past. In recent years, some cruise lines have stopped or limited their visits to St. Croix because of hostile incidents directed at tourists.

For a visitor who is comfortable with the Caribbean experience, it is a nice place to visit. For snorkeling and swimming, Buck Island (a mile or so offshore on the east end) is best.

JPL

Just a footnote to the previous reply (which is all accurate): St. Croix has traditionally had other means of income to support the locals for many years, and so didn't bother to develop tourism to the same extent. However, the Hovensa Refinery laid off a lot of workers when Venezuela cut way back on its exports to Hovensa, so this may be a good time to get deals on visits to St. Croix.
It does have a bad reputation for certain incidents aimed at tourists, so be careful to stick to safer areas - as you really should do on ANY Caribbean island.

We visited St Croix for 5 days 2 years ago and I think it was the best vacation I ever went on. We stayed in a cottage right on the beach that wasn't expensive at all. We also spent 2 days on St Thomas and felt it was a tourist trap. Shopping is not good on St Croix but we did manage to pick up a few things for souveniers without feeling we "bought" the island. Will be going back to St Croix but we will skip St Thomas the next time. I like the fact that they don't promote tourism there you can get good deals and have a relaxing time. We heard alot about the crime there but we only felt uncomfortable once and that was when we got lost and ended up in a bad neighborhood in Fredricksted but they have them everywhere.

We are looking at visiting St. Croix in May 2007 and are looking for a basic cottage or kitchenette room on the beach. I have just started looking for accommodations and only seem to find higher end resorts. Where did you stay?

Try this website to find a villa or condo:

www.vrbo.com

I am going to St Croix next week with 4 other people and we wanted to stay in our own home for the week rather than a resort or hotel since we are going for the SCUBA opportunities. They have everything from 1 - 8 bedroom places and in all types of budgets and most include pictures or external websites....

With all due respect to catalysta and jpl3, St. Croix has an undeserved reputation. An unfortunate incident occurred on a golf course here in 1972, when there was civil unrest throughout the nation, and it was not directed at tourists, but still comes up in articles painting St. Croix in a negative light. The cruise ship industry claimed crime against tourists and a lack of things to do prompted their withdrawal. However, as the original post and any search indicate, there is plenty to do on St. Croix, and usually in a more relaxed and less crowded atmosphere than St. Thomas, or other destinations. There were some cruise ship crew mugged a few years ago on St. Croix when they ventured into a public housing area seeking things they oughtn't. By contrast, a major cruise ship entertainer was shot dead in his hotel room, in a tourist area, on St. Thomas. Every week cruise passengers are robbed on some island or another, so the excuses don't really add up.

I've lived on both St. Thomas and St. Croix. I'm comfortable walking around Christiansted at night and have never felt threatened on St. Croix in over 5 years. On St. Thomas, going downtown during the day is like Disneyland, but without the fun rides. Instead, you're dodging people, strollers, taxis asking to take you to Magen's Bay or "back to the ship". Tourists in town at night shouldn't venture any further than the waterfront. I'm not saying St. Croix is without crime, like traveling anywhere, you should exercise caution, but it is certainly no more risk than other islands, and safer than many.

That said, we really don't want 2 dozen+ cruise ships a week like St. Thomas, but we would like to share our island paradise and hospitality with more people than are coming now. I think a primary factor in the current state of tourism was Hurricane Hugo, in 1989, and governmental neglect of infrastructure. The island was devastated and there was no focused effort to rebuild tourism and put St. Croix back on the map like there was on St. Thomas after Hurricane Marilyn in 1995. To this day there are damaged hotels and resorts, as well as historical structures in town, sitting empty. Our previous tourism commissioner, before the latest election, described St. Croix as "a dirty, crime-ridden island". Thats no way to promote or support your territory.

Despite all this, St. Croix is a beautiful place with beautiful people. You can't walk down the street without someone wishing you "Good Morning" or "Good Afternoon". When you enter a quaint jewelry shop in our picturesque historical downtown, it doesn't look like the one next door, or the next, or the next, and chances are you're speaking to someone who actually creates the jewelry you're looking at. When you go to a beach, you don't spend half your time looking for enough space to lay your towel. You're more likely to spend half your day and not see another soul, just you the sky, the sea and the sand.

Try us, you'll like us.

Thanks for the update Michael!