We will be in STX at the end of June and I am too curious about this. It's going to be hard to beat the snorkeling in STJ. Waterlemon Cay and Pelican Rock were absolutely beautiful.

There are problems with coral throughout the Caribbean. The conditions are the same around all of the USVI. There is still excellent snorkeling on STX. A co-worker spent the morning snorkeling at Tamarind Reef. She saw a ray and said the coral looked great.

Thanks for the reply. I read somewhere(maybe on this site) that one person said that the reefs were 99% dead at Buck Island! That would be horrifying not only to me as a snorkler, but to have an entire ecosystem like that die off in such a rapid manner would certainly not be a good thing for the planet.

The coral die out is happening all over the Caribbean. It appears to be worse in the USVI. Maybe because of tourist overuse and cruise boats. There are still spots on all three main islands where you can enjoy yourself. However, if you have been to some of the sights available by boat in the British virgin Islands and other places you will find the "on surface" exploration is far superior to the American Virgin Islands.

The scientist tell us it is from a combination of thermal and runoff sources. St John might still have the best snorkel sites in the USVI, but is no match for places in the BVI,or even Jamaica and the Caymans.

So, to answer your question, you will find that the coral die out on St Croix is no better or worse than St John. If you go to the West End, and Cane Bay on St Croix you can still find some nice places.

MB,
In the summer when the water gets warm, the coral "bleaches". Last summer the water was quite warm and a lot of the coral bleached. Most of it regained its color over the winter. I have not heard anything about the coral at Buck Island dying off. While I have not personally been there in a year or so, I can't imagine it not being a great trip. LindaJ & I snorkeled at Cane Bay yesterday and it was beautiful. I'm going to dive the Wall this morning. It's always gorgeous. Come on down and enjoy our island.

Ric

Lots better snorkelling in BVI and PR and elsewhere. Snorkelling on StX is very disappointing and limited.

I agree with you Jane!

Hello MB,

I snorkeled over at Buck Island St. Croix a few months ago. The area we snorkeled in, along the underwater snorkle trail, was enjoyable however I did notice the damaged coral in the area.

--Islander

The snorkel trail at Buck Island has been largely dead elkhorn coral for a long time. If you swim outside the barrier reef about 100 yards to the south immediately between Buck Island and St. Croix the reef is alive and well. We dove there a couple weeks ago and it was beautiful. Spotted Eagle Rays and everything.

There are many wonderful places to snorkel and dive on St. Croix. If you go where everyone always goes, there tends to be more damage from the overuse. If you explore a bit beyond you can find great places to explore.

Chances are that people who say that snorkeling or diving on St. Croix is lousy haven't gone beyond the few standard places that tourists are sent.

Thanks for that info. We do plan to hit a lot of different snorkeling spots while on island. In order to see the reef south of Buck Island do you need to go with a private charter? It seems that most of the usually recommended sails snorkel the underwater trail. I was underimpressed with the underwater trail at Trunk, but very impressed with the other snorkeling spots we went to on St. John, so I would hate to miss the good snorkeling at Buck just because we were restricted to just hitting the underwater trail on a daysail. Thanks

Where would you recommend snorkeling on STX? We will be there in June and like to try the not so beaten trail. In past trips to other islands, people (especially those who live there) have provided us with some really neat places that not everyone gets to see. We will surely go to Buck Island and the normally traveled spots too but we like to see it all. It took us 3 10 day trips (in 3 yrs) to feel like we REALLY saw St John. Now, we would like to give St Croix a try (or 3). Thanks for your input.

To visit any part of the Buck Island preserve and surrounding area other than the snorkel trail, you would need to go on a private boat as the tourist boats stick to the west beach and the dead reef of the snorkel trail.

Other places to snorkel include the shallower parts of the north shore reef to the west of Cane Bay, the reef off the south shore that you can access from the beach immediately to the southeast of the Salt Pond, and the reef you can get to from the beach at Jack & Isaac's beaches on the southeast corner of the island. There are some shallow reef areas at the west end also, within swimming distance from shore. The local dive shops at the west end can show you on a map where the most accessible snorkel locations would be.

There is some good snorkeling off the beach from the Carambola resort and to the east and west of the resort. Even the Buccaneer has some fun things to see in the water of their bay off the west beach. The bottom is sandy and sea grass, but there is a ledge that runs around the bay in shallow water and all kinds of stuff lives in the rocks that make up the ledge and also beneath it. I've seen squid and octopus and lobster and sea turtles and hundreds of kinds of fish right there. It's not a typical reef, but it's still a place you can see fun stuff in a place that's easy to get to.

If you have a private boat option, there are a bunch of places all along the south shore where the reef and rock piles come up to the surface of the water. They are great for getting lobsters and just for snorkeling in general. On one recent lobster dive, we got 14 lobsters in 30 minutes at one site. On another dive, we saw all kind of cool stuff, but the best was a cave beneath a ledge that had an enormous lobster inside (couldn't get to it) and also a 12-14 foot nurse shark. This was in 6 feet of water. You just have to be adventurous and willing to explore a bit. If you can find a place to rent a boat for the day, that helps, too.

Another place to check out that some people really enjoy are the tide pools west of Carambola Beach Resort at Annaly Bay. This is where the Four Seasons is talking about putting a 5-star resort. It's a good hike there and back, but not too much to handle if you don't have serious mobility issues. Some people like to dive from the cliff sides down into the tidal pools below.