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OK team
We just got home at 2am. I have committed to writing this report. I am sending this report because we had a hard time finding reports on St. Croix. I'm not much of a story teller so I will do my best.
Dates: September 21 - September 28, 2008
Teammates
Everyone in our group of 5 is a 40ish professional and a well seasoned traveler. We have been to STT (2x) as well as STJ and we were looking for something local and different.
Weather
We too got caught off guard by the weather. Driving for the first time in the rain was an adventure. We are an easy going group who enjoys a challenge so this was not an issue.
Pest
OMG. We are from the Midwest so humidity and mosquito's are usually not an issue. However, the mosquito's here work in groups and they are very good a what they do. We spent at least $75 dollars on the candle repellents. I thought we may have been special until I realized that I had a better chance of finding repellent in a C-store than finding a warm sandwich. Note: Bring the heavy duty stuff from home. You could spend a fortune here on the stuff.
Villa
We stayed at Sugar Bay House in Sugar Bay. We usually rent villas and have become spoiled over the years. This particular unit however is truly over the top. If you get an opportunity visit their website. We had 4 bedrooms for 5 people. The house has more than the basics and Vacation St. Croix and the team, make sure that all services and requests are handled professionally and expeditiously. Kudo's to Anne. She met us at the airport and waited patiently while we haggled with the Budget Rent a Car people. She even took us to the grocery store and waited the entire time while we shopped. Note: We spend 1.5 hours and spent well over $500. Talk about patient.
(another note: we looked into having our villa provisioned. However, the cost was hmm shall I say cheaper to buy it yourself)
Peter, our property manager is really a nice guy. He made every attempt to make sure we were comfortable and new about the house and the island. On two separate occasions, Peter came in the middle of the night to look at our AC and unlock one of the bedroom doors. Truly a gem of a guy.
Locals
Everyone was warm and welcoming to us. We usually get around on our own using local maps. We spent the pre-planning portion of our trip identifying local hot spots and restaurants. We like to go off the beaten path and discover new things. I won't list all the local dives but I will encourage you to turn into any of the roadside bars/restaurants and take a chance. No bad experiences here.
Tourist Stuff
*Casino Divis-clean and I did not see anyone smoking. Again the local were welcoming and even offered help on playing some of the
games. Note: I got pretty PO'ed when I noticed the floor manager disciplining an employee at one of the tables. Not cool
and not professional. That actually dampened my experience.
*Point Udell-US eastern most point. Beautiful surrounding with many beaches and cut aways along the way. Good place if you want
some privacy. We actually had a helicopter fly 150 feet away from us. Pretty cool.
*Christiansted-Lots to do here. Don't let the cosmetics derail you. Get out of the car and look around. You'll be surprised at what you will
find. Good restaurants, bookstores for everyone.
*Board walk Christiansted-Parrots Cove. Stop by and see Crabby. Don't let the name fool you. He make a ferocious margarita.
*Fredericksted-Coconuts on the Beach is to die for. On Sundays they offer BBQ. Some of the best beef brisket I have ever had.
*Grocery Stores-Plenty of places to stock up your villa. I recommend Plaza Extra. One stop shop for all your provisioning needs.
*Duggans Restaurant-Best stuffed lobster in the world. This place in right on the beach and offers 4-star dining in a quaint ocean side
environment. Don't miss this one.
Special Notes:
*Cooler-We traveled with a cooler full of meats. I know this has been discussed before but you cant beat your home town
selections and the cost of meat there is high. We also used the cooler to bring home some of the local rums.
*Clothing-You really can travel with one bag of cloths. Don't give the money to the airline. Save it for tipping the locals.
*Car Rentals-Make absolutely sure you get as much of the sand out of your rental. Some agencies charge for the extra clean-up.
*Departure-I can't stress enough the importance of arriving at least 2 hours minimum when returning home. You will need every minute.
Remember, island time is not our time.
*Rush Hour-Don't mistake your rush hour for the island rush hour. Driving on the left does not compare to the congestion this place
sees after 4pm. Plan ahead.
*Off Season-Call ahead to ensure that they are open. Many boat rentals and other restaurants were closed during our stay. Also, many
of the places we dined at had limited choices. No issue though. Just order something else.
All in all, I think St. Croix may have been the best experience out of the three islands. The pace is much slower and the people seem a little warmer. We have already started the countdown to our next experience.
Feel free to shoot me your questions. Hopefully this will help others considering travel to STX.
T-minus 364 and counting.
Great Report. I'm so glad you and your friends enjoyed St. Croix. It's really a best kept secret. It's our favorite island. Hope to see you back soon.
YAY!!! Another convert. We love it, too, and also rent from VSTX!
Thanks for the STX report. Sugar Bay House is indeed a great property. We toured the villa when we were on island this year and got to meet Pete - he called himself the "proprietary manager" but he stays in his apartment unless you need him. He's a great caretaker. The day we were there he was preparing for an arrival - he likes things just so. How did you like Columbus Landing Beach? The day we were there this past trip there was quite a bit of wave action and I wondered about the snorkeling. Agree about Marti Gotts' staff at Vacation St. Croix - great group!
Margy
Columbus Landing was incredible. We stopped several times and ended our trip there with a champagne toast. Absolutely beautiful. I would like to upload some pictures but don't know exactly how. Any help?
I like PhotoBucket the best - sign up for a free account and start a bulk upload into an album. You can post the link to just that album. To post individual pictures in a message, just click on the IMGcode - it will copy automatically, then paste that code here into your message. Here's a photo I took of Columbus Landing Beach - like I said, it was pretty churned up that day, but still beautiful:
It's interesting how the photos come out on different boards - on VIOL the same picture will be 3-4X the size
I haven't been to St. Croix....yet....so I hope someone who's been there or who lives there can answer a question. Why do I never see pictures of people swimming at St. Croix beaches? They always look lovely and inviting, but I never see anyone in the water. Is it just that the photographers are shooting photos of the beach, being careful not to include the swimmers?
Thanks!
It may be that the photographers are trying to avoid people. But that's true of any beach picture. Just take a look at the September calendar/wallpaper.
It may be that the photographers are trying to avoid people. But that's true of any beach picture. Just take a look at the September calendar/wallpaper.
I figure as much. I know people swim in the waters off St. Thomas and St. John because I do and see all the other bathers. Probably most of those in the water are tourists. With St. Croix having fewer guests, there are probably beaches that are a lot less crowded. To me, the surf in many of the St. Croix beaches is different from the surf on the other two islands. I really like the looks of the beach in Margy's picture. I will definitely have to check it out. I'm very anxious to get to St. Croix. One of these days.
Thanks for the trip report, dl7005. I enjoyed reading it.
Great trip report dl7005. Thanks for sharing. Glad you had a terrific time.
Gerie - photographers avoiding people when taking the picture is part of it, also think in general cruise ships play a big part. Fewer people on the popular beaches means fewer people to possibly get in a picture. Take a beach picture on Magens/St. Thomas on a no ship weekday and take one on a 3 or 4 ship day and there is a big difference. Same thing for some beaches on St. John, and on St. Croix too. Its been a while but the beaches in Frederiksted look different on a day with a ship in port than they do when there aren't, lots more people!
Also, there are some beaches that are not all that popular with visitors, whether on a cruise or staying on island. In those cases regardless of number of ships in port or high/low season, you wouldn't have luck taking a photo and having people in it. Exception being Sundays & holidays, when residents are off from work; a few of the normally sparsely populated beaches get busy on those days.
And there are some beaches that aren't popular with visitors or residents. If you wanted people in pictures of those beaches you'd have to try photoshop. 😀
--Islander
It may be that the photographers are trying to avoid people. But that's true of any beach picture. Just take a look at the September calendar/wallpaper.
From a commercial point of view, having people in your photos makes them much more difficult to sell.
From a personal point of view, people in the photos is distraction unless it is family/friends.
Notahippie, now that we're older (major clearing of the throat and a deep grateful sigh that I am still alive in spite of my 'shoot out the lights' and 'no fear' mentality that I was able to muster much more often when I was a few years younger - smile), a friend of mine told me last year that when I take a picture I should remember "HARD bodies or NO bodies". I don't really LIKE that phrase but......well,....maybe they have a point.
