Harry,
Carambola ia beautiful hotel located close to the rain forest. The only place to enter the water is at the far left (west) end of the beach. They have a bad sea urchin problem. If you snorkel, after you enter the water, go further left. There is a lot of really neat sea life there. You should rent a car. Carambola is pretty far from everything and taxi's can get expensive. As far a restaurants, a visit to Off the Wall is a must. It's on the same road as the hotel. A little further down the same road is Bogey's. It's pretty good. There's a new place at Cane Bay beach. I can't remember the name of it nor have I been there. There are many, many other fine restaurants on the island and I'm sure others on this board will let you know what they are. I just gave you the closest ones to the hotel. Hope you enjoy your stay.

Ric

BTW, the last scene in the movie Trading Places (Eddie Murphy & Dan Akroyd) is shot on Davis Bay/Carambola Beach. It's a great place and especially for body surfing if you're into it. Definitely need a car. Plenty of places on St. Croix. Besides the obvious, make sure you see a Quadrille Dance at Whim Greathouse, St. George's Botanical Gardens, ...etc.

harry-

there are a ton of things to do on st croix! many people believe that this island is boring and uneventful. well, that's true if you're a local or a tourist that is truely NOT looking for something to do.

where to start???

shopping in christiansted. the usvi is a duty free port, so you can buy up jewelry, booze, and local made goods for cheap prices. christiansted is the place to go on island for quite a bit of shopping in a concentrated area (nothing like charlotte amalie, but that's find by me. keep this island quiet. 😉 heheh)

food/dining - it's everywhere. both christiansted (c'sted) and frederiksted (f'sted) have plenty of restaurants to choose from. you can choose from all walks of life - steak and potato or local dishes. your choice. some of my fav's are tutto benne, rum runners, brew pub's steak and ale night (mondays), breezez, h20, cormorant, bacchus, savant (all in or near c'sted), changes in l'attitude, turtle's deli, sunset grill, napolean's pizza, lost dog pub, st tropez, cayote cafe, the blue moon (re-opening soon), and tropical java (all in f'sted). i'm sure i've missed quite a few. those do not include north shore's options, such as off the wall, lobster reef, the new place on the beach (don't know the name), bogey's, waves at cane bay, and carambola. there are also some out east end, which i don't visit very often because of the "long drive." some of those are cheeseburger's, divi, along with others that i forget the name of. like i said, there's a ton. that doesn't include any of the local spots. my fav local food is at the west end grill in f'sted. amy serves it up wonderfully. there are many others that i just can't remember to list. too much to choose from. 🙂 but how can there really be too much food to choose from?

other activities-
my fav activity is scuba diving. i have a personal preferance of dive shops (scubawest), but that's just me. there are others as well. check out http://www.diversevirgin.com to see those. they have made a co-op agreement to come together and promote st croix as a diving destination. a miracle considering most businesses in the same industry are using cut-throat antics to weed out the 'other guy.'

horseback riding. paul and jill's is the place to go. http://www.paulandjills.com . a great little excursion to not only ride, but to learn a little bit about st croix's history and vegetation. tell them kendra sent you (they know her better then me.)

historical tours. check out the whim plantation and the lawaetz museum. also don't forget about the 2 forts. i'm sure there's others i'm forgetting to mention also. oh, and the st george botanical garden to check out some ruins and a beautiful garden as well.

rum factory. learn how the world's #1 rum is made. take a tour of the factory and then enjoy a free drink at the end of it. it's a great tour and it only cost a couple bucks.

DON'T MISS!!! beer drinking pigs. go to the domino club in the rain forest. norma will be happy to let you in to see the beer drinking pigs. it's something you definitely don't want to miss. after you're done quenching the pigs' thirst, quench your own with norma's mama wanna. it's a special home mix that goes down smooth with a powerful punch.

other events. we have jump ups, starving artist events, live music every day of the week, mango melee (that was earlier this month), the tast of st croix, along with many others. just check the st croix avis (newspaper) when you get down here (or ask a local) to see what's happening.

if that's not enough for you, go lounge on the beach. or try some kiteboarding lessons with cruzan kites.

i know i'm forgetting to mention a lot more... but there's a little taste of what there is to do and see while on the big island.

-adam

I agree with everything Adam has said, so I won't post my own list - it would be redundant. I will suggest that you check out the following sites for restaurant information (as well as other stuff):

http://www.stcroixscuba.com/restaurants.htm
http://www.print2webcorp.com/news/virginislands-sc/splash.asp

To get a feeling for the island, and to get to a lot of the places Adam has mentioned, try Sweeny's Safari Tours http://www.gotostcroix.com/safaritours/ He is a great guy!! If you are interested in an off-road adventure contact Wave Phillips at Tan Tan Tours - he doesn't have a web site and I don't have his card with me at the moment, but he's gaining quite a reputation so he shouldn't be hard to track down.

Don't forget to go to Buck Island! Check out www.bigbeards.com/index.html

Thanks to all of you for the great suggestions. I will try all of the suggestions.We will be there for 15 days at the end of August. It sounds like a wonderful place to relax and learn a little history. Thanks again!

The new little bar on the beach at Cane Bay is called SpratNet

Also for horseback riding at Cane Bay, call "Cowboy Steve". He's an ex-Catholic Priest from Ireland and a heck of a neat guy. You can get his phone number at Off The Wall when you stop in for lunch. He does morning, afternoon and sunset rides along the beach and the ridgetops.

For SCUBA, call N2TheBlue. I'd take you diving myself (I'm a PADI Instructor) but I don't always have time if I'm busy showing condos and houses to future St. Croix residents who just can't get enough of the island and have to buy their own personal piece of Paradise to come back to. Derek at N2TheBlue will take great care of you, though.

You'll love Carambola resort. It's a beautiful location. It seems remote to some, but it's a lot more special than sitting in a hotel room downtown. Part of the experience is driving around the island and seeing as much as you can. Just be careful driving on the left in the dark after a few Cruzan rum drinks!

Have a great trip.

Gotta give a plug for the West End....and a few new websites:

www.bluemoonstcroix.com - Blue Moon has live Jazz Fridays and Wednesdays
www.liminatrainbowbeach.com - One of the best beaches around, great beach food and rum
www.westendgrillvi.com - Great Local Food
www.turtlesdeli.com - Great Sandwiches