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Hi guys!
My first trip to St. Croix was at the end of August/beginning Sept. What a wonderful place to go for R&R and hot sun! (The rates are a little cheaper too, since it's the off season.)
As a lesbian travelling alone, I wanted to find a Caribbean island where I wouldn't be hassled, with gay/lesbian friendly accommodations. I found this at Sand Castle on the Beach in Fredriksted.
The small resort (about 30 rooms) had gay/lesbian guests attending a commitment ceremony, and various gay and lesbian couples as well as a straight elderly couple who had been coming for 30 years! Everyone -the guests, and the owners, Simone and Cheryl, Irma at the front desk and Robert, the maintenance man were friendly.
My cheapie room had a kitchenette, a/c, a tv/vcr and basic cable and batrhoom. I was completely content.
Snorkel equipment can be rented for $5 at the front desk during your stay. There is excellent snorkeling just off the beach in front of the resort. I went to Buck Island and didn't see half of what I saw in Fredriksted! An additional treat is watching local horseowners exercise their horses in the ocean.
Continental breakfast is included, and you can enjoy your coffee/bagels/toast on the patio in front of the ocean. The Beach Side cafe has reasonable and delicious lunches, and slightly pricey but wonderful dinners. (The sunsets are not to be missed.)
Ask Robert to cut you down a green coconut so you can drink the water and eat the meat. Sometimes a talented woodcarver/palm weaver comes by to make custom-fitted hats, birds and baskets from green palm leaves. It's like origami in 3-D!
The pool near the beach is great, and the one in the back is clothing-optional. Unfortunately it was under maintenance while I was there.
Should it rain, you can borrow VHS tapes or books from the front desk.
If you're going cheap, you can manage w/o a car, but a car makes things easier.
Walking to town (20 mins) is fine during the day, but don't do it at night. You can ask the front desk to call a taxi.
If you'd like to get to Christiansted cheaply (a private taxi will cost you $20), you can take the local $2 shuttle taxi. There are pickup spots along the main street in Fredriksted and by the Customhouse in Christensted. It'll take you an hour to get there instead of a half-hour, but you'll get to see local attractions like Cost-U-Less (cheap duty free liquor!). Make sure to say "Good morning" to the driver and the other passengers.
I highly recommend Sweeney's bus tour ($38 p. person). Sweeney drives a safari bus that looks like a KFC box on wheels. Tours of the Cruzan rum factory, Whim Plantation, Botanical Gardens are included. Lunch is at Turtle's Deli in Fredriksted and you'll drive past the rainforest, Carambola resort and north shore.
Virgin Kayaks has great paddlewheel kayaks. My trip was 3/4 footpaddling and 1/4 arm paddling. Snorkeling was better at Sand Castle, though.
Big Beard's1/2 catamaran trip to Buck Island was nice, but the snorkeling was disappointing. I saw more in Fredriksted. (Hurricane Francis was on its way though.)
Massage- Don Coley at Sand Castle does wonderful spa and massage treatments. I'm a lesbian, but I felt totally safe with him. Definitely go!
Also, Villa Morales (home cooking, very inexpensive) and Le San Tropez (French, somewhat pricey) in Fredriksted have excellent food!
-Valerie
Hello Valerie,
Thank you for sharing your trip with us. I am happy to hear you found the R&R you were seeking and enjoyed St. Croix.
--Islander
Valerie -- enlighten me, Why would a lady traveling alone seek out " a gay freindly place where I won't be hassled" Are there some places where a single gay lady could not recieve the same service as anyone else ? I'm not being flippant but really don't understand why your trip report could not be just a trip report -- You were by yourself -- how could anyone be aware of your orientation ? I don't wish to pick a fight or argue but why the mention your sexuality every few sentences -- are there places that shun gay people ? ManitouDan
Why not? She was giving a trip report for information, in the same way I would identify myself as a middle-aged -- OK OLD -- person so others would know what to expect. I thought the report was great and probably very helpful.
Actually ManitouDan, Valerie mentioned being a lesbian 3 times, in the beginning when alerting us to her point of view, when describing the tenor and tone of the resort and then at the very end when summing up. That's a far cry from your statement that she "mention your sexuality every few sentences".
I think she gave a terrific report and I'm sure it's valuable information for many people.
Thanks Valerie!
Valerie
Thanks for the great trip report. I think the most important point you made was that the snorkeling along the beautiful white sand beaches on the west end is....The BEST on St Croix. Some people don't know this, and the travel industry has done little to make it attractive to to new tourists. There are "plans" for a major resort that might "revitalize" the West End. However the small friendly resorts are still the best.
You were able to see a St Croix that the average tourist does not get a chance to experience. Hope you return
stxer
Thanks for your trip report! The last time we were on St. Croix, we stayed on the Christiansted side of the Island, but drove through Fredricksted and found it to be almost a ghost town. We were also warned not to travel there after dark. Has all of this changed in the last several years? I certainly hope so, as we would like to return to STX at some future date and fully explore the Island.
I hope Ivan wasn't terrible to STX.........
Valerie,
What an excellent trip report!
My husband and I stayed at Sand Castle for the few weeks between our move to St. Croix and the date we closed on our new house. You couldn't have painted a better picture of Sand Castle and the wonderful people there. Robert, the man who knows everything there is to know about plants, has a special place in my heart . Did you happen to get to taste the passionfruit juice he makes from the fruit growing around the archway over the ramp up to the cafe? The crop was just starting out when we were there, and one of my favorite parts of the day was going out to check for new flowers and measure the growth of the passionfruit.
The only thing you left out is that Simone and Cheryl are very pet friendly, and are one of the few places that allow animals. We brought our three cats with us, and by the end of the stay the staff had spoiled them even more rotten than they were before we checked in.
Glad you enjoyed it is much as we did. And stxer is right -- you definitely got to see more of the St. Croix that the residents know than most travellers, and to me, that's why the smaller resorts are the only way to go.
You know, one of the reasons we moved to STX because it wasn't as large a tourist destination as STT and STJ, but you are exactly the kind of tourist we like: one who comes here to bask in the wonderful solitude and easy way of living STX offers. Please do come back anytime
HipCrip
And this end note for Manitou Dan:
If you check out their web site, Sand Castle takes great pride in marketing itself as a gay-owned, gay-friendly resort. As part of the resorts' target consumer group, Valerie's disclosure of herself as a lesbian travelling alone was more than appropriate to include in the report -- it is an essential piece of information that provides the perspective from which she was evaluating the atmosphere and ambiance of Sand Castle.
To answer your question: YES, just as there are still places where people who use wheelchairs (like me) can't get in to even try the service, and where individuals from certain races/ethnicities are not afforded the same service as "everyone else", there are also places where lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgendered individuals are denied the same standards of service or acceptance that is afforded to white, heterosexual, able-bodied individuals or couples. The hassles Valerie alluded to can range from being denied service, being ignored, or being subjected to hostile attitudes, snide comments, attempts at religious conversion (this is also a big one with people with disabilities), shunning, and even physical violence. That's why it's great that folks like Valerie help get the word out that there are places like SandCastle, where members of the gay community -- and everyone else -- are welcomed with open arms.
HC
