The fam and I are contemplating vacation spots, and one of the places that keeps coming up is the Virgin Islands. St Croix seems pretty nice, and not having much else to go on, I’ve started looking at places there on VRBO/AirBnb. Obviously, the north side is the place to be, but can anyone recommend specific neighborhoods? I’m considering Pyramid Point, which is obviously a dream vacation spot but is very very pricey. I’m just not sure it’s worth it, so I’m looking around for stuff that’s comparable, location-wise, but maybe not quite so extravagant.
A relative of mine went to St. Croix recently and hated it. The level of poverty and the difference between the “haves” and “have nots” was a little to great for him.
We went there last March for our honeymoon. We stayed at Arawak Bay Inn at Salt River. It’s a BNB and the owners are amazing. Jennifer met us at the airport to guide us back to the hotel. When we checked in, we found fresh flowers and champagne on ice waiting for us!
Due to a slight scheduling snafu, they were overbooked when we first arrived on the island so the owners made arrangements for us to stay at the Cane Bay dive cottages for our first 3 days.
It was a wonderful trip, but I will warn you: Not a single person on that island can read a map!
Also, although there are signs telling you to drive on the left, and reminder stickers on the window of your rental car, islanders drive straight up the middle.
St. Croix is like a second home to me. Keep in mind that it is a rather quiet and working island. Much of it is rural and you can almost always have whole beaches to yourself if you want. That is a good thing to me but it is a little too quiet for some even though there are examples of all the typical tourist activities if you know where to look. If you want a more tourist oriented island with hustle and bustle, look to St. Thomas for that.
My favorite resort on the island is The Buccaneer. It is an old-school resort with a golf course, restaurant, great private beach and great bar with live entertainment some nights but it tends to be fairly quiet most of the time as well.
Please note that you will need a car on St. Croix. It is the largest of the U.S. Virgin Islands and many things you will want to see are quite far apart. Public transportation outside of the two towns on the island doesn’t really exist and taxis aren’t common either.
That isn’t really a far criticism of St. Croix in particular. The vast majority of the Caribbean is like that once you get away from the resorts and the carefully maintained facades of the more touristy islands. The biggest difference is that St. Croix is a working island as well as a tourist destination so it is easier to see the how poor many of the natives are (not all of them, they have plenty of middle-class locals too as well as rich people). Still, I have never had a bad experience with it. I like shopping in the same businesses like grocery stores that the natives do. I have even been been invited to ‘black locals only’ beach parties even though I obviously am not one that were great fun. It is something I don’t see at home and they have always been nice to me.