Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ST CROIX IN…
One Day
Ramble over cannon-dotted ramparts at
Fort Christiansvaern
and explore Christi-
ansted's historic downtown district. If you have a car, drive out to
Point Udall
, the
easternmost spot in the US, and hike down to secluded
Isaac and Jack Bays
to
snorkel or lounge. If you're without wheels head to the beach at
Protestant Cay
, a
stone's throw from downtown. Have drinks at the
Comanche Mill Yacht-less Club
,
an old windmill turned gin mill on the boardwalk. At dusk, paddle through the glow-
ing water at
Salt River Bay
in a see-through kayak.
Two Days
Motor west to sip at the
Cruzan Rum Distillery
, sniff local herbs at the
St George
Village Botanical Garden
, and time warp to the sugar cane days at
Estate Whim
Plantation Museum
. Follow it all up with snorkel around the pier in
Frederiksted
.
Or stay on the island's east side and sail out on day trip to beautiful
Buck Island
marine sanctuary.
When England's Parliament abolished slavery in 1834, the freeing of slaves in the British
Caribbean colonies provoked cries for freedom in the Danish islands. The 1848 slave re-
bellion followed, leading to freedom for all slaves on St Croix and the other Danish Virgin
Islands.
After the US bought the islands in 1917, it tried to revive St Croix's sugarcane planta-
tions by importing laborers and merchants from Puerto Rico. A Puerto Rican community
took root around Frederiksted, but the tired one-crop economy withered. Enter tax incent-
ives and the Hovensa oil refinery, which is now one of the world's largest processors.
In 1989 Hurricane Hugo damaged or destroyed about 90% of island structures and left
more than one-third of the population homeless. Since then, St Croix has weathered attacks
from equally vicious Hurricanes Marilyn (1995) and Lenny (1999).
More than half of the island's residents are the descendants of former slaves; about 30%
are second- or third-generation immigrants from Puerto Rico; and quite a few are young
white Americans who come to run restaurants, inns and sports operations.
