Welcome to Day 5 of our trip to St. Croix! Just getting caught up on our series of things to do on St Croix?
Our custom itinerary (see how we designed it here)
DAY1 – Fly to St. Croix, p/u rental car, stop at Captain Morgan Distillery, check in at Airbnb, free evening
DAY2 – Cane Bay and The Wall
DAY3 – Protestant Cay, downtown Christiansted/boardwalk
DAY4 – Sunrise @ Point Udall, Hike Jack & Isaac Bay (snorkeling)
****DAY5 – Tide Pools @ Annaly Bay****
DAY6 – Northwest/West end of the island: Ham’s Bluff Light, Rainbow Beach, Frederiksted, sunset
DAY7 – Buck Island (TBD)
DAY8 – Cruzan Rum Distillery, d/o rental car, fly home
We wake up to overcast skies this morning, but far from discouraged. Today, we are off to check out the Tide Pools at Annaly Bay! We pack up the car and hit the road. As we make our way out of the neighborhood, we make the realization that squirrels aren’t really a thing here. In fact, the street crossing critters here that you have to keep an eye out for are mongoose. We were never able to snap a photo in time of course but here is what a mongoose looks like for those of you who are unfamiliar. They range in size, getting up to about a large house cat in size, are diurnal and carnivorous.
Tide Pools Here We Come
We find ourselves winding along North Shore Road again, passing Cane Bay and driving into the Renaissance Carambola Resort. This part of the trek is deceiving as we take a left immediately before the guard shack, up a dilapidated road to the second parking lot at the top of the hill. The tide pools are approximately a two-mile hike through the rainforest. We gear up accordingly with drinking water and snacks. From the parking lot, we head up the paved hill a couple hundred feet and look to the right to find a little wooden sign indicating the trail entrance. As we begin to make our way through the thicket, it’s evident St. Croix is the traveling naturalist’s paradise. Hermit crabs pepper this trail, millipedes (pictured below) are plentiful and there are thorny trees to mind along the narrower parts of the path. Skitters can be heard through the shrubs as you walk along and lizards clear the way. They sure are tricky to spot!
The trail has a sinuous vibe as well as several inclines and declines. We’d call it a medium skill level hike. Before you know if, crashing waves along the beach come in and out of ear shot. And the views of the north coast from altitude along the way are stunning! We also come across a couple massive termite nests on the hike (pictured above). The trail spits us out onto a dirt road where we hang a right to make the home stretch down to a pebbly beach. We are back at sea level and ready to check out these tide pools! But not before a short boulder around the cliff face at the left end of the beach.
Entering the Tide Pools
Phil starts to carefully make his way along the rocks, cautious not to slip. It’s important to reiterate the caution that should be exercised at this stage of the hike. We make our way over the rock wall to find (insert angelic background music and singing) the magical Annaly Bay Tide Pools!!
St. Croix Travel Tip: It’s important to keep ocean conditions in mind when making your trip down to the tide pools. You’ll want to head down around low tide and when the seas forecast max’s out at a couple feet, so as to minimize slippery rocks and therefore improve the safety of your rock scaling adventure!
There are a couple people basking in the teal waters we are presented with, as incoming waves cascade over the rocks and form several waterfalls. The pool varies in depth and there’s even a spot deep enough to jump in off the surrounding rocks. As far as wildlife goes, there are tiny tropical fishes and beautifully shelled snails scattered around the pool. We have heard that there are several tide pools here (though this main one is pretty excellent!) so we continue on our way to investigate.
To the west you’ll see a second tide pool with a low tunnel running out to sea, through which water rushes in and out as the tide continues to recede. The rock formations here are stunning and we continue to explore. Unfortunately, the waves are too strong to venture much past the second pool, so we return to the first, main pool. We hang out a little while longer, chatting with other floaters before heading back to the car.
Carambola
As we make our way back towards the resort, we cross paths with only a few other folks enroute to the tide pools. Suddenly it begins to rain. Luckily the trees along the trail provide a reasonable amount of shelter. During a conversation with a couple folks at the tide pool, we discover there is another entry point immediately on the Carambola Resort grounds. Carambola is the local word for starfruit. We decide to explore this alternative path. It spits us out near the tennis courts, and we make our way through the winding resort streets back towards the car. The resort spans along the beach and looks like it could be a great place to stay. Some of the roofs are still tarp covered and the outdoor pool has seen better days in Maria’s wake. As we make our way along a passionflower lined path, it begins to pour. We jump into the car in the nick of time.
West Bound
We wait for the weather to pass and change out of our wet clothes before continuing to look for things to do on St Croix. Frederiksted is next on our radar but getting there becomes a whole other feat. As we mentioned previously, Google maps ‘works’ on the island, enough to access the map, but not enough to show you exactly where you are. So, we use it to try to navigate from the North Shore to the West Coast along what appear to be roads, aka the ‘Scenic Road’. Our Jeep has 4×4, as most of these ‘roads’ range from asphalt to dirt to semi visible tire tracks to completely grass covered! We finally reach a point where we decide to turn around as the continuing rain has made some of the mud patches questionable to pass., so we make our way back to paved roads. Along this drive we encounter more patches of Jurassic park-esque scenery and pull over at a damn.
Heading southwest towards Frederiksted, the water looks BEAUTIFUL and we’re faced with more street side beaches. More devastation becomes prevalent along the drive as we creep into town. It’s past lunch now and we are hungry as we wander the streets looking for a place to grab a bite. Undecided, we swing into the local dive shop to ask about the snorkeling conditions. Here we learn about ‘chaney’, the term locally used to describe the pieces of china or pottery that can be found along the ocean bottom on St. Croix’s coast. The shop’s team recommends we check out ‘the yellow building on the corner’ as they serve up some ‘really good [local] vegan options’.
Kallaloo & Fungi
The yellow building is the UCA Kitchen and Rastafarian Cultural Center. We are drawn in by the smell of grilling food as smoke billows out the back door. The chef is cooking mushroom and tofu kabobs, coated in her homemade BBQ sauce. The food looks delightful! Exactly what we’ve been looking for – true, crucian cuisine! We are warmly greeted by the staff and presented with the menu by which we are immediately overwhelmed. They have so many local food items available. We go off the hostess’ recommendation ‘for a rainy day’, the Kallaloo with fungi.
Kallaloo is a crucian style soup made of greens and seasonings (sometimes made with ham, fish, conch or crab). Fungi is a boiled corn meal side dish, similar in texture to mashed potatoes. And of course, we can’t resist one of the kabobs that initially piqued our interest. The food is delectable, all of it! We didn’t leave a bite on the plate. Still eyeballing the menu and intrigued by one of the chefs’ entrances with a large bag of samosa filling, we order a samosa and breadfruit juice to go. The staff tells us about how most of the ingredients came fresh from this morning’s farmers market. FARMER’S MARKET!?!? We COMPLETELY forgot it’s Saturday and missed the ultimate local food experience that is the Farmer’s Market. We thank the staff and head out to complete a lap of the downtown area.
Fort Frederik and Emancipation Park are great things to do on St Croix, here on the west end of the island. We wander the streets, taking in some of the quaint courtyards and admiring the street art and architecture. Alas, we make our way back to the car and move it down to the pier ready for an afternoon snorkel adventure.
Frederiksted Pier
The pier is an active one, greeting several cruise ships every year. This particular pier is relatively new to the island as it was revamped in the early 2000s.
There are a couple divers in the water doing lessons as well as fishermen scattered along the pier. We give ourselves a minute to take it all in and assess our options for entry. There are a couple points of entry, and we settle on a spot past the gate to the left of the pier. We gear up and jump in, only to be immediately wowed by the diversity of species here. Reef squid, a trumpet fish, trigger fish and several brightly coloured species. We make our way towards the pier and our both taken aback by the hawksbill sea turtle that crosses our paths! Finally, a sea turtle!! We hover at the surface as we watch the turtle make its way slowly along, feasting on some of the tasty treats it has found on the pier pilings. We watch and wait as it swims out of sight. Check out the very reasonably priced waterproof camera we used to take all our underwater shots.
Wildlife Abound
As we swim past the pier pilings, we realize the visibility is around 30 feet. We can actually see the bottom quite clearly. Each and every one of the pilings is its own ecosystem of sponges, worms, algae, anemones, shellfish and more! And the colours are brilliant! Next, we notice a large, 3–4-foot moray eel near the base of the piling. It lingers on the bottom looking up at us as we hover at the surface. After a couple minutes it retreats back under the cement foot of the piling. We swim past schools of fish as we keep a heads up for any fishing line dangling off the pier. We get about a quarter of the way down the pier, when we run into what seems like an endless school of tiny jellies which produce a faint sting. Unfortunately, it became enough to deter us from continuing and we turn around to swim back towards the shore. Once back at the shoreline we emerge from the water and head back to the car.
Wrapping up Another Great day On St. Croix
Given the conditions are still overcast, we won’t be taking in a sunset at the pier this evening. Instead, we decide to dine in. We swing by Stop and Shop (not the New England version) and grab some groceries. Easy peasy pasta and tomato sauce for dinner. We also pick up coconut hand pies for breakfast. As well as some sandwich essentials for a couple lunches over the coming days. Of course, we purchase a couple local curiosities to sample including soursop juice and (Phil’s new favourite) tamarind balls. We make our way back along the dark, rainy roads to our AirBnB for a quiet night in.
Be sure to head over to Day 6 of our trip for more things to do on St Croix!
HAVE YOU EVER VISITED A TIDE POOL? THEY COME IN ALL SHAPES & SIZES!
Looks and sounds like an amazing trip! I hope to get there one day soon!
Brittany, we can’t say enough about how much of a great time we had! We highly recommend it and our fingers are crossed for you 😉
This sounds amazing!!
Thanks Emily! We can’t say enough about how much of a great time we had!
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St. Croix looks just beautiful! You have some great suggestions on here on what to see. I haven’t been, and I would love to spend some time near the teal waters you described so vividly in this article.
I absolutely love the Virgin Islands. The water looks like sapphire. And the hikes in the forest are fantastic. I know you had a great time.
I can’t believe the size of those termite nests. I get itchy just thinking of them. Looks like a wonderful place to explore.
We were equally as impressed Nicola! Luckily, we didn’t see any termites. The island has such great natural wonders to explore!
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Just gone going through your blog and I have to comment, it was an absolute hoot. Your writing technique is so engaging, I felt like I was on a wild goose chase with you. The picture you included were also a hoot, and I’m persuadedconvinced that you must have a photographic memory because they were so vivid. Keep it up, it’s a real trip!”
Thank you so much for your kind words Leeanna! I really enjoy producing the content I post and am glad that comes through for the reader. Stay well!
Thank you so much for your kind words Leeanna! I really enjoy producing the content I post and am glad that comes through for the reader. Stay well!