One Week in St. Croix Itinerary

St. Croix is an underwater lovers paradise. But that’s not all! The beaches are beautiful and the island is large, making for different “vibes” in parts of the islands. There are endless activities and things to do to entertain yourself for much more than a week. In fact, you’ll have a hard time fitting it all in!

Throw out the rumors you’ve heard of St. Croix being unsafe or crime ridden – that is furthest from the truth when I visited. What is nice about St. Croix is that it is more authentic and hasn’t been overtaken by tourism like St. Thomas can feel like at times. Only two or three cruise ships a week (versus 3+ a day in St. Thomas) makes for a much quieter and less crowded adventure.

I recommend staying at Cottages by the Sea in Frederiksted (or their sister property Sandcastles on the Beach) or splitting your time for convenience with Day 1-5 in Christiansted, where most of the activities will be, and day 6-9 in Frederiksted.

Day 1: Settle-in

Fly into the St. Croix international airport (STX) and pick up your rental car from the airport. Take the day to get settled, stocking up on groceries including food, alcohol, and sunscreen.

Eat out tonight near your hotel of choice. The Fred is a good option. End your day with a night dive of Frederiksted pier. Frederiksted pier is over 1500 feet long, where the cruise ships dock when they are in. The pier pylons are completely covered head to toe in the most beautiful coral formations that range from hues of green, red, pink, orange, yellow, and purple! If that’s not enough, under the pier itself is crawling with schools of fish and sea creatures.

If you haven’t tried scuba before, try a discover scuba session. This is the perfect spot to learn (although perhaps during the warm daytime) because it is shallow and you can stay under water for a long time.

Day 2: Diving

Continue exploring underwater today with a morning dive. We did ours with St. Croix Ultimate Bluewater Adventures (SCUBA for short) and would highly recommend them. It was $125 for a two tank dive from 8:30am to 12pm. Please note, at the time of our booking, we booked through PADI website only to find out that the link between PADI and the dive shop was no longer working and they never got our reservation. Please book direct through their website and book ahead of time as their boats do fill up.

The first dive we did was the most incredible reefs but what really stole the show for me, was for the first time on a dive, I saw sharks! I thought I would be terrified to see sharks but they were almost “cute” reef sharks. They are allowed to hunt lion fish and feed them to the sharks so sure enough our guide saw a lion fish and gave the sharks the fish. Pretty damn cool! I had a hard time figuring out what to look at, the beautiful reef on my right or the sharks to my left!

The second dive wasn’t as eventful but the most beautiful reef that looked as if it came straight out of Finding Nemo. If you are a diver, St. Croix can’t be missed on your bucket list dives.

After diving, you’ll be right on the Christiansted pier where there are plenty of lunch options. Walk around and choose one of your fancy, most have a spectacular view of the harbor.

After lunch, hit up Shoys beach which resembles the Buccaneer beaches but without all the crowds. Bring a towel and speaker and spend the afternoon relaxing. While there can be snorkeling on a good day, the water was turned up enough we didn’t snorkel. After diving, that was fine by us. The locals call it the “Christmas winds” that can hit the north and east side of the island. Weather is lovely but can turn up the water for snorkel conditions. After an exhausting day, drive home and have dinner in.

Day 3: Cane Bay

The next day, hit up Cane Bay which in my opinion looks more like a Hawaiian island than a Caribbean beach. I suggest getting up early and doing a final dive on this beach. This beach boasts a wall dive that if you are lucky, you can see some bigger sea life. You can also snorkel out to the wall as well. The surf can be a little turned up here depending on the day. You can still snorkel, but on those days diving would be more enjoyable.

After diving, this beach has a fun and lively atmosphere. There is a restaurant right above the beach with stunning views to grab lunch and a few cocktails. Spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing on the beach and getting their to-go cocktails!

If you look at other articles you may hear about Davis Bay in the area. In my opinion this is a skip. Cane Bay was just as pretty but with way less waves than Davis and much easier to get to. Davis Bay, I didn’t feel comfortable going in the water. Although there were plenty of kids swimming around so to each their own.

Either get a quick bite to eat (or eat a late lunch and a very late dinner) because you are a short drive away from Sandy River Bio Bay where the nighttime bioluminescent kayak tour takes off with Sea Thru Kayaks! This part of the island reminded me of Pirates of the Caribbean when they take small boats through a similar bay. It has a very bayou vibe where Louisiana meets the Caribbean.

Depending on sunset, the tour starts around 6pm and lasts about 2 hours. What is so cool about this tour is they take you to a bay that has bioluminescent microorganisms, causing them to light up underneath you, which you can see around and through your clear kayak. You can even find these jellyfish that light up if you touch it! The weather can downpour, but don’t let that deter you – just adds to the adventure!

Day 4: Buck Island Tour

After a few days of diving, a nice day out on a catamaran drinking rum punches is just what you need! Do the Buck Island Tour which is one of the most popular things to do on the island. We did the full day with Big Beard Adventure Tours. I would highly recommend the full day. The tour is 9:30am-3:30pm and costs $120.

The first stop is Turtle Beach which is a really beautiful beach on Buck Island. This is when they teach people how to use their snorkel gear if you are new to snorkeling. You have the option to kick around in the water or just relax in the sand and enjoy the view.

The next stop is the real snorkel stop. Blame the Christmas winds but the water was very choppy for my taste, making the snorkeling less than enjoyable. I’m sure on a flatter day, it would have been amazing.

The tour opens up the bar for rum punches and makes a stop at a beach back on St. Croix for a private BBQ. The food was amazing!! Keep an eye on the water, the hues of blue on the ride back are just amazing.

After the tour, head over to Protestant Cay, a 2-min journey on a small boat from where you’ll be dropped off from the full day tour. After 4pm the boat is free (or just a few dollars if it’s before 4pm) and runs every 10 mins. There is a bar to get drinks on the island. If you plan ahead and get reservations, try booking the luau for dinner. If not, take the ferry back over to Christiansted and eat at Rum Runner or a spot of your choosing.

Day 5: Hike to Isaac Bay

Today you will explore the east shore beaches and get a little hiking in! Jack and Isaac beaches are at the far east end of the island and take a little work to get to. There is a moderate hike down to Isaac Bay, easy enough that I did it in flip flops, but it did still take 20 minutes or so and the hike back up is more difficult as it is uphill. The terrain on this side of the island reminded me more of the desert landscape you’d find in California or Cabo compared to the lush Hawaii-vibe of Cane Bay or the Caribbean vibe of the rest of the island. Because of this, the sun is sweltering and there is little shade. I found the hike to be really pretty and a fun way to arrive to the beach!

The beach itself is pretty empty, but not devoid of people. The Christmas winds made snorkeling here a little choppy but not bad. The sand was kicked up so visibility wasn’t great but the water wasn’t rough enough to deter me from snorkeling. Saw a massive spotted eagle ray about 5 feet in front of me which made the whole snorkel worth it!

Careful snorkeling here, if you go to far there is a reef break. Some people went out too far and got caught in the break, scratched up pretty bad and barely made it back in. They said it was a “close call” and I asked if they needed us to go call for help. They ended up being able to hike back up, but I worry they got an infection from the coral (not to mention they killed the coral by touching it). There is no cell service here so don’t be an idiot! Know your limits and stay away from the break. There is plenty to see in further.

You can hike a little bit further to Jacks Bay. There really wasn’t much beach at all due to high tide and the snorkeling was nonexistent so I wouldn’t bother. The hike looks the same as the one to Issacs so mine as well just do Isaacs and not waste time or effort going further unless your dying to see it.

The best way to do this day is to pack a cooler with lunch, water, and snacks to really set up for the day. Eat dinner at Galleons on the way back. Make a reservation ahead of time.

Day 6: Frederiksted

Today you will explore around the area of Frederiksted. Frederiksted has the best beach on the island, from Dorsch beach to Rainbow beach, the white sound and calmest water on the islands stretches for miles long. This is what Caribbean beaches mean to me, no worries about the turned up water that you have on other parts of the islands. Waves are non-existent as the water is the equivalent of bath water. Now we are talking!

If you stay at the Cottages by the Sea (which I cannot recommend more highly), take their bikes that they rent out for free for the day. Biking in the Caribbean! It is a beautiful ride!

Start your day with a very long, leisurely snorkel of Frederiksted pier. You can only do this snorkel when cruise ships aren’t in port so make sure to check the cruise ship schedule. If this day happens to line up when a cruise ship is in port, no worries, just swap around days of the itinerary so that you are able to snorkel the pier.

It is a long snorkel if you choose to go to the end, but oh my it is so beautiful, you don’t even notice the time pass. You see all the coral on the pylons in their full glory with the sun bringing out all the colors. I saw a spotted eagle ray, lots of turtles, schools of fish, and a small reef shark! The coral was still my favorite part. This is probably the best snorkel I’ve done in my life, which is saying something as I’ve snorkeled a lot of places!

After a snorkel, your legs will be nice and tired. Get lunch at Rhythms Beach Bar on Rainbow Beach. Hang out on the beach for a minute with a nice frozen cocktail. You can snorkel here but the snorkeling is just decent compared to the Frederiksted pier so if you are tired, I’d skip. The Beach Bar is one of the most famous on the island and located on the prettiest beach!

End the day by grabbing a pool floaty and hitting up Dorsch beach right outside of the hotel. What is great about Dorsch beach is that it is very long so no part of the beach is crowded. My type of beach! Watch sunset from the beach and make dinner at home after or hit up the restaurant at Sandcastles on the Beach.

Day 7: Horseback Riding

Another top rated activity on the island is horseback riding with Cruzan Cowgirls by Rainbow Beach. Tour is late morning, around 11am, so start your day off with a morning snorkel by Dorsch beach. The best snorkeling is if you go north of Cottages by the Sea and swim out and swim north towards the pier. If you just swim right in front of Cottages by the Sea, you won’t see too much. You can find schools of fish, sea turtles, and even some giant starfish! Snorkeling is excellent!

After a morning snorkel, freshen up for your horseback riding tour. The tour takes you along the beach and into the rainforest. The rainforest is so thick of trees that you can hardly see the sun at times. The scenery is nicely complimented by ending at the beach and having the option to take your horse swimming, depending on conditions. While the water is calm, on the day I went the current was a little too much so we weren’t able to swim. That is okay though, they took plenty of pictures for us!

If you love horses and want to explore the rainforest and beaches by new form of transportation, this is a great company to do so with. They use all rescue horses and are extremely ethical. The cost was $125 for an hour and a half tour.

After the horseback riding tour, grab lunch at Rhythms (or try a new place but Rhythms is worth going to twice!) and then head back to the same beach that the horseback riding tour took off, north of Rainbow Beach. Here you can post up for a few hours and soak in the afternoon sun. Grab dinner in Frederiksted or eat at home.

Day 8: Sandy Point

Head to Sandy Point, just south of Dorsch Beach. This is a national wildlife refugee, boasting long, flat white sand beaches with turquoise blue water. Some say it is the prettiest beach on the island! There are no amenities on the beach, but you will find quite a few people packed on the sand by the 3rd parking lot. My suggestion is to just walk along the beach a few yards just past them so you have it mainly to yourself! The water by the 3rd parking lot has the calmest water for swimming.

Please note that this beach is only open on the weekends from 10am-4pm. If this day of your itinerary does not land on a weekend, please re-arrange the days so that you are able to go! The beach is also closed April to September because of turtle nesting. If your dates happen to land over this, I would spend the day unwinding on Dorsch beach instead.

Pack a cooler for the beach with lunch and drinks for the day. Pack up around 2 or 3 to make it over to the beer drinking pigs before it closes at 5pm. What are the beer drinking pigs you ask? At a small restaurant in the middle of the rainforest (about a 20-30 minute drive from Sandy Point), there are pigs. These pigs way back when would steal tourists beer and chug them! Today, they have made it into an attraction, but now with non-alcoholic beer! It is truly a site to see and the restaurant is a classic Caribbean bar where the beer is cheep, there are plenty of seats, and any worries can be left at the front door.

Check online, but their hours when I went had them closed on Monday’s. I have you going on a weekend day so shouldn’t be an issue but if you decide to make tweaks to the itinerary, make sure to check their hours online.

For your last meal on the island, feel free to pick a spot to eat in Frederiksted! You’ve earned it after the adventurous week you have had!

Day 9: Fly Home

Overall, I cannot recommend this island and this itinerary enough. St. Croix should not be missed! Need advice on how to get your bearings straight, what’s what, where to stay, and advice on logistics? Read my blog post on logistics of the island.