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Itinerary: 7 Days in Authentic St. Croix

By Susanna Henighan Potter

St. Croix is the largest and least-traveled of the Virgin Islands. It also offers the greatest variety to its visitors, including outstanding historical sites and untouched natural areas. But you may enjoy the St. Croix sensibility—which prizes authenticity—most of all.

An aerial view of Frederiksted, in St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands. ©Darwin Brandis, Dreamstime.

Day 1

Fly to St. Croix and check into a hotel near Frederiksted. Spend a few hours on Sprat Beach before dinner at the jazzy Blue Moon.

Day 2

Take a day trip to Buck Island. Snorkel the reef, hike the peak, and sun on the beach. Stroll the Christiansted boardwalk before dinner and sample a few microbrews at the Fort Christian Brew Pub before heading to a romantic dinner at Savant.

Eastern shore of Salt River Bay, St. Croix
Eastern shore of the bioluminescent Salt River Bay, St. Croix. Photo © Susanna Henighan Potter.

Day 3

Spend the morning sightseeing around Christiansted National Historic Site. Tour the fort, browse the shops and look for Alexander Hamilton’s boyhood home. Choose between French cuisine at Cafe Christine or West Indian specialties at Harvey’s for lunch. Eat an early dinner and then paddle the bioluminescent bay at Salt River just after sunset.

Day 4

Go horseback riding through the Caldonia Rainforest and then fuel up on spicy St. Croix-style barbecue at the La Reine Chicken Shack for lunch. Head west to Frederiksted for a stand-up paddleboard lesson at Frederiksted Beach. Watch the sun set and eat tapas at the Pink Spot.

Fort Frederik, St. Croix, is now a museum featuring island history and local artisan displays. The fort was named after Frederick V of Denmark. ©Gwyn Goodrow, Dreamstime.

Day 5

Tour the great house and admire the old windmills at Whim Plantation Museum and then study the history of slavery and freedom at Fort Frederik Museum. Your midday pit stop is Rastafarian-style vegetarian food at UCA’s Kitchen in Frederiksted. In the afternoon look for frogfish while snorkeling the Ann Abramson Pier and round out your day with a farm-to-table dinner aboard the Bon Bagay.

Day 6

Go for a guided hike through St. Croix’s wilderness with Ay-Ay Eco Hike and Tours. Choose between the lush, tropical rainforest, outstanding views at Maroon Ridge, or exquisite beaches at Jack and Isaac Bays Preserve. Stroll along Cane Bay beach at sunset and then have dinner at eat @ cane bay.

While on St. Croix visitors will inevitably enjoy some of the favorite local spirit, rum. Near the top of the must-do list of attractions on St. Croix is a tour of one of the local rum distilleries. ©Igokapil, Dreamstime.

Day 7

Stop for a tour of the Cruzan Rum Distillery on your way to the airport for your flight home.

St. Croix

Susanna Henighan Potter

About the Author

Susanna Henighan Potter was born in Tennessee and raised in the beautiful foothills of the Smoky Mountains, she packed her bags after graduating from Oberlin College and headed to a cluster of tiny dots in the Caribbean Sea: the Virgin Islands.

As a reporter at island newspapers and for the Associated Press, Susanna covered stories ranging from celebrity sightings and murder trials to the installation of the first traffic light in the British Virgin Islands. In between assignments, Susanna fell in love with her new home. She learned to snorkel, went on weekend camping trips, and got used to driving on the left side of the road. She took local history and cooking classes and bought a machete to explore overgrown hiking trails. She learned to grow Caribbean seasoning peppers and how to make the perfect piña colada.

Moon U.S. & British Virgin Islands reflects Susanna's experience as both insider and outsider. She lives like a local but has not forgotten the jolt of excitement she felt at her first glimpse of the islands from the window of a small airplane in 1999.

Today, Susanna works as a communications professional and lives with her husband on the island of Tortola.

Learn more about this author

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