Ironborn
Contributor
Introduction
I enjoyed my first dive trip to St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The highlights for me included the rich critter spotting and photographic opportunities of the Frederiksted pier and the multiple shipwrecks of Butler Bay, on the west side of the island. Beyond those specific highlights, I found the reefs on the west side of the island to offer fairly typical Caribbean reef diving – enjoyable but unremarkable. Given that and certain aspects of the topside environment of Frederiksted, I doubt that I would return in the future for a Frederiksted-based trip focused on the west side, once the removal of travel restrictions provides more alternatives outside the U.S. I am nonetheless curious as to whether or not the walls and shore diving of the north side of the island and the urban environment of Christiansted offer a different enough experience to warrant a return trip to explore that other side of the island. The operator that I chose for this trip, St. Croix Ultimate Bluewater Adventures, provided quality service, and I would consider them again if I were to return for a trip focused on the north side of the island.
How and Why I Went There
Travel restrictions left me with few options for a week-long dive trip when I had some vacation time that I wanted to use before it expired the week leading up to Easter. I had been quite happy limiting myself to Mexico last year, with trips to Cozumel, Cabo Pulmo, and a Playa del Carmen-based trip focused on the cenotes of the Mayan Riviera. My first choice would have been a liveaboard trip to Socorro, but the introduction of a COVID-19 testing requirement to return to the U.S. in January 2021 posed the unacceptable risk, however small, of getting stranded and quarantined overseas.
This situation left me with only domestic options. I already dive locally in Florida on weekends now that I have moved to Miami, and I would not want to set aside a whole week of vacation time for local diving at a time of year when there was still a high risk of cancellations due to rough seas. The spring break mobs were still running amok in South Florida at the time, driving up hotel prices astronomically and spilling over into my own neighborhood after the introduction of the curfew in Miami Beach. Hawaii still required COVID-19 tests or quarantines for arrivals. The North Carolina wreck diving season had not begun yet. The cold water diving of Southern California has been on my radar for some time, but I concluded that I was better off waiting for better surface and kelp conditions and the resumption of liveaboard service in the fall. The cold water diving of Puget Sound has also been on my radar, but the operators that appealed to me were either not running at all or did not fit my itinerary, so I decided to wait for warmer air temperatures to dive there “wet” in my “semi-dry” suit.
That left St. Croix, which had been on my radar since last year, as I started looking into domestic dive destinations more thoroughly. The Frederiksted pier caught my eye due to its reputation for macro critters and photography and my general interest in diving man-made underwater environments. That interest in man-made environments also includes shipwrecks, and Butler Bay on the west side of the island has multiple wrecks. I decided to stick to the west side of the island and avoid the north, at least for this trip, given the distance and the added logistical factors. The specific dives that interested me most were all on the west side. I read that the north side of the island often experiences rough seas at that time of year (I got enough of that in Florida this winter). In retrospect, my reasoning was correct, as rough seas forced the dive shop to cancel many of its north side boat trips that week. I also prefer reefs to the deep walls typical of the north side. I do like shore diving, which is available on the north side, but if I want to shore dive for the sake of shore diving, I would rather go to Bonaire (whenever that is feasible again). The Frederiksted pier was more than enough to scratch my itch for shore diving.
Logistics and Planning
St. Croix does have some COVID-19 testing requirements for entry from the mainland U.S., but they were more manageable. Unlike most foreign destinations, they do accept an antibody test result for travelers from the U.S. mainland, in addition to the more typical PCR tests that most countries require and the rapid antigen tests that a few foreign countries will accept (Honduras and Belize, I think). They will accept antibody tests as old as four months. That much longer window of time gave me plenty of opportunity to plan a trip only after receiving the antibody test results, rather than booking and paying for a trip in advance and then just crossing my fingers that a negative PCR or antigen test result would arrive in time for my departure. The return trip to the U.S. mainland required no testing of any kind.
Two airlines offer direct service to St. Croix (STX) from South Florida: American out of Miami (MIA) and Spirit out of Fort Lauderdale (FLL), lasting about two and a half hours. These flights could also serve as connections for travelers from other states. I am not a fan of either airline, but Spirit seemed to be the better choice because: it was cheaper (even with Spirit's notorious extra charges); FLL is a more easily manageable airport than the madhouse at MIA; and Spirit does not confiscate carry-ons if one pays for them in advance (I travel with a substantial camera rig in my carry-on). There were moderate delays on both my departing and returning flights, but nothing that had a significant impact on my trip.
Frederiksted is a very small town, which made my choice of lodging easy. I ended up staying at the Inn on Strand Street, which is just a few blocks from the pier and the dive shops. The lodging was decent enough for my limited purposes, although the price was a bit high relative to the quality of the facilities, perhaps due to the Easter holiday. My only gripe was the “island time” breakfast service, which could take up to 45 minutes to deliver a simple breakfast. For a quick lunch between morning and afternoon boat trips, I ate at Polly's, which is right next to the pier and the dive shops. There are a handful of restaurants for dinner in that part of town, but they seemed to keep odd hours; it was not clear to me if these odd hours were due to pandemic restrictions or low demand in such a small town.
I knew when I planned my trip that Frederiksted was a very small and quiet town, and I was OK with that. I did not realize, however, that the town was so ghetto. Strand Street looks nice, and I presume that they keep it that way for the cruise ship crowds. The rest of the town behind it, however, looks like a war zone. The town does have some historic 18th century colonial architecture that looks quite charming along Strand Street, but it is unfortunate that they do not take better care of the rest of the town. More troubling were the number of locals walking around who appeared to be mentally ill or on drugs (if not both). As a native New Yorker, such phenomena do not bother me and in of themselves, but the town is so deserted at night that I was uncertain about walking around by myself at night, with no witnesses or bystanders to deter any crimes. I am OK with boring places if they are comfortable, and I can certainly appreciate risky places if they have attractions that interest me or other reasons to visit, but I would hesitate to stay again in a place that struck me as both boring and sketchy at the same time.
I chose St. Croix Ultimate Bluewater Adventures on the basis of positive reviews here on Scubaboard, on Trip Advisor, and elsewhere online. My experience with them was similarly positive, as they provided high-quality service and went out of their way to accommodate me and other guests. My only gripe was about the boat that they normally use for their west side trips, which is a relatively small fishing boat that they repurposed. Its size and design made it a bit cumbersome. It finally broke down one afternoon, causing the last-minute cancellation of our two-tank trip. They replaced it with their much bigger north side boat, a purpose-built Delta dive boat from Florida, which provided a much smoother experience. If I were to return to dive the north side of the island from Christiansted, I would be happy to dive with this shop again on their north side boat. They offer two-tank trips in both the morning and the afternoon, and night dives on the Frederiksted pier whenever there are at least two divers. Nitrox is available in principle, although they indicated that their supply is not always reliable, and they charge a relatively high price for it at $15 per tank. They also provide weights and air tanks for self-guided pier dives, which they let me dive solo after they had seen that I was a competent diver.
(to be continued on this thread)
I enjoyed my first dive trip to St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The highlights for me included the rich critter spotting and photographic opportunities of the Frederiksted pier and the multiple shipwrecks of Butler Bay, on the west side of the island. Beyond those specific highlights, I found the reefs on the west side of the island to offer fairly typical Caribbean reef diving – enjoyable but unremarkable. Given that and certain aspects of the topside environment of Frederiksted, I doubt that I would return in the future for a Frederiksted-based trip focused on the west side, once the removal of travel restrictions provides more alternatives outside the U.S. I am nonetheless curious as to whether or not the walls and shore diving of the north side of the island and the urban environment of Christiansted offer a different enough experience to warrant a return trip to explore that other side of the island. The operator that I chose for this trip, St. Croix Ultimate Bluewater Adventures, provided quality service, and I would consider them again if I were to return for a trip focused on the north side of the island.
How and Why I Went There
Travel restrictions left me with few options for a week-long dive trip when I had some vacation time that I wanted to use before it expired the week leading up to Easter. I had been quite happy limiting myself to Mexico last year, with trips to Cozumel, Cabo Pulmo, and a Playa del Carmen-based trip focused on the cenotes of the Mayan Riviera. My first choice would have been a liveaboard trip to Socorro, but the introduction of a COVID-19 testing requirement to return to the U.S. in January 2021 posed the unacceptable risk, however small, of getting stranded and quarantined overseas.
This situation left me with only domestic options. I already dive locally in Florida on weekends now that I have moved to Miami, and I would not want to set aside a whole week of vacation time for local diving at a time of year when there was still a high risk of cancellations due to rough seas. The spring break mobs were still running amok in South Florida at the time, driving up hotel prices astronomically and spilling over into my own neighborhood after the introduction of the curfew in Miami Beach. Hawaii still required COVID-19 tests or quarantines for arrivals. The North Carolina wreck diving season had not begun yet. The cold water diving of Southern California has been on my radar for some time, but I concluded that I was better off waiting for better surface and kelp conditions and the resumption of liveaboard service in the fall. The cold water diving of Puget Sound has also been on my radar, but the operators that appealed to me were either not running at all or did not fit my itinerary, so I decided to wait for warmer air temperatures to dive there “wet” in my “semi-dry” suit.
That left St. Croix, which had been on my radar since last year, as I started looking into domestic dive destinations more thoroughly. The Frederiksted pier caught my eye due to its reputation for macro critters and photography and my general interest in diving man-made underwater environments. That interest in man-made environments also includes shipwrecks, and Butler Bay on the west side of the island has multiple wrecks. I decided to stick to the west side of the island and avoid the north, at least for this trip, given the distance and the added logistical factors. The specific dives that interested me most were all on the west side. I read that the north side of the island often experiences rough seas at that time of year (I got enough of that in Florida this winter). In retrospect, my reasoning was correct, as rough seas forced the dive shop to cancel many of its north side boat trips that week. I also prefer reefs to the deep walls typical of the north side. I do like shore diving, which is available on the north side, but if I want to shore dive for the sake of shore diving, I would rather go to Bonaire (whenever that is feasible again). The Frederiksted pier was more than enough to scratch my itch for shore diving.
Logistics and Planning
St. Croix does have some COVID-19 testing requirements for entry from the mainland U.S., but they were more manageable. Unlike most foreign destinations, they do accept an antibody test result for travelers from the U.S. mainland, in addition to the more typical PCR tests that most countries require and the rapid antigen tests that a few foreign countries will accept (Honduras and Belize, I think). They will accept antibody tests as old as four months. That much longer window of time gave me plenty of opportunity to plan a trip only after receiving the antibody test results, rather than booking and paying for a trip in advance and then just crossing my fingers that a negative PCR or antigen test result would arrive in time for my departure. The return trip to the U.S. mainland required no testing of any kind.
Two airlines offer direct service to St. Croix (STX) from South Florida: American out of Miami (MIA) and Spirit out of Fort Lauderdale (FLL), lasting about two and a half hours. These flights could also serve as connections for travelers from other states. I am not a fan of either airline, but Spirit seemed to be the better choice because: it was cheaper (even with Spirit's notorious extra charges); FLL is a more easily manageable airport than the madhouse at MIA; and Spirit does not confiscate carry-ons if one pays for them in advance (I travel with a substantial camera rig in my carry-on). There were moderate delays on both my departing and returning flights, but nothing that had a significant impact on my trip.
Frederiksted is a very small town, which made my choice of lodging easy. I ended up staying at the Inn on Strand Street, which is just a few blocks from the pier and the dive shops. The lodging was decent enough for my limited purposes, although the price was a bit high relative to the quality of the facilities, perhaps due to the Easter holiday. My only gripe was the “island time” breakfast service, which could take up to 45 minutes to deliver a simple breakfast. For a quick lunch between morning and afternoon boat trips, I ate at Polly's, which is right next to the pier and the dive shops. There are a handful of restaurants for dinner in that part of town, but they seemed to keep odd hours; it was not clear to me if these odd hours were due to pandemic restrictions or low demand in such a small town.
I knew when I planned my trip that Frederiksted was a very small and quiet town, and I was OK with that. I did not realize, however, that the town was so ghetto. Strand Street looks nice, and I presume that they keep it that way for the cruise ship crowds. The rest of the town behind it, however, looks like a war zone. The town does have some historic 18th century colonial architecture that looks quite charming along Strand Street, but it is unfortunate that they do not take better care of the rest of the town. More troubling were the number of locals walking around who appeared to be mentally ill or on drugs (if not both). As a native New Yorker, such phenomena do not bother me and in of themselves, but the town is so deserted at night that I was uncertain about walking around by myself at night, with no witnesses or bystanders to deter any crimes. I am OK with boring places if they are comfortable, and I can certainly appreciate risky places if they have attractions that interest me or other reasons to visit, but I would hesitate to stay again in a place that struck me as both boring and sketchy at the same time.
I chose St. Croix Ultimate Bluewater Adventures on the basis of positive reviews here on Scubaboard, on Trip Advisor, and elsewhere online. My experience with them was similarly positive, as they provided high-quality service and went out of their way to accommodate me and other guests. My only gripe was about the boat that they normally use for their west side trips, which is a relatively small fishing boat that they repurposed. Its size and design made it a bit cumbersome. It finally broke down one afternoon, causing the last-minute cancellation of our two-tank trip. They replaced it with their much bigger north side boat, a purpose-built Delta dive boat from Florida, which provided a much smoother experience. If I were to return to dive the north side of the island from Christiansted, I would be happy to dive with this shop again on their north side boat. They offer two-tank trips in both the morning and the afternoon, and night dives on the Frederiksted pier whenever there are at least two divers. Nitrox is available in principle, although they indicated that their supply is not always reliable, and they charge a relatively high price for it at $15 per tank. They also provide weights and air tanks for self-guided pier dives, which they let me dive solo after they had seen that I was a competent diver.
(to be continued on this thread)