USVI-On-Line

Many of you have finished my epic trip report. As I mentioned at the end, we're considering returning next summer. Donkeys, here I come.

We'll book our FF tickets soon if we do so, but I have some questions about St. Croix. We're going to extend our trip to 9 or 10 nights, splitting our time between St. Croix and St. John (either three or four nights St. Croix with the balance on St. John).

We enjoy casinos, and St. Croix has one. I want to visit Buck Island and see a bit of the history St. Croix has to offer. Also, rumor has it that there are captive drinking pigs on St. Croix, and this I just have to see.

Has anyone been? Is it a fine place to spend a long weekend? Anyone ever taken the seaplane? It's a short ride, but I'm a rather nervous flyer. Curious if it's a bumpier ride because you fly so low... in the end, it's only 20 minutes... how bad could it be? Anyone down the STX-STT ferry? 90 minutes seems long, especially if one is prone to seasickness.

My Italian cousin and his wife took the seaplane 2 weeks ago. In our very short conversation, he said it was an unbelievable experience and he thanked me for recommending it. I'm waiting for a detailed report.

I'm getting a trip on the plane for my 40th birthday!

If the fast ferry is running (depends on the time of year), it's not a bad trip. I've never done the sea plane, but it looks like it would be awesome. Another option is Cape Air. They have regularly scheduled flights from St. Thomas to St. Croix.

The drinking pigs are huge (really kinda scary they're so big). They drink non-alcoholic beer (now, they used to drink the real stuff). It's amazing to see and in the rain forest so an interesting drive.

Buck Island is a must do. Snorkeling at Cane Bay can be very good also.

If you enjoy the casino, you will probably want to stay at Divi Carina Bay. You'll also want to rent a car as the Divi is quite a ways from town. St. Croix is an easy island to navigate. While it is very different from St. John, I think you will enjoy exploring the Whim Plantation (old sugar mill), etc.

We spent a week on STJ and a week on STX last month. I posted my trip reports on June 26. It was nice to experience both islands.

If you have any more questions, feel free to send me a PM.

If you like to experience wildlife, then I have another island for you... Vieques.

It's a small island off the coast of Puerto Rico, easy to reach by puddle jumper from San Juan.

When we arrived for our first trip in 2006, we saw a guy at the airport in a Vieques t-shirt that had one of those yellow diamond shaped road signs on it that said "everything crossing" and had pictures of numerous animals, etc.

Over the week we were there we saw just about every type of animal IN THE ROAD.

There were horses (owned but allowed to roam free), birds of all kinds, lizards, snakes, rodents, a cow being chased by a dog, and yes Donkeys!

Oh, and although the island interior was very different from St. John (relatively flat and arid), the beaches were very beautiful.

Enjoy!

We took the seaplane back to St. Thomas from St. Croix and I loved it! My wife, OTH, got a bit freaked out when they positioned us inside the plane according to body weight...to keep things in balance. The best part of the ride, IMHO, was landing at Charlotte Amalie (sp?). The pilot dropped us in so neatly between the boats that it was almost like being in a helicopter.