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St. Croix

St. Croix is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincorporated territory of the United States. The island was a possession of France from 1650 until 1733. On June 13, 1733, France sold the island group to the Danish West Indies Company. For nearly 200 years, the islands were known as the Danish West Indies. St. Croix and the Danish West Indies were sold to the United States by Denmark in the Treaty of the Danish West Indies of 1916, in exchange for a sum of US$25,000,000 in gold. St. Croix is the largest of the U.S. Virgin Islands, being 28 by 7 miles (45 by 11 km). It is the easternmost point of the United States and tends to have a fairly consistent climate (generally between 73-88 degrees F) year-round. The terrain is fairly rugged with rolling steep hills. The main language is English, followed by Spanish and French. Our unique culture and history reflect the West African, Danish, Spanish, Irish, Polish, and German heritage of those who have made the U.S. Virgin Islands their home since the late 1400s. The rhythms and lyrics of Virgin Islands’ music–including calypso, cariso, soca, reggae, and steel pan melodies–are colorful reminders of our past. Virgin Islanders also express themselves in painting, drawing, sculpture, and photography. The great Impressionist Camille Pissarro is just one of the Virgin Islands’ distinguished artists.

THE QUARTERS

St. Croix is broken up into 10 quarters (like neighborhoods or districts), which each have their own distinct feeling, developments, etc. Keep in mind that St. Croix is only 84 square miles or about 54000 acres (New York City is 468 sq miles), contains 3 national parks, and is home to about 53,000 people. (New York City’s 5 boroughs houses approx 8,175,133 people). We describe each of them briefly moving from the west end (less populated) of the island to the east end (more populated, especially around Protestant Cay).

Travel Information

GETTING TO PARADISE

The U.S. Virgin Islands has daily, non-stop flights from New York, Newark, Baltimore, Atlanta, Miami, and Fort Lauderdale. Connecting flights are available to and from Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, New York, Miami, and Atlanta via the San Juan hub. In addition, there’s connecting service from Canada, Europe, South America, and the Far East. Commuter service between San Juan and St. Croix and St. Thomas is also available. 

POINTS OF INTEREST