SVI / USVI Suggestions

We are going to start a trip on December 19 for 10 days leaving from St Thomas and returning to St Thomas. It is just my wife and I and we are thinking about going somewhere different than the usual haunts.

Here is the question: If there is one spot that you would say is the must see / do on these islands what would it be.

St Croix
Vieques
Culebra
Any other USVI locations

Thanks for any thoughts you might be willing to share.

Doug & Kristine

Bio Bay Vieques.
Flamenco Beach, Culebra.
Good scuba diving at The Wall and Luis Pena island south side of Culebra.
We enjoyed the zip-line tour on St. Thomas. Lovely views.
El Yunque rain-forest visit in Puerto Rico.

Buck Island, St Croix - 32nm from south shore of St John. A few day boats come in, but will likely be only a couple overnight boats. Nice hiking trail to the top of the island with beautiful 360 views. Did not have an opportunity to snorkel in the lagoon, so I'm looking forward to a return visit.

Playa Flamenco, Culebra - Just returned from our first visit. An incredible crescent beach (must be at least a mile long). Walk to the west end of the beach to see the two stranded rusting tanks. Very good facilities with several food kiosks. Anchor in Ensenada Honda near the Dewey town dock. Lock your dinghy at the dock then hail one of the taxis that hang out by the ferry dock.

Would also suggest a visit to nearby island of Culebrita if no north swell. About a dozen mooring balls and good sand bottom for anchoring.

St John - On the north shore, Francis or Maho Bay (depending on wind direction). Great beach for just lounging. On the south shore, Salt Pond Bay (only 5 mooring balls) or Little Lameshure Bay. At nearby Reef Bay (1 public day mooring), arrive very early and take the short hike to the Petroglyphs then tour the old rum distillery ruins on the return.

A visit to Vieques is on my to-do list.

Agree on Buck Island. Did snorkel the lagoon and it was great. We were on a day boat but we're one of the only ones there so it was fun.

Easily spend your time exploring STJ and STT if your usual haunts are in the BVI ----- STX or the SVI are available if you enjoy the boat moving and sailing.
Circumnavigating STT and STJ can easily give you a new anchorage every night - admittedly with a lot less shoreside entertainment or drinking/dining options but varied and interesting in other ways.
It would be a less social vacation and if you take on a " Enjoying life aboard" experience - more akin to a cruising lifestyle than a typical 'vacation charter' - could certainly be a great trip.

Thanks everyone for the great suggestions we will do more exploring this trip. We have visited most all of the spots on ST Thomas and St John. Christmas Cove is always a favorite spot to spend the night after checking in at Cruz Bay. Great Pizza from Pizza Pi and a nice place to prepare yourself for the end the trip.

We visited Culebra in November and had a blast. Its worth renting a jeep from Carlos Jeep Rentals for 24 hours and seeing the island. In 2015 we visited Culebra, Vieques and eastern PR. Good times, but we had weather and the anchorages in Vieques were a challenge.

Culebra is close. If the Christmas winds kick in early it is going to be a beat coming back from Culebra, much less Vieques. With a big east wind, it would be easier to return from Vieques via St. Croix than to try and go straight up wind.

Cheers, RickG

Thanks Rick, We were thinking of making it a bit of a triangled route. Put the chute up and a nice downwind ride to Vieques then to St Croix for a day or two then should be a good reach up to the BVI for a couple days then back to Sapphire Beach where we keep Dharma. I appreciate the ideas and input.

Take care,
Doug

Doug - I stayed at Sapphire in October. Have they finished the dock?

Rick

Something I should point out about Vieques...

Glenn Kranig (340)-227-4288 operates 6 moorings off the south coast of Vieques at Esperanza. Just call him up and make arrangements to pay. It's pretty reasonable. I want to say $25 a night. Also, you really do want to talk to this guy, because he is a wealth of local knowledge and will give you all sorts of great tips on local anchorages.

Esperanza is a quaint town with good food, a pretty "board walk" some shops and a little grocery store up on the hill where you can buy ice and food.

Glen pointed us to Bahia La Chiva last time we went to Esperanza ... La Chiva is an awesome anchorage and there was bio-luminescence all around the boat. We were the only boat in the anchorage.

Rick,

No they haven't yet. Last year they had about half of the north side done and finished it around Jan. Then this year they are working on the south side and looks like it will be Jan again before they finish. I would guess that they will need at least one more season maybe two before they get it fully completed. Luckily we paid our deposit at the end of last season to make sure we had a spot for this year. It is a great place to keep the boat. Easy in and out of STT and over to West End to check in is easy since they are open late during the season. We can get to Sapphire by 4:30 or 5 take off and get into West End just around dark get a ball, check in and have dinner.

Doug

Thanks, I will give him a call as we get closer to the day. I appreciate the information. This is one of the spots we wanted to hit during our first time there.

Thanks Doug. Was just curious (will be back there land-based for a long weekend in March).

Rick