In our last blog we took a flight on Seabourne Air from St Thomas to St Croix. This was not a large float plane and if you have followed our blog for awhile, you know how I hate seaplanes. (See my first trip to Roche Harbor).
One thing to note about seaplanes is weight (of your bags) determines if they make it or not. Once the plane reaches its maximum weight (bags and passengers), then it’s done taking on any more luggage (and yes, they ask you for your weight!). So our group checked in at the airport, two hours early, to ensure we got our bags on. They did weigh more than they allowed, so we had to pay an extra $60 for the two bags. Keep that in mind if you are flying on Seaborne Air. The airport is literally one hallway with a few benches.
Since we had a few hours to kill, we walked next door to the Petite Pump Room Bar and Restaurant for some bloody mary’s before our flight.
Flying over turquoise waters
While I was extremely nervous, our pilot was very friendly and our flight only took about 15 minutes. Remember, St. Croix is about 42 nautical miles south of St. Thomas, so it’s a quick trip. I kept looking for boats cruising below us, but I didn’t see any. You are required to wear your mask during the flight.
Interestingly enough, we only flew at about 2500 ft. This seemed to make the flight to St. Croix a little better for me (less of a distance to fall into the water!)
Within a few minutes, I spotted St. Croix and before you knew it, we taxi’d into the port! I couldn’t believe how clear the water was below us!
Arriving in St. Croix
The airport in St. Croix, is basically a small metal building. We called for a taxi and waited for it’s arrival, as we needed a ride to the Int’l Airport to pick up our Hertz Rental Car.
What we didn’t know at the time, is the boardwalk that is next to the airport, continues into the heart of Christiansted!
Why that is ironic is because we ended up back at the Christiansted boardwalk after picking up our car, which was located on the other side of the island at the main airport. In hindsight, we would have rented a car closer to the Seaplane base.
Ben rented a Jeep Wrangler and it turns out there are a lot of them on St. Croix! I still can’t get over how well he drove around the islands on the left side of the road AND had the steering on the left side of the vehicle.
Staying at the Buccaneer Resort
The four us went back and forth, as to where to stay on St. Croix. At the top of the list was the Buccaneer and the Fred which was located in Frederiksted. Turns out we picked the right location, as most of the “action” was happening in Christiansted, not Frederiksted. We were just 10 minutes from town and we stopped at the local grocery store to grab a few things on our way to the hotel.
The Buccaneer Resort is gorgeous and very welcoming. The resort also has a large golf course with beautiful ocean views and an old sugar mill on the property.
The golf course was toally brown when we arrived, but after a few days of rain, it turned green!
Everything in the lobby was open air, including the restaurant we ate breakfast in each day.
Getting settled into our room on St Croix
If you recall from the beginning of this trip, our room on St Thomas was not very nice. We were pleasantly surprised at The Buccaneer to get upgraded to a larger suite with a view. I will say, however, that upon close inspection, the room was pretty run down. For the price we paid ($407/night), it should have been in better shape.
Our veranda was awesome and so was the view. Unfortunately, we didn’t really use it.
Checking out Christiansted
After getting unpacked, we headed back into Christiansted to grab a bite to eat, as we were all starving. We parked at Fort Christiansvaern (you can park there from 8:30am to 4:30pm for free) and walked along the boardwalk to find food. There, we also stumbled upon our Caribbean Sea Adventure catamaran we had scheduled for later that week. You will find lots of cute shops and great restaurants along the boardwalk.
You’ll also find plenty of chickens running around here too!
The town is very cute with lots of historical buildings and legends to guide you along the way.
We did check out Fort Christiansvaern which we’ll cover in our next blog as it was a pretty cool tour! Scott and I wish we had visited a few more during our trip, as we love this kind of history!
Long day of travel to St. Croix
Scott and I finished the day, by enjoying an amazing sunset with a cocktail and took in the views.
Since we had all been traveling all day, we had decided to stay at the resort for dinner and we ate at their beach side restaurant called the Mermaid. If we had to do it again, we would have passed on this. While they did have a fire dancer, the atmosphere was a bit bright and the food and service were mediocre for the price.
Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel (video below) for the full tour and to our blog for other updates. Next week, we’ll take you on a tour of the Fort and a few other sites! As always, thank you for following our journey! Be sure to follow us on social @BoatingJourney and use #boatingjourney.
Cheers, Scott and Ally
