Eco Tourism on St. Croix
Seeking unspoiled land, beach, and water where you can get to know the real Caribbean on your tropical vacation? Longing to connect with people, history and traditions? That makes you an "ecotourist" — and you've come to the right place.
St. Croix is blessed with miles of Federal and Territorial park land, both above and beneath the water. Private organizations, like the Nature Conservancy and the St. Croix Environmental Association, preserve hundreds of acres of pristine land, which are open to all to enjoy. After playing in the waters of popular sites like Buck Island and the Salt River Bay, you can hike down a steep east end hill and imagine yourself as the first person to set foot on an empty stretch of white beach at Jack's and Isaac's Bays. Or rendezvous out west with a naturalist at dusk in the summer months to witness a turtle hatching at Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge. Hikers, bird watchers and photographers all will find plenty of outdoor action to enjoy.
Long before green lifestyles became fashionable, Crucians (as islanders are called) conserved water, catching rain in cisterns for household use and capturing the rays of the sun to warm it. Visit the Nature Conservancy's Estate Little Princess headquarters, a historic plantation with a modern twist — it's a demonstration site for innovative green technologies. Community-based agriculture is flourishing here, too — the Virgin Islands Farm Institute offers workshops on tropical farming, and St. Croix's Farmers in Action are developing historic Bethlehem Sugar Factory as an agro-tourism site.
An eco-vacation here will provide you with rewarding exposure to the history and culture of St Croix. The island is virtually an outdoor museum with reminders around every bend of the plantation era when European owners brought Africans to work in sugarcane fields. Their descendants are today's islanders and, whether it's a family recipe for kalaloo stew, the sweet notes of a "scratchy" quelbe band or the meaning behind a mocko jumbie stilt walker's mask, they're proud to share their USVI heritage with you.
Find a complete list of activities, island tours and day trips, tour operators, charter boats for dive, snorkeling, fishing and swimming, golf and water sports - right here in our Activities Directory.
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