Quick Trip Report-Beach Near Cruise Port

Before I visited St. Croix, I always wondered what the beach near the port looked like. This is an excerpt from my review of the Serenade this past August. I hope this quick review is helpful!

There’s a beach to the left of the cruise pier, and we decided to spend our day there. If you walk outside the cruise terminal area and head to your left, you will see a path that leads you to the beach.

I noticed it would be difficult for anyone with walking issues, etc, to get to this beach, so if that is a concern you may want to take the beach shuttle offered at the pier so you can get to a more accessible beach.

After the bridge, this is what we had to walk across to reach the beach. Just a heads up....

It was just what we wanted for the day. Chairs were just $5 pp, and umbrellas were just $5 each. We got 4 chairs 1 umbrella. This way we could store our bags in one of the chairs so they weren’t in the sand.

The sand had smooth pebbles in it, and the shoreline was covered in pebbles you had to wade through to get to the smoother sand. The shore drops off by less than a foot, so be careful when you enter the water. The water in St. Croix is warm and beautiful. I think one of the chair guys had a crush on my friend Janelle, and he gave us two free floats to enjoy for the day. Not that that would get him anywhere with her at ALL, but we took them, LOL!!!

Loved being able to see the ship from our beach.

Janelle and I on our free floats, lol. You can see where the shore drops off a bit- right where the waves were breaking:

Janelle wanted to climb the giant "iceberg" way out there in the water. It was challenging because there's no step stool for you to get a good grip with your feet. It's all upper body strength. It took her a while, but she finally did it!

We stayed out here until about 3 PM, then headed to the right of the cruise pier to check out the shopping.

We found a small store that sold Cruzan rum in cute bottles for $5 each. I bought some coconut rum as a gift for my boss. We boarded the ship and went to our rooms. Bye bye, St. Croix! The view from our balcony...

Thanks for the report and the pics. I had not seen much from St Croix so really appreciate these. We are doing the ATV tour but I understand it drops you off at the beach...wonder if it is the same one? Were there places to eat near this beach also?

Thanks - how long did it take you to walk here? Also - do you remember the name of the beach?

Thanks for the report and the pics. I had not seen much from St Croix so really appreciate these. We are doing the ATV tour but I understand it drops you off at the beach...wonder if it is the same one? Were there places to eat near this beach also?

I didn't see any ATV's stop by this particular beach. We were out there from about 10-3. There was a vendor behind the beach selling water, soda, chips, and candy, and another selling ice cream. Down near the shopping area, I think there was a place or two with food (if I recall correctly). We had a large breakfast and grabbed food once we were back on the ship, so we weren't really looking for lunch. :)

Thanks - how long did it take you to walk here? Also - do you remember the name of the beach?

Hi Donna! It was about a 5 minute walk as soon as you exited the cruise pier. Not sure of the name. It's so close by you can't really miss it- you'll see the beach chairs and umbrellas as you walk past the ship on the pier. It will be to your left. :)

As soon as you walk out the gate for the cruise terminal, turn to your left (see the photo with the path on it). Keep walking and you'll see that bridge to the beach in the following photo.

Good info. Were there restrooms/changing rooms there? Thanks.

I did see a restroom back near the vendors on the beach. We did not use it though.

Thank you for the cool report and pics. We will be there in just a few days (WOO HOO :D) and as of yet, we have no solid plans. That is one of the few places that we're just going to "wing it". So, this is very helpful.

Neil

I did see a restroom back near the vendors on the beach. We did not use it though.

Thanks for providing the update.

Hi Donna! It was about a 5 minute walk as soon as you exited the cruise pier. Not sure of the name. It's so close by you can't really miss it- you'll see the beach chairs and umbrellas as you walk past the ship on the pier. It will be to your left. :)

 

As soon as you walk out the gate for the cruise terminal, turn to your left (see the photo with the path on it). Keep walking and you'll see that bridge to the beach in the following photo.

Could this be Rainbow Beach, or is that further away? I think I read here that Rainbow is about a mile away so maybe this is not it.

You're right about Rainbow Beach. It is further away. I don't think I have ever heard a name for this beach. Except beach at the port.

I did a goggle of the pier in St Croix and noticed a walk path to a beach.

Your info acknowledges that. Thank you!

I think it is named Fort Frederick Beach? We went there in early November....take a look on the vinow website where it describes many of the beaches in the Virgin Islands. We walked there from the ship....if it is the beach I'm thinking of, it was perhaps a five-minute walk right along the water's edge. OK snorkeling off to the left hand side by the rocks in front of the fort.

Yes, Fort Frederik Beach is right (south) of the pier. But faith413 went left (north). According to http://www.gotostcroix.com/beaches/fsted_beaches.php , this would be "Public Beach" (no other name given).

Yes, Fort Frederik Beach is right (south) of the pier. But faith413 went left (north). According to http://www.gotostcroix.com/beaches/fsted_beaches.php , this would be "Public Beach" (no other name given).

Fort Frederik Beach is north of the pier. Look at the map. It's #29 which is north of the pier. The beach is right if you are facing the water, not land. This is confirmed by the description of being near Buddhoe Park which is right next to the Fort.

FYI - We were there on November 28th and the beach was closed due to Flooding and Sand Erosion.

FYI - We were there on November 28th and the beach was closed due to Flooding and Sand Erosion.

Thanks for the heads up. Any information on how long they would keep it closed?

Fort Frederik Beach is north of the pier. Look at the map. It's #29 which is north of the pier. The beach is right if you are facing the water, not land. This is confirmed by the description of being near Buddhoe Park which is right next to the Fort.

You're right, I misread the map. Thanks for the correction!

You're right, I misread the map. Thanks for the correction!

Seems like the beach is in really bad shape. I'll be in St. Croix on Tuesday. I'll probably head to Sand Castle instead. I called them and they said that their beach is in good shape. For $5.00 you get to use a lounger and their pool, so it's a good deal. The shuttle over there isn't much money. You can see the cruise ships from the beach.

where do you get the shuttle?

where do you get the shuttle?

The shuttle is right at the end of the cruise pier. There are very helpful folks there who will be happy to answer your questions. You buy the round trip $6 pp ticket at a table right there at the pier, and they direct you to the shuttle van.

We had planned to go to the beach Chrystal describes, but they said it was still closed due to flood damage and erosion. This was on December 13. So we went to Sandcastle instead and had a BLAST. So relaxing, just what we needed.

I have lots of pics in my review thread, linked in my signature. Here are a few:

tHANKS FOR THE TIP:)

FYI - We were there on November 28th and the beach was closed due to Flooding and Sand Erosion.

:eek:

Seems like the beach is in really bad shape. I'll be in St. Croix on Tuesday. I'll probably head to Sand Castle instead. I called them and they said that their beach is in good shape. For $5.00 you get to use a lounger and their pool, so it's a good deal. The shuttle over there isn't much money. You can see the cruise ships from the beach.

Let us know how the beach is, would be interesting to know.

I was first planning on visiting Sand Castle then changed my mind.

Decided to go to the beach near the pier.

Might have to revert back to my original plan. :cool:

:eek:

 

Let us know how the beach is' date=' would be interesting to know.

 

I was first planning on visiting Sand Castle then changed my mind.

Decided to go to the beach near the pier.

Might have to revert back to my original plan. :cool:[/quote']

 

You can see from the pics above that Sand Castle is in very good shape. We loved it!

 

Sue