1.26
On Sunday, we opted for a more low-key day. We wanted to spend some time back at Cane Bay, so we packed up some snacks and spent the afternoon there. Mercedes said that there was some good snorkeling there, so we brought our gear. The water looked a little too choppy for me, so I opted to stay on the beach with my book. Matt went out a few different times and stayed out for an hour+ each time. We walked down the beach a bit and I think Matt even dozed for a bit. It was very relaxing.
That night, we had signed up to do a bioluminescent kayak tour through a little bay on the east side of Salt River Bay. We booked the tour with a company that had see-through kayaks (all of it was see-through, not just a small section by our feet!). We met at dusk, and in the 15 minutes or so we were waiting for the guides to prep the kayaks and the rest of the group to show up, Matt and I were obliterated by the tiniest mosquitoes we had ever seen. Holy smokes! They came out of nowhere! We didn't see hardly another bug the whole rest of our trip, but that evening by the bay, we found the mosquitoes. Our group was small and the two tour guides were great. We kayaked across Salt River Bay (quite a distance, really!) to get to a little side bay (called Salt River Bio Bay) to see the bioluminescent jellyfish and other microorganisms. When the water is agitated by paddle or by hand, organisms emit a light - bioluminescence. There were three different organisms that we saw; two of them looked like the opening of Star Wars where it looks like you're traveling quickly through a galaxy of stars. That's about what it looked like, only in the water! The faster we paddled the kayak, the brighter the purple/pinkish lights were. There were also jellyfish that lit up - comb jellies - when they were bumped by a paddle. The guide picked one up and put it in a container so we could all touch it. Matt caught a couple later on as well. We found an excellent spot where the mangrove trees hung over the water where the comb jellies were hiding. One stroke of the kayak paddle and probably 6-12 jellies lit up blue in the water. Their light only lasts for a second or two. We spent probably 45 minutes in the bio bay exploring and seeing as much as we could. The kayak tours only run three weeks out of the month. It's all based around the moon schedule. Naturally, a full moon would give off too much light to see any of the bioluminescence. I have zero pictures, only memories, of the experience. It was amazing!
On Monday, 1.27, we went to the easternmost point of the island, Point Udall. Not only is it the furthest east on the island, it is the easternmost point of the United States. There are some hikes down to Jacks and Isaac Bays, but we didn't do them. It was neat to see from that perspective because it was about 270 degrees of ocean! There is a giant sundial that we took some pictures at.
That afternoon, we did a half-day snorkeling tour with Big Beard's Snorkeling Tours. The tour would take us to Buck Island, north east of Christiansted. We first stopped at Turtle Beach where we could just practice snorkeling with our gear in the water, or relax on the beach, or walk on the sand, etc. After 45 minutes or so, we then went to the Reef National Monument on the north east side of Buck Island. We all got in the water and followed our tour guide through the reef and it was one of the neatest experiences we have ever had! The guide swam us through the reef and then we were free to snorkel wherever we wanted to. Some of the coral came up pretty close to the surface of the water. We were instructed not to touch anything; the guided tour was helpful to know where to go. Again, Matt spent more time in the water than I did. He swam out to the edge of the reef and then at one point had to retrace his "steps" (ha!) in order to swim over the coral without touching it. Gosh, I wish I could name all of the species of fish that we saw - there were so many beautiful fish! We even saw a barracuda! The boat tour concluded with some really yummy rum punch. It was the ultimate Caribbean adventure! We walked downtown after the snorkel tour and found a few tourist shops to poke around.
Tuesday was our last (partial) day in St Croix. We walked downtown for a bit and got some coffee at Twin Cities coffee shop before heading to the beach. We went to a new beach at Cramers park, on the east side of the island close(ish) to Point Udall. We put our snorkeling gear on but didn't see any fish. We did, however, hit the sea glass jackpot. I was so surprised at the amount of sea glass that we picked up off the sand! It was crazy! At Cramers park, we could have picked sea glass for hours and still not gotten it all. We swam in the water and walked the short stretch of beach for a while until it was time to head back to our condo. Our flight didn't leave St Croix until close to 4pm, so we didn't have to get to the airport until 2:30/3ish, which meant that we were able to enjoy half of the day before traveling. The last day was the hottest day we were there - probably low 80's. The weather was great for our whole trip, and when it did rain, it wasn't an inconvenience or anything. Our flight from Christiansted flew into Fort Lauderdale and we had a two-hour layover. We had a bit to eat at Chili's before boarding the last flight home. Unfortunately, the last flight home was soooo long and soooo boring. I finished my book, I didn't have anything to do on my phone, etc. Matt and I tried to nap a bit, but it was a lot of just sitting there. :( We flew Spirit Airlines on the way home; we had never experienced the stripped-down no-frills approach before. Also complicating things was a person sitting near us that had horrible gas for the ENTIRE flight home. I even said very loudly a few times, "Oh my goodness, I think someone needs to use the bathroom!" It didn't work. Stinky Pants never used the bathroom and just preferred to torture people in a six-row radius for nearly four hours from Fort Lauderdale to Denver. Mmmkay, thanks.
Gosh, I can't say enough about how amazing our time was in St Croix. We loved having time together and really enjoyed the island. It was a much belated trip, but TOTALLY worth waiting for!
