What You Need to Know When Visiting St. Croix

When we gathered the first morning for Orientation, our wonderful leader, George Marshall, had us break up into groups of dancers who had never been to St. Croix before and veterans of the Tropical Dance Vacation.

New dancers were asked to come up with questions they would like answered about St. Croix and vets were asked to pass along something they wished they had known on their first visit.

In that vein, I am asking those of you who visit this blog to offer your comments on what visitors to St. Croix should know. Just use the comment box below. Thanks!! Love, MJ

The Dance Is The Thing

I came early to St. Croix, thinking I would dive and sightsee before the dance began, but found the water too chilly (79 degrees F) for this Florida baby and the body too lazy. Not to worry - the dance is the the thing. Aside from my fascination for my work as an SEO and copywriter, contra dancing *is* my life. It’s why I move to Asheville, and it’s my greatest source of pleasure. Yes, the dance is the thing.

But there is so much else to do in St. Croix. Endless beaches with great snorkeling and beachcombing; quaint plantations and sugar factory ruins with marked by the stubby remains of windmills and the taint of wretched slavery that supported a grand lifestyle for the planters.




The end of slavery in the 1860s brought little to improve the lives of former slaves; they were nominally free, but working conditions and compensation was miserable, I learned at Estate Little Princess. Conditions only improved with the advent of tourism in the 1950’s.

Estate Little Princess, located a short stroll down the shore from Sugar Beach Resort, is under restoration by the Nature Conservancy. There are many other picturesque plantations to tour on St. Croix. The best known is the Whim Plantation.