{"id":1885,"date":"2022-04-13T15:53:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-13T20:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/?p=1885"},"modified":"2022-04-13T08:13:20","modified_gmt":"2022-04-13T13:13:20","slug":"snorkeling-buck-island-st-croix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/index.php\/2022\/04\/13\/snorkeling-buck-island-st-croix\/","title":{"rendered":"Snorkeling Buck Island, St. Croix. Four Thumbs Up!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>No visit to St. Croix is complete without a trip to its crown jewel of underwater glory: Buck Island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/3-buck-island-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1891\" srcset=\"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/3-buck-island-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/3-buck-island-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/3-buck-island-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/3-buck-island-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/3-buck-island.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><figcaption> What lies beneath this turquoise water? We&#8217;ll soon find out!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Located one and a half miles from the dock at Christiansted across the turquoise sea, Buck Island Reef National Monument offers over 19,000 acres of both submerged and dry lands that are pristine and perfect for nature exploration. The only way to get there is on a National Park Service-approved boat tour. We chose to take a half-day catamaran trip with Big Beard Adventures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/6-christiansted-boardwalk-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1892\" srcset=\"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/6-christiansted-boardwalk-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/6-christiansted-boardwalk-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/6-christiansted-boardwalk-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/6-christiansted-boardwalk-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/6-christiansted-boardwalk.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><figcaption>Leaving Christiansted Boardwalk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/2-back-of-boat-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1893\" srcset=\"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/2-back-of-boat-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/2-back-of-boat-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/2-back-of-boat-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/2-back-of-boat-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/2-back-of-boat.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><figcaption>Enjoying the boat<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/1-firstview-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1897\" srcset=\"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/1-firstview-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/1-firstview-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/1-firstview-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/1-firstview-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/1-firstview.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><figcaption> First  view of Buck Island<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>There are hiking trails on Buck Island will take you through a tropical dry forest to the hilltop; we didn\u2019t have time to do this. (Take the full-day tour if you want to hike.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/7-buckisland-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1896\" srcset=\"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/7-buckisland-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/7-buckisland-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/7-buckisland-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/7-buckisland-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/7-buckisland.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Beaching<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>But we did have time to visit the beach, where we watched gray pelicans and magnificent frigatebirds fish while novices were back at the boat learning how to snorkel. Then the Big Beard crew honked the horn for us the re-board the catamaran, and took us around to the other side of the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Snorkeling<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We pulled on our masks and fins and jumped in with the first group and snorkeled for an hour and a half above an outstanding reef teeming with colorful fish and majestic elkhorn coral. Enjoy Bob&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/S347rGyCa8M\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">YouTube video<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Snorkeling Buck Island, St. Croix. Four Thumbs Up!\" width=\"525\" height=\"295\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/S347rGyCa8M?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Drinking<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>On the way back to Christiansted, we enjoyed punch made with St. Croix\u2019s own Mutiny Vodka (we will visit their distillery on our next visit to the island) while visiting with our new friends, Jane and Rick from St. Louis! (Jane originally hails from Adelaide, Australia, and both are scuba divers.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4-iguana.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"884\" data-id=\"1895\" src=\"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4-iguana-1024x884.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1895\" srcset=\"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4-iguana-1024x884.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4-iguana-300x259.jpg 300w, https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4-iguana-768x663.jpg 768w, https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4-iguana-1536x1326.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/4-iguana.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/5-bird.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"856\" data-id=\"1894\" src=\"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/5-bird-1024x856.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1894\" srcset=\"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/5-bird-1024x856.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/5-bird-300x251.jpg 300w, https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/5-bird-768x642.jpg 768w, https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/5-bird-1536x1284.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/5-bird.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-caption\">We saw these creatures on the relaxing trip back<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Messy Suitcase heartily recommends Big Beard\u2019s Adventure Tours. Four thumbs up! The captain made the safety instructions hilarious; his crew did a great job of getting to know every participant\u2019s needs and aspirations for the trip; and they were all extremely capable \u2013 and fun! (And yes, all the men did indeed sport big beards, though the new guy\u2019s was still a bit scraggly.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>LINKS<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/buis\/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Buck Island Reef<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bigbeards.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Big Beard\u2019s Adventure Tours<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vinow.com\/stcroix\/activities\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">St. Croix Activities<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vinow.com\/blog\/nature\/the-queen-conch\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Queen Conch<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Maps<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/buis\/planyourvisit\/maps.htm\" target=\"_blank\">B<\/a><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/buis\/planyourvisit\/maps.htm\" target=\"_blank\">u<\/a><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/buis\/planyourvisit\/maps.htm\" target=\"_blank\">c<\/a><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/buis\/planyourvisit\/maps.htm\" target=\"_blank\">k<\/a><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/buis\/planyourvisit\/maps.htm\" target=\"_blank\"> <\/a><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/buis\/planyourvisit\/maps.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Island<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/goo.gl\/maps\/26mvdQttsbnfGuBr5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Big Beard Tours<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>No visit to St. Croix is complete without a trip to its crown jewel of underwater glory: Buck Island. Located one and a half miles from the dock at Christiansted across the turquoise sea, Buck Island Reef National Monument offers over 19,000 acres of both submerged and dry lands that are pristine and perfect for &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/index.php\/2022\/04\/13\/snorkeling-buck-island-st-croix\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Snorkeling Buck Island, St. Croix. Four Thumbs Up!&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[222,216,356,401],"tags":[30,404,27,9,290,12,5,6,403,402],"class_list":["post-1885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lisa-blogger","category-outdoors","category-snorkeling","category-virgin-islands","tag-adventure","tag-buckisland","tag-messysuitcase","tag-retirement","tag-snorkeling","tag-travel","tag-travel-blog","tag-travel-blogger","tag-usvi","tag-virginislands"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1885"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1885\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1898,"href":"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1885\/revisions\/1898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}