Buck Island, St Croix

After receiving our permit to anchor and stay in the National Park we sailed over to the island 5 miles east of Christiansted.P1010843a

We had heard that you could go into the Lagoon on the East side of the island and moor to snorkel but could not stay overnight. We entered the lagoon entrance and made our way up to the end but when the depth got down to 1.5 metres decided it best to turn around and return with the dingy. The waters within the lagoon were crystal clear.P1010848a

The beach at the west end was also protected by a reef and had those nice white sands. On anchoring we watched as little turtle heads popped up all over the place and brown pelicans fed in the waters close by. Buck Island is a protected habitat for the brown pelicans and turtles hence the reason there are so many of them around. The turtles were a little hard to get a shot of as they were so quick but in the photo below is a little head looking around. The beach was inviting with its white sand.  P1010855a

P1010856a

There is a hiking trail that crosses the island from West to east about 1 hour round trip back along the beach. It was hot and very dry but the views at the top were good.

P1010867aP1010861a

P1010864aP1010868a

When we got back to the boat the peace and quiet was gone. Day trippers over from Christiansted had joined us to enjoy the island too.    P1010872a

We decided to go by dingy around to the East lagoon to enjoy the snorkeling underwater trail. Again it was busy with day trippers. It was a little choppy with swells coming across the reef but clear so you could see many tropical fish and the coral and reef.P1010876aP1010884a

Time to head East… more into the wind sailing.