My choice is easy. Stay at The Buccaneer. I love it. Check out my previous postings and you will see why I love the place. Just left click on my name and you should see a list of my responses. I would suggest booking a Mountain View room and you will probably get a free upgrade once you arrive. You also get a really good breakfast with your room rate along with free nights, beverage and food credits plus other stuff. Check out their website. My oldest son stayed at the Carambola on one of our trips together. It is a very lush and tropical setting in a small valley but the rooms and the grounds need some serious attention. They were just run down and beaten up when he stayed there. The beach is picturesque but kind of rocky and wavy with a fairly steep dropoff. Believe it or not, it can get so windy there that you may actually feel kind of chilly on the beach. Depending on the amount of rainfall over the last several weeks it can get dried out on the eastern end of the island near the Buccaneer. Right now things are nice and green. May is the rainiest month so it should stay that way for the next month or two. I'll try some quick general answers. As far as snorkeling goes, I would not snorkel at the Carambola, but there is some fair snorkeling right off Grotto beach at the Buccaneer. You walk into the water,go about 10 yards to your left and begin to snorkel. The further you go along the rocks, things get better. I've seen all sorts of neat stuff there. The best snorkeling on the island is probably Cane Bay and then the trip to Buck Island( Do not miss it). Cane Bay is very close to the Carambola. The golf course at the Carambola is better, but it is about a 10 minute drive and is more expensive. Driving on the island is fairly easy as long as you have a good map. The location of either place for getting to the rest of the island shouldn't sway you one way or the other. Half the fun of visting St Croix is just driving around. The views from the Buccaneer especially at night when you look towards the Christiansted harbor are wonderful. The sunsets from the terrace are very nice but the sun goes down over the one edge of the island You can not see a sunset over the water from either place,you have to go to Fredericksted for that. The Buccaneer usually has some entertainment at night. The views from the beach at the Carambola are only of the ocean and the hills around the resort, nice but not spectacular. The drive to the Carambola at night is a little tougher because it is usually pretty dark out that way. As far as relaxing at the end of the day ,I've never founf a better place to do that then the Buccaneer. It is heaven to just sit out on your balcony and look out over the grounds. It's quiet,the grounds are gorgeous and if the weather is clear enough you can see the lights of St. Thomas and St John to the north. One night we sat at the lobby bar and actually were able to see fireworks on St. Thomas. There are plenty of good restaurants to choose from and lots of things to occupy your time. You will have a great time no matter where you stay. My email is rich@knitneylines.com if you have any other questions.

Thank you for the information. It was so helpful! I knew that the Buccaneer offered a package for 5 nights with one free but I see that they also offer a 7 night package with offers. Sounds like you answered my questions and concerns. Buccaneer it is!

Good choice. When are you going ? We will be there on 7/21. After check in I will be heading straight to the little beach bar at Mermaid Beach for a few cold Caribes.

Unfortunately or fortunately, which ever way you want to look at it, we are going on May 21st. I will have a toast on you!

I was born and raised on St. Croix. I lived there my entire life unitl I moved to Virginia. I sitll go home every once in a while. Both hotels are wonderful. I don't think you can go wrong with either one. And please don't forget the island is only 84 square miles. So you are never more than a half hour drive if that from any part of the islands, so distance should be the last thing on your mind. Please if you have any questions, email me a CRUZANDRE1914@HOTMAIL.com. I'll have you feeling like a local in no time. Andre

I was born and raised on St. Croix. I lived there my entire life unitl I moved to Virginia. I sitll go home every once in a while. Both hotels are wonderful. I don't think you can go wrong with either one. And please don't forget the island is only 84 square miles. So you are never more than a half hour drive if that from any part of the islands, so distance should be the last thing on your mind. Please if you have any questions, email me a CRUZANDRE1914@HOTMAIL.com. I'll have you feeling like a local in no time. Andre

I have never stayed at the Buccaneer, but for my money, if you can get a good deal at the Carambola Beach resort, go there. My wife and I love it there. It's on the northwest coast of the island on Davis bay and is absolutely gorgeous. Driving to and from any place on the island is easy enough. I was the one who got lost, but we arrived on island at night and without knowing the road numbers, it was pretty easy to get lost. The next day, with a good map we quickly learned our way around. Remember in St. Croix that they drive on the left side of the road. Having lived for years in both the UK and Japan that wasn't a big deal for me, but oddly even though they drive on the left, they drive U.S. spec. cars with the steering wheel on the left, so the driver is on the outside of the road and the passenger on the inside.

The snorkelling right off the beach at Carambola Beach is great, but depending on the tide it can get rough sometimes. No 100 foot walls. The beach is gorgeous and there is an attentive wait staff. The pool itself is great and the bar and restaurant are great. Once a week they throw a huge Caribbean party with Caribbean/Seafood buffet and entertainment is provided by Mojo Jumbies (sp) a unique Caribbean form of entertainment, sort of a combination of Cirque de Soleil and carnival sideshow with a little voodoo flavor thrown in.

The accomdations are great, roomy and comfortable. They are in seperated bungalow type units spread across tropical gardens and the beach. Each bungalow has 6 or 8 separate suites, both upstairs or downstairs.

If you haven't booked yet. Check out http://www.carambolabeach.com/

P.S. If you like snorkeling, Buck Island national monument is a must. It's about six miles from Christiensted. It's controlled by the National Park service and is surrounded by one of the nicest, unspoiled coral reefs in the Caribbean. The beach on the island is spectacular. You can book a half day or day trip out to the island for snorkelling or scuba. Because of the reef, the waters around the island are calm and crystal clear. Much of the reef is in relatively shallow waters and the marine life is fantastic. Check out http://www.nps.gov/buis/

Azure,

It's the Buccaneer for us. See you there on May 22. After way too much research, we ended up picking the the hotel we original looked at...The Buccanneer. Fantastic reviews by all on everything from room locations, to staff, to beaches. TripAdvisor postings have been a great resource for us. We can't wait to snorkle the beautiful waters and enjoy the Island culture. It will be our first trip to St. Croix, and we are REALLY looking forward to the vacation. My wife and I will see you guys on the beach Sunday afternoon!

Since this is our first trip on the island we went with the Buccaneer. I also used the Trip Advisor Review Forum. I do plan to check out some of the other spots for myself for future trips. I researched this to death and changed my mind on where to stay several times. I know that the island isn't long, but I wasn't sure how the roads were. The roads on every island are different. Beware of St. Lucia! The car rental places have assured me that St. Croix has nice rolling hills and that the roads are fine. We like to go to some of those hard to find spots, so if anyone has any suggestions, please tell us your secret spots that you discovered. I appreciate the responses that I have received. I had read several comments in the forum from Nuke44 and found them to be helpful.

2TXWynns, we will see you there. Do either of you dive? Unfortunately, I do not and my husband is wanting to do some diving and needs a buddy. Let me know if this something that you will be interested in.

Congratulations on your choice! Be sure to check out Carringtons while you are there. It's not on the beach but has a beautiful view of the harbor. It is really a great place.

I hear you about St. Lucia! When we were there staying at Sandals, we rented a car for a day and turned it back in about 2 hours later. It was too stressful! Driving on St. Croix is no problem, mon.

Our favorite restaurant is Kenricks, in Christiansted. It has a beautiful courtyard setting and the food and service are wonderful. Good happy hours at Breezes and Rumrunners.

Be sure to check out Sonya's for jewelry. The other jewelry stores carry the "Caribbean hook" bracelet also but you get more personalized attention at Sonya's. They explain exactly how the bracelet should fit. In fact, right now, I wearing my hook bracelet and my hook ring!

Now for the best part. As long as you are in reasonably good shape, try this. Drive to the east end of the island (left from the Bucaneer). Just before you get to Udall Point (the very end, the eastermost point of the US), you can pull off the road and you will see a trail and a beach below with waves crashing. Take the trail to the beach, go right, to the end of the beach and you will see a trail up over the rocks. At the top of the hill, you will be able to see the next beach, stunningly beautiful Isaac's Bay. Follow the trail down (about 1/2 hike from where you parked). On most days, nobody else will be there. There is a wonderful reef right offshore for snorkeling. There are no houses in the hills, usually no boats in the water, and you can see someone coming from either direction for a long way. We always feel like we are millionaires on our own private island when we are there. Be sure to take plenty of water, especially for the hike back up the hill.

Have a great time!