St Croix and Buck Island

Today we docked at Fredrickstad on the western side of the island and needed to get over to the main harbor on the eastern side of the island.

You can catch a cab to the other side, which will cost you about $45. Or you can take the shuttle van, which is $16 round trip. Sounds like a good deal, but be careful about what time you'll be back.....depending on who you ask, the last shuttle is at 345 or 4pm....and when we showed up (about 12 of us from the snorkel trip) about 340pm no one was there and not many were willing to help us. Finally, one of the shuttle drivers showed up, and although he was full, he got one of the other cab vans to take the rest of us back to the cruise ship. In hindsight, would have probably gotten a cab, the cost wasn't that much different for 4 of us.

Anyway, it's about a 30 minute drive, and we even passed Home Depot!!!

We arrived in Christianstad, and headed for the Jolly Roger, our transportation for the day.

And off we go to Buck Island!

The trip was very fun and relaxing, and when we arrived, we were on a beach on the west side to allow us all to make sure our snorkel gear was working OK.

Here's Captain Mike on the Jolly Roger. Chris is in the foreground.

Then we sailed around the east side of the island, and anchored for our snorkeling adventure. It was great actually, it was a little choppy, but the water was beautifully clear and we didn't have any issues seeing fish.

There's a trail you can swim through, with some markers telling you about the fish and coral.

A parrotfish

Some coral.

Soon, it was time to sail back to our starting point, and catch the shuttle (or not!) back to the ship. We did see the fort right before we left.

Then, back to the ship, where we got back onboard and cleaned up for dinner. Which was apparently formal night, although I didn't know that until Pam called me!

 

Posted with Blogsy