The East End's Beaches: Your Quiet Quarter of the Island

The East End is St. Croix's dry, quiet quarter — cactus hillsides, a two-lane road, and a run of beaches that never see a crowd. The Cerulean's own sandy beach handles most mornings; these are the four worth the short drive when you want a change of water.

The Shoys

A calm, sheltered crescent east of Christiansted that locals treat as the island's best pure swimming beach. Access is the quirk: you enter through the Estate Shoys guard gate by The Buccaneer — give your name, say you're going to the beach, and you're through. A small reef at the eastern end holds rays, eels and conch for snorkelers; the middle is all easy swimming.

Chenay Bay

Shallow, protected, and the East End's family answer: little surf, a sandy bottom that stays waist-deep a long way out, and turtles grazing the seagrass. Kayaks and paddleboards do well here — it's the calmest paddling water on this side of the island.

Grapetree Beach

The southeast's long, narrow ribbon of white sand, backed by sea grape trees and usually close to empty. No facilities, occasionally a little surf — bring water and shade and you'll trade those for seclusion that's hard to buy elsewhere in the Caribbean.

Jack's Bay and Isaac's Bay

The wild ones. Below Point Udall, a 301-acre Nature Conservancy preserve holds two undeveloped bays you can reach only on foot — a cactus-lined trail drops from the parking area just before the point, about five minutes' drive from the villa. Sea turtles nest on both beaches, the snorkeling off the sand is some of the island's best, and there are no facilities at all. Our journal entry tells the hike as we walk it; carry more water than you think you need.

How to pick

Kids: Chenay. Pure swim: the Shoys. Solitude: Grapetree. Earned solitude with snorkeling: Isaac's. And for the day the sea is all you want without the car — the villa's steps end on sand.