By Plane
Currently, the best way to reach the island by plane, but a fast ferry was said to be in the works at press time. Most flights to St. Croix land at the small international Henry E. Rohlsen Airport, Estate Mannings Bay (tel 340/778-1012; www.viport.com/airports.html; airport code STT), 6 miles southwest of Christiansted on the island’s southern coast. Seaplane flights with Seaborne Airlines from St. Thomas land right at the seaport on the Christiansted waterfront.
American Airlines (tel 800/433-7300; www.aa.com) no longer offers frequent service to St. Croix. American has one direct flight daily from Miami, with one stop (but no change of plane) in St. Thomas. US Airways (tel 800/428-4322; www.usairways.com) offers a nonstop flight from Charlotte in the high season. Most visitors arrive via connecting service through Puerto Rico or St. Thomas. Seaborne Airlines (tel 888/359-8687 or 340/773-6442; www.seaborneairlines.com) offers several flights daily, some on seaplanes that fly “downtown to downtown” between St. Thomas and the Christiansted waterfront (flight time: 25 min.). Cape Air (tel 800/227-3247 in the U.S. and U.S.V.I.; www.capeair.com) flies between St. Croix and San Juan, Vieques Island, or St. Thomas. JetBlue (tel 800/538-2583; www.jetblue.com) has daily afternoon connections from San Juan.
A number of major car-rental firms maintain kiosks at the airport, including Avis (tel 340/778-9355), Hertz (tel 888/248-4261), and Budget (tel 888/264-8894). At the Christiansted seaport, Avis (tel 340/713-1347) is located at 1210 Watergut St. The oldest independent car agency in St. Croix, Olympic Rent-A-Car (tel 888/USVICAR; www.olympicstcroix.com) offers free airport dropoff and pickup. Otherwise, taxis are on call at the airport and in downtown Christiansted to transfer you to your destination.
Travel time to St. Croix from St. Thomas is 25 minutes; between St. Croix and San Juan 50 minutes; and between St. Croix and Vieques 25 minutes. There are no direct flights to St. Croix from Canada or the United Kingdom; connections are made via Miami.
By Boat
The SeaTrans fast ferry that traveled sporadically between St. Thomas and St. Croix was out of commission at press time (it ran aground on one of the small cays between the islands a couple of years ago), but government plans are in the works for the introduction of spiffy new catamaran ferries to travel between St. Thomas and St. Croix. Special ferries do run between St. Thomas and St. Croix in April for the St. Thomas Carnival and again in December around St. Croix’s Carnival. It’s a 1-hour trip over one of the world’s deepest oceans, and when the seas are up, it can be rough passage for those with motion sickness.
By Cruise Ship
The island’s main cruise ship pier, the Ann E. Abramson Pier, on the Fredricksted waterfront, was upgraded and now has the capacity to accommodate two mega-ships at a time. The dock enhancements have already upped cruise-ship visitation from one ship every 3 weeks to one or two ships making port stops weekly.
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.
