Our Perfect Day on St. Croix

It doesn’t involve seeing as much of the island as possible. There’s no packed itinerary, no excursion to catch and, on a really perfect day, no reason to get in the car.

It’s slow. It starts early. And most of it happens within walking distance of Oceans.

Wake Up With the Caribbean

The first thing we hear in the morning is the waves.

We’re early risers on St. Croix. The sky begins to lighten around 5:30, so we put on a pot of coffee, grab some fruit and take both out to the balcony.

Then we stay there for a while.

We watch the pelicans diving for their breakfast. The light changes over the Caribbean. The island slowly wakes up.

There’s nowhere we need to be.

Walk Down to Cane Bay

Around 8:00, we grab our snorkel gear and walk down to Cane Bay Beach.

It’s about eight minutes from Oceans, and the walk itself has become part of our morning routine. We keep a wide variety of snorkel gear for guests in the dock box by the pool, so there’s no need to rent equipment every time you want to get in the water.

At the beach, we put on our gear and enter near the cement pier, where the bottom is sandy rather than rocky.

And then we swim.

We head straight out beyond the first reef, turn east and snorkel slowly along the outside of it, taking our time to see what’s beneath us.

Eventually we reach the Fish Hotel, pretty far east in the bay. Hundreds of juvenile fish gather here, and on different mornings we’ve encountered sea turtles, pufferfish, squid, lobsters, eels, parrotfish and all kinds of colorful reef fish.

Our total swim is usually somewhere between a quarter and a half mile.

It doesn’t feel much like exercise.

Sometimes, Breakfast Finds Us

If Sunny Shore Up is parked at the beach, our morning gets even better.

The easiest way we remember their schedule is that they’re usually there on days beginning with T or S.

We’ll linger after our swim, order an iced coffee and have one of our favorite breakfasts. For us, it’s usually either an extra-crispy hash brown bowl topped with sofrito and eggs or lox and cream cheese on an everything bagel.

There’s also a wide assortment of local hot sauces waiting to spice things up.

Say hello to JD and Mike for us.

A Slow Morning Back at Oceans

If Sunny Shore Up isn’t at the beach that morning, breakfast waits until we get home.

Either way, we make the leisurely walk back to Oceans, rinse the sand from our feet with the hose and jump into the pool to get the salt off.

Sometimes that turns into sitting in the water for a while with something cold to drink.

There’s no rush.

On mornings when we haven’t eaten at the beach, we eventually shower, make breakfast and end up right back where the day began: on the balcony overlooking the crashing waves.

Walk Back for Lunch

By lunchtime, we may be ready for the strenuous eight-minute journey back to Cane Bay.

The Landing Beach Bar is one of our favorite places on the island, and having it within walking distance is something we never take for granted.

We particularly love Win’s lobster tacos, served with the most delicious Puerto Rican-inspired beans and rice. The seared tuna bites are another favorite.

And a glass of cold tea is pretty perfect after a morning in the sun.

Then we walk home again.

Master the Art of Doing Very Little

Our afternoons at Oceans are rarely ambitious.

We might read beside the pool or settle onto the balcony with a book. Sitting in the private plunge pool with a cold beer is another perfectly good way to let an afternoon disappear.

And then there is the nap.

Falling asleep in the afternoon with the sound of waves breaking in the background is one of those small luxuries that’s hard to explain until you’ve done it.

Golden Hour Is an Appointment We Keep

There is one part of the day we do try not to miss.

As the afternoon light begins to soften, we pour glasses of wine, put together an hors d’oeuvre or two and head back to the balcony.

From Oceans, we watch the sun work its way down toward Ham’s Bluff at the western end of the island.

The light changes by the minute. The water changes with it.

And once again, we linger.

Dinner at Home

On a day like this, we don’t particularly want to get dressed and go out for dinner.

We keep it simple.

Fresh shrimp or fish, some vegetables and fruit, with whatever needs cooking going onto the grill. Nothing complicated. Nothing that takes us away from the view for very long.

If it’s a calm evening, we eat outside.

The lamps glow on the table. The pool is illuminated nearby. The sky gets darker and the stars begin to appear over the Caribbean.

It’s a magical place to be.

And eventually, the only thing left to hear is the same thing that started the day.

The waves.

The Oceans Take

There are plenty of days when we explore St. Croix. We hike, snorkel, try restaurants, drive across the island and discover places we haven’t been before.

But our perfect day?

We barely leave Cane Bay.

Coffee as the Caribbean wakes up. A long morning swim. Maybe breakfast at the beach. A lazy lunch at The Landing. A book, a swim, perhaps a nap. Wine at sunset. Something simple on the grill.

Then we go to sleep listening to the waves.

And the next morning, we’re perfectly happy to do much of it all over again.