St. Croix Real Estate & Other Good Things

10 Best Islands To Live On

Eric — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 21:07:40 +0000

The July 2008 edition of Islands Magazine recently voted St. Croix as one of the 10 best islands to live on. Why? It’s a U.S. territory, English-speaking, affordable and you can take a nonstop flight from the U.S. to easily get here. Here is the link to read more about St. Croix at Islands Magazine and also a St.Croix photo gallery too.

The Top 10 best islands to call home, based on experiences from expatriates, considering culture, weather and available real estate are…

Palawan, Philippines
Bequia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines
Vanua Levu, Fiji
Kangaroo Island, Australia: Abundance of wacky wildlife.
Eleuthera, Bahamas: Tropical wilderness reigns.
Orcas Island, Wash.: Emerald-green forests surrounded by the topaz-blue Salish Sea.
Singapore: Interweaves cultures from all over the world.Kauai, Hawaii: America’s Pacific paradise.
Ambergris Caye, Belize
Gozo, Malta: A sunny, affordable Mediterranean island.
St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands: U.S. territory, English-speaking, affordable — and there’s a non-stop flight.

Full Moon Beach Bar

Eric — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 18:32:03 +0000

Just across the street from Cane Bay is Full Moon Beach Bar (or Cane Bay Beach Bar depending on who you talk to). This is the quintessential bar Jimmy Buffet would be proud to frequent. The views are of the beautiful beach, ocean and the North shore mountains of St. Croix. Grab a seat and relax, you might be staying a while!

Today we took the family for Sunday brunch and listened to live guitar. To make it official we ordered some tasty Bloody Mary’s. The bar has live music frequently with acoustic, reggae and other eclectic sounds. Other days of the week are lunch, brunch and dinner specials including a great all-you-can-eat shrimp special (which I think is every Friday). You’ll find a couple dozen seats up at the bar plus another dozen tables for conventional seating. Choose a seat at the bar if you want to overlook the Cane Bay beach action. The open air decor is typical beach bar… wooden deck floor, plastic chairs, funky murals and license plates from all over the world.

Behind Full Moon Beach Bar is the Cane Bay Dive Shop, where you can take Scuba lessons, rent Scuba equipment or buy island style items like t-shirts, sandals, sun screen and more. Then behind the dive shop is the Virgin Kayak Company for kayak rentals and tours. To the left are cute little St. Croix rental cottages.

Click photos to view larger, or click to visit Full Moon Beach Bar on St. Croix…

North Shore St. Croix Home For Sale

Eric — Sat, 17 May 2008 00:14:39 +0000

Wake up to a view that will take your breath away. Located on top of a mountain overlooking what many consider to be the most beautiful part of St. Croix, the North Shore. See almost the entire island of St. Croix, a full 360 degree view, from Christiansted all the way down to Hamms Bluff. Simply breathtaking in all directions! Very few properties for sale on St. Croix will ever be available with such a stunning view.

The home itself has so many details that make it a truly unique custom home built “on top of the world”. Custom features that everyone will appreciate. Large 620 square foot pool and spa regrouted in 2007, brand new standing seam roof in 2006. Completely furnished with a decorators hand. Main floor is 862 ft above sea level… imagine your view!

Each room on the main level - living, dining, kitchen, and master bedroom - open to the patio and pool, creating great spaces for entertaining and living. There is a formal dining room as well as a patio dining area adjacent to the kitchen. Each room has cathedral ceilings and over-sized custom doors. Each bedroom has private indoor and outdoor sitting space, ensuite baths and generous closets. There is a full sized one bedroom apartment with a private entrance. There is even an elevator from the ground level two car garage to the upper main level. There are 3 laundry areas - a master suite laundry, guest laundry, apartment laundry.

This St. Croix home has it all. The land is a large 2.74 acres. The home has 5 bedrooms, 5 and 1/2 baths, cathedral ceilings, garage and workshop. Comes furnished plus gas grill, satellite dish, spa and much more.

For details contact Realtor Robert Quinn of Calabash Real Estate at 340-690-6080.

Miramar St. Croix Home For Sale

Eric — Fri, 16 May 2008 22:32:53 +0000

Looking for the ultimate luxury home currently for sale on St. Croix, USVI? Look no further. Miramar has everything to make your time on the island simply perfect. You and your guests will surely find this luxury residence breathtaking.

This spectacular property is set on private Solitude Point with panoramic views of the azure blue sea, overlooking the most stunning Virgin Islands landmark… the beautiful nature preserve called Buck Island. Just steps from the water you’ll gaze out over the tranquil tropical ocean each morning and the beautiful St. Croix sunset each evening.

The main house of 11,000 sq.ft. consists of 5 bedroom suites and a 2,400 foot living room with 18 foot granite bar. The kitchen is a gourmet chef’s dream with Wolf appliances and plenty of entertaining space. Palatial outdoor living area is dominated by a fabulous true infinity pool. This property includes so much more… a must see St. Croix luxury home.

For more information contact Realtor David Fedeles of Farchette & Hanley Realtors at (340) 773-4665 x18.

Website Partnerships

Eric — Fri, 16 May 2008 20:48:23 +0000

Cruzana is looking to exchange links with other selected websites. If you have a website related to St. Croix (in any way) send us an email. Your website could be about a St. Croix business, event, service, vacation rental, real estate company, you name it. We are happy to exchange links with you! Email eric at cruzana dot com.

Smokes & Sweets on St. Croix

Eric — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:26:34 +0000

Down in the Pan Am Pavilion is another one of St. Croix’s good things… Steele’s Smokes & Sweets. Jeff and Mary Ann Seroogy run a small store with a large selection of premium cigars, tobaccos, homemade fudge and delicious gourmet chocolates. You’ll find everything from Cohibas to Macanudos and Godiva Chocolates to Lindt Truffles.

It appears both smokes and sweets are equally popular. Mary Ann mentioned that two of their most popular sweets are Caribbean Rum Balls and their very own Seroogy’s chocolates, family-made since 1899. Me, I like to visit Smokes & Sweets to step down into the cigar room, a glass enclosed room lined with wooden shelves of exotic looking cigars. Funny part is, I don’t even smoke cigars. I just like the feeling, the smells, and the visual richness of this great little shop.

And did you know? When the colorful cigar boxes are empty Jeff simply gives them away, free for the taking (other shops charge several dollars each). I find the boxes are both beautiful and utilitarian. They’re great for storing receipts, postcards, small collections, and some may even fit CDs. Another interesting tidbit… one of Jeff Seroogy’s family members is the famous actor Tony Shalhoub from the hit TV shows Wings and Monk.

For more information visit their website at Smokesandsweets.com

Below are a few photos of Steele’s Smokes & Sweets, located in Christiansted, St. Croix USVI plus a few shots of the cigar boxes that hold my St. Croix treasures…

Top 10 St. Croix Real Estate Websites

Eric — Tue, 13 May 2008 13:53:20 +0000

Looking to move to St. Croix USVI? Try our TOP 10 most helpful websites…

Your comments are welcome! Please use the comment form below…

Aboard the Roseway

Eric — Sat, 10 May 2008 13:27:06 +0000

Last night we took a sunset sail aboard the 137 foot schooner Roseway. Built in 1925 to defend America’s honor in the annual race between the Nova Scotia and Massachusetts fishing fleets, the Roseway stood as a shining example of a fast fishing schooner. Despite her limited fishing history, the oak-built Roseway set a record of 74 swordfish caught in one day in 1934. The distinctive rust-orange sails and dark blue hull are hard to miss even today.

We bought our tickets, met some of the crew of the World Ocean School, and boarded on the Gallows Bay, St. Croix wharf right around 5:00 PM for a three hour tour… a threeee hour tour. After living on the island for months, gazing out at the azure blue ocean almost daily, it was exciting to finally get out on the ocean! Everyone we talked to seemed equally excited to be there.

After the usual safety announcements we were underway, albeit by engine power for the first five minutes until we reached deeper waters. The first mate explained we’d be needed to hoist the sails because the mainsail weighs over one ton! About 10 men and women lined up on each side and gave heave-ho’s on the thick ropes and soon we were “under sail”. The engines cut off and let the evening’s light tropical winds power us. What a feeling of peacefulness!

For the next 2 hours we enjoyed a fantastic sail out on the open ocean while sipping rum punch, champagne, wine and Red Stripe. We talked with the Captain, the founder of the World Ocean School, the first mate and the crew. Almost all the crew lived somewhere in Maine. We chatted with other interesting folks and had some laughs about “life on St. Croix”. One man aboard, Craig Alexander, had recently won the St. Croix Half Ironman Triathlon (last weeks story). Another interesting gentleman I met, at least to a geek like me, is the Executive Director of the UVI Research & Technology Park. All in all we had a great evening.

Click for more information about the Roseway and the World Ocean School…

Below are a few photos of our adventure…

Vote for Your Favorite St. Croix Beach

Eric — Sun, 04 May 2008 17:51:29 +0000

With so many St. Croix beaches to choose from we thought we’d just ask YOU what your favorite beach is. The island has about 30 beaches. Most have white sand, azure blue water and Palm trees! There are no nude St. Croix beaches (that we know of) but all are open to the public, however a few of the hotel beaches do charge a small fee.

What's your favorite St. Croix beach?

Protestant Cay Beach

Mermaid Beach

The Grotto Beach

Shoy's Beach

Tamarind Reef Beach

Coakley Beach

Chenay Bay Beach

Buck Island Beach

Reef Beach

Cramer's Park Beach

Jack Bay Beach

Issac Bay Beach

Grapetree Bay Beach

Divi Beach

Manchenil Beach

Sandy Point Beach

Sand Castle Beach

Dorst Beach

Fort Frederik Beach

Rainbow Beach

Sprat Hall Beach

Davis Bay Beach - Carambola

Cane Bay Beach

Columbus Landing Beach

Green Cay Beach

Teague Bay Beach

View Results

St. Croix Half Ironman

Eric — Sun, 04 May 2008 15:15:36 +0000

This morning around 9:00 AM we walked up to watch the road race portion of St. Croix Half Ironman Triathlon. Our location was the sharp corner at the back entrance of Carambola Golf Resort. Each biker raced down the slight hill and braked into the hairpin turn then accelerated past us toward the straightaway. I stood on the sidelines with a dozen other observers, cheered them on and took a few photos with our Nikon D40. It was fun!

The weather was at first overcast, then raining, then sunny (typical North Shore weather). The rain made for a tricky corner and one biker actually skidded off the road, almost lost control, bumped up over a concrete embankment and ended up in the grass. Phew! Within 10 seconds he was pumping back into action. The road was surely getting slick with the mild downpour.

We got there a little late and managed to miss the leaders go by, but I do think we saw the first “Ironwoman” cruise by. Every participant looked to be in very good shape (of course), some even had smiles on! The bikes were very high-tech looking with many sporting those funky wide rims. We all commented how loud the bike tires sounded when they whooshed by… I think we were all expecting near silence.

For more info about the race, the results and other info please visit StCroixTriathlon.com…

Below are some pictures of the St. Croix Ironman Triathlon. Enjoy.