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St.
Croix
With 84 square miles, St Croix (pop: 55,000)
is the largest of the group, lying some 75 miles east of
Puerto Rico and 40 miles south of St Thomas. The name is
pronounced to rhyme with ‘boy’. People born on the
island are called Cruzans, while North Americans who move
there are known as Continentals. The east of the island is
rocky, arid terrain, the west end is higher, wetter and
forested. Columbus thought that St Croix looked like a
lush garden when he first saw it during his second voyage
in 1493. He landed at Salt River on the north coast, which
has now been approved as a National Park encompassing the
landing site as well as the rich underwater Salt River
drop off and canyon. It had been cultivated by the Carib
Indians, who called it Ay-Ay, and the land still lies
green and fertile between the rolling hills |
