MERMAID BEACH

We were in Christiansted, I checked my map for beaches close by. I decided we should head to Mermaid Beach and check it out since it was on my "list" of beaches I wanted to go to. I know a lot of people recommend this place for a great beach to hang out at but it was supposed to have good snorkeling as well.

 We arrived and man was it a beautiful beach! The landscape was gorgeous. The palms along the beach were gorgeous. It's what you picture in your mind when you think of a Caribbean Beach.

There was a huge parking lot so we picked our spot and headed in.

We found some chairs and claimed our spot under the palm trees. The beach was nice and clean and there was no smelly sargassum.

This beach is located at Buccaneer Beach Resort. However, since all beaches are public beaches, you can go here free of charge. You just pull up to the gate and let them know you are going to the beach and they let you in.

The resort looks amazing and would be a top pick if I came back to St Croix for another visit. It looked perfect. However, the prices are somewhat high depending on when you go (with the cheapest being around $275/night during low season in the summer and up to $895/night during high season).

There was a restaurant on site but they had servers coming out to take your order and get your drinks as well.

Oh Karl, you are having too much fun on this trip. You look like a true tourist. (This is the shirt he bought the other day that I liked so much. I think I'm going to have to get me one!)

They also had chess, corn hole, connect 4 and tennis courts there (I assume for the guest staying at the resort but it was on the way out to the parking lot so not sure). I can't imagine playing any of this in this heat.

Ok, guess what time it is....you guessed it...snorkeling time. So, Sakari, Karl and I headed out and to the right. We would go around the small dock they had there and along the side where there were rocks.

After heading around the dock area, Karl went up to the beach area on that side and decided he didn't want to snorkel. He didn't have any fins and said he didn't want to snorkel without them. Karl, you can literally stand up in this area (and we showed him) but he shook his head no and said he was just going to stay up at the beach instead.

So, Sakari and I continued on. One thing we would notice about this area (and we renamed it from mermaid beach to anemone beach) is the massive amounts of anemone's EVERYWHERE here. They were on every rock, every crevice and any place you looked you were sure to see them. Most of them were green tipped anemones.

Sakari and I both got really excited to see the pink tip anemone. It was so pretty.

There was some feather duster worms, sea fans and coral in the area as well.

Then all of a sudden Sakari and I both spotted something unusual at the same time. What was this? It was so pretty. I believe it is called a bearded anemone.

It was just so pretty and unique. I think we have seen one of these maybe once or twice before. So, it was a treat to find another on this trip.

More anemone's of course:

We found a Lobster watching us.

Then there was another only this one wasn't as scared as most are and kept coming out to check us out:

There were a few fish in the area: Grunts, Surgeon Fish, Snappers

More pictures as we went along:

We had a great time snorkeling. I really liked the area. The depth is perfect for beginners or advanced and there was enough to see that I thought it was a good area to explore for a day.

We came back to our chairs and Karl had ordered a pizza. He was super excited when they delivered it to him. He said "Wow, it's bigger than I thought"

Then he opened the box...the disappointment settled in.

The price of this somewhat smaller pizza than expected was $28.00 and only 12". He swore he was going to eat the entire thing...only his eyes were bigger than his stomach was and he would take the rest home with him.

It was a great day at Mermaid Beach and I highly recommend this place for the beauty and snorkeling. It is postcard picture perfect!

We settled up our bill with our server. Pop would cost $4/each, Daiquiris are $15 😶 and a virgin daiquiri was $11 🙄. Ridiculous prices for sure. They automatically add a 20% gratuity...just an FYI (which seems to be the norm on the island so watch your receipts...I learned this lesson on our last land vacation).

We gathered our things and headed out.

A video of this gorgeous place and snorkeling: