Where is St. Croix?

Updated August 16, 2026

St. Croix sits in the Caribbean Sea at roughly 17.7° N, 64.7° W — about 70 miles east of Puerto Rico and about 40 miles south of St. Thomas and St. John.

That 40 miles matters more than any other fact on this page. St. Thomas and St. John sit close together on a shared shelf in the Atlantic-facing chain. St. Croix sits on its own, alone in the Caribbean Sea, separated by deep open water. There is no bridge, no causeway, and no road between them.

What that distance actually changes

Because St. Croix is separate, it developed separately. It is the largest of the three main U.S. Virgin Islands — about 84 square miles, roughly 28 miles long — and it has room the others do not. Rolling former sugar estates in the middle. Rainforest on the west end. Dry, cactus-studded hills in the east. Two real towns rather than one cruise port.

It also means St. Croix gets a fraction of the cruise traffic that St. Thomas does. Most people who come here are staying here.

The two towns

Christiansted sits on the north-east coast, built by the Danish in the 1700s around a working harbour. Yellow and ochre arcaded buildings, a national historic site, restaurants along the boardwalk. This is where most visitors base themselves; our villa sits ten minutes east of it, in the hills above the east end.

Frederiksted is on the west coast, quieter, with the calmest water on the island and the pier where the occasional cruise ship docks.

The drive between them takes about 35–40 minutes on the main road.

Getting your bearings

• North shore — Cane Bay, Salt River, the dive wall, the big views
• East end — dry, rugged, Point Udall, the most dramatic coastline
• West end — Frederiksted, Sandy Point, the rainforest, sunset beaches
• Centre — old estates, the botanical garden, the rum distillery

You will want a car. The island is too spread out to work any other way, and — worth knowing before you land — you drive on the left in the U.S. Virgin Islands, in mostly left-hand-drive American cars.

Which island should you pick?

If you want a busy port town, duty-free shopping and lots of day trips, St. Thomas does that well. If you want a quieter island with more space, better diving, and a slower rhythm, St. Croix is the one. See our fuller comparison in St. Croix vs St. Thomas.

Common questions

Is St. Croix part of the United States?

Yes. St. Croix is part of the U.S. Virgin Islands, an unincorporated territory of the United States. The currency is the U.S. dollar and U.S. citizens do not need a passport to visit.

How far is St. Croix from St. Thomas?

Roughly 40 miles of open water to the south. There is no bridge and no road — you travel between them by seaplane, small aircraft, or ferry.

How big is St. Croix?

About 84 square miles — roughly 28 miles long and 7 miles across at its widest. It is the largest of the U.S. Virgin Islands, more than twice the size of St. Thomas.