Buck Island, St. Croix

[Kevin's Post]Saturday we planned to fuel up and head out to Buck Island, one of St. Croix's major attractions, en route to Culebra. We were about to head over to the fuel dock when Amanda noticed there was a megayacht docked there. She called over to the marina office to see how long they would be and was told they would be there until Monday. Bummer. I had been looking forward to fueling up here since they have the cheapest fuel north of Venezuela (there is an oil refinery on the island). So we tossed our 5 jerry cans in the dinghy deciding that some was better than none and decided to at least get 25 gallons the hard way. Someone from the marina helped us fill our jerry cans and when they were all full he announced that we had taken on 29.97 gallons. What!? Our jerry cans hold 5 gallons each (plus a little extra if you go over the fill line). 5 x 5 still equals 25 right? Now I can probably squeeze an extra half gallon into each can if I fill all the way to the spout(which I did not), but there is no possible way I can fit a full 6 gallons into a 5 gallon jerry can. I figured it was pointless to argue with the guy, so I paid for the fuel and decided it was a blessing in disguise that the megayacht was there and we couldn't take on more than 25 gallons (or 30 if you ask the marina). So, if you decide to buy fuel at St. Croix Marine, be forewarned that you will be paying for 10-20% more fuel than you are actually getting. It was still cheaper than the $6/gallon we paid a week earlier in Antigua.

After our fuel fiasco, we hauled up the anchor and motored the 5 miles over to Buck Island. One of our guide books claims that Buck Island has some of the best snorkeling in the world. We were a bit skeptical of that, but after snorkeling there we agreed that it was the best snorkeling we've ever seen - in the Caribbean at least. Hopefully, the photos give some idea of what it was like. There was gigantic elkhorn coral growing 30 feet high, and many more fish than you typically see snorkeling. We saw at least 6 barracuda. There is an underwater snorkel trail with signs labeling different types of fish and telling you which direction to swim. It was definitely worth a stop.

Where we are:
Location=Buck Island, St. Croix
Lat=17 47.238
Lon=64 36.575