Frederiksted and the Rainforest

Frederiksted is the second Danish town on St Croix, smaller and sleepier than Christiansted, with a waterfront of pastel arcaded buildings and a red fort at one end. Its best-known feature is underwater: the pier is one of the finest shore dives in the Caribbean, with the pilings encrusted in sponges and corals in improbable colours and seahorses, frogfish and octopus living among them, and it is even better at night. Behind the town the western end of the island is unexpectedly green, with a pocket of rainforest along Mahogany Road where enormous kapok and mahogany trees shade the road and small distilleries and craft workshops hide in the bush. Sandy Point, the largest beach on the island, is a protected turtle nesting site.

What you actually see

• The Frederiksted pier dive - encrusted pilings with seahorses and frogfish.
• The pastel waterfront - arcaded Danish buildings and the red fort.
• Mahogany Road - the rainforest drive under kapok and mahogany.
• Sandy Point - the island's largest beach, a protected turtle nesting reserve.

When to go

December to April is the dry season and the best diving. Sandy Point is closed to visitors during leatherback nesting, roughly April to August, and open only at weekends outside it, so check before driving out. The pier dive is best at slack water and outstanding at night.

Honest expectations

Frederiksted is very quiet, and on days without a cruise ship much of it is shut; that is either restful or dull. Sandy Point's access is genuinely restricted for turtle protection and the rules are enforced. The rainforest here is a small pocket rather than anything vast, so calibrate expectations.

Nearby

Christiansted is forty minutes east; the rum distilleries are on the same side of the island.