Geography | |
---|---|
Location | Christiansted Harbor |
Coordinates | 17°44′59″N64°42′10″W / 17.74972°N 64.70278°W |
Archipelago | Virgin Islands |
Area | 4 acres (1.6 ha) |
Administration | |
Territory | Virgin Islands |
District | District of Saint Croix |
Sub-district | Christiansted |
Protestant Cay is a four-acre triangular islet in the Christiansted Harbor, 200 yards north of Christiansted. [1] [2] The island is home to a resort, [3] the Hotel on the Cay, which is home to a protected sand beach, small shop and beach bar. [4] [5] It also has the closest beach to Downtown Christiansted. [6] With one of the ferries, which run from 7 a.m. to 12 a.m., every ten minutes, it will only take about two minutes to get there. The ride is free of charge after 4 p.m., and for guests of the Hotel on the Cay. To get on the ferry, passengers have to stand near the boardwalk in front of the King Christian Hotel and wave to the boat captain on duty.
Local legend says the island is named because the Catholic French rulers of the late 1600s wanted all of non-Catholic faith to be segregated and interred on the offshore islet. [7] As only Catholics were allowed burials on Saint Croix, people of other faiths were buried on Protestant Cay. [8]
The endemic Saint Croix ground lizard was once roaming Saint Croix and all nearby islands and islets, but is now only found on Protestant and Green Cays off Saint Croix’s northern coast. [9] [10]
The United States Virgin Islands, officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an unincorporated and organized territory of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.
The United States Virgin Islands (USVI) is the only place under United States jurisdiction where the rule of the road is to drive on the left. However, virtually all passenger vehicles are left hand drive due to imports of U.S. vehicles.
Saint Croix is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincorporated territory of the United States.
Christiansted is the largest town on Saint Croix, one of the main islands composing the United States Virgin Islands, a territory of the United States of America. The town is named after King Christian VI of Denmark.
Green Cay National Wildlife Refuge, encompasses the 6 ha (14 acre) island of Green Cay lying midway between the town of Christiansted and Buck Island Reef National Monument, just north of Saint Croix in the United States Virgin Islands of the Caribbean. It is administered as part of the Caribbean Islands National Wildlife complex. There is a smaller "Green Cay" off the coast of Saint Thomas.
Havensight on Saint Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands is a community and the busiest cruise port in the world.
Runaway Bay is a town in Saint Ann Parish on the northern coast of Jamaica and is considered one of the most naturally beautiful places on the island. It is a notable tourist destination located 16 km (9.9 mi) west of Ocho Rios, and slightly east of Discovery Bay, where Christopher Columbus landed in 1494. Ocean View Beach is a private beach situated at Runaway Bay. It consists of a series of hotel resort complexes and beaches.
The following is an alphabetical list of articles related to the territory of the United States Virgin Islands.
Religion in the United States Virgin Islands is varied. Only 6% of the population is non-Christian.
Arnold Ray Highfield was an American professor, historian, writer, and poet, best known for his historical works on the Danish West Indies and the United States Virgin Islands.
The fauna of the United States Virgin Islands consists of 144 species of birds, 22 species of mammals, 302 species of fish and 7 species of amphibians. The wildlife of the U.S.V.I. includes numerous endemic species of tropical birds, fish, and land reptiles as well as sea mammals. The only endemic land mammals are six species of native bats: the greater bulldog bat, Antillean fruit-eating bat, red fruit bat, Brazilian free-tailed bat, velvety free-tailed bat and the Jamaican fruit bat. Some of the nonnative land mammals roaming the islands are the white-tailed deer, small Asian mongoose, goats, feral donkeys, rats, mice, sheep, hogs, dogs and cats.
Île Frégate is a small, uninhabited island in the Caribbean Sea located off the north coast of Saint Barthélemy, an overseas collectivity of France. Île Frégate is situated within the Nature Reserve of Saint Bartholomew, which was established in 1996 with the objective of conserving coral reefs, sea grass beds and marine life.
Saba Island is a rocky Caribbean island in the United States Virgin Islands, situated three miles south of Cyril E. King Airport on St. Thomas and 2.6 miles west of Water Island. It is a steep, 200 feet high island with a sandy beach on the northern side. Turtledove Cay is connected by a shallow sandbar. Saba Island has salt ponds on both the eastern and western sides, which is popular bird observation posts, and has numerous rocky cliffs with sea birds on its southern shores. Besides for bird observation, the island is visited by scuba divers and snorkelers. In addition to coral reefs, the waters here are home to numerous ship wrecks, such as the Witshoal II, Witconcrete II, Grainton, and Witservice IV.
Cas Cay is a fifty-acre (200,000-square-metre) undeveloped island, situated a mile south of Red Hook on the eastern side of Saint Thomas in the United States Virgin Islands. It is under the protection of the Department of Natural Resources. Ferries here depart from Compass Point Marina, right east of Nadir.
Whistling Cay is a 19-acre (7.7 ha) islet, situated 300 yards (270 m) west of Mary Point on Saint John in the United States Virgin Islands. It is covered with trees and high cliffs in the north, where it reaches a 130-foot (40 m) elevation. A gravel beach is located on the southeast side of the island. It is separated from Saint John by the Fungi Passage, which has a depth of 21 feet (6.4 m).
Leduck Island is an island in the United States Virgin Islands, also spelled LeDuck Island, which is located 0.5 miles east of Sabbat Point in Johns Folly, separated from Saint John by the Sabbat Channel. LeDuck Island lies by the entrance to Coral Bay and is 85 feet high. Leduck Island is located within the Virgin Islands National Park and is one of the largest offshore islands to Saint John, along with Grass Cay and Congo Cay.
Henley Cay, previously known as Women's Cay, is an 11-acre tropical islet in the United States Virgin Islands. The cay is 300 yards in diameter and the largest and southernmost of the Durloe Cays in the Virgin Islands National Park. Henley Cay is situated 2,200 feet northwest of Turtle Bay on the island of Saint John, separated from the island by the Durloe Channel. The cay is 70 feet high and has a pier on its southern side, although it is uninhabited. The island is known as a snorkeling and kayaking destination, but is also visited for its white sandy beaches. Companies offer guided kayak tours from Cruz Bay, Honeymoon Bay, and Caneel Bay to Henley- and Lovango Cays.
Cinnamon Cay is a cay in the United States Virgin Islands, situated approximately 0.7 miles east of Trunk Cay in the Cinnamon Bay, and 100 yards from the shore at Cinnamon Bay Beach on Saint John island. It has a height of 32 feet. The islet is uninhabited, but regularly visited by scuba-divers, snorkelers and kayakers. Cinnamon Bay Watersports offers kayaks and snorkeling equipment for travelers to the cay. Cinnamon Cay is mostly covered with grass and cactus, and is located within the Virgin Islands National Park.
East End is an administrative subdistrict of the island of St. Thomas in the United States Virgin Islands. The largest community is Red Hook, while smaller communities include Benner, Nazareth, Nadir, Frydendal, and Smith Bay. The subdistrict includes the offshore islands of Great Saint James, Little Saint James, Bovoni Cay, Patricia Cay, Cas Cay, Rotto Cay, Thatch Cay, Shark Island, and Dog Island.
Southside is a census subdistrict (CSD) on Saint Thomas in the United States Virgin Islands. The CSD is bordering Charlotte Amalie from Havensight in the west, Nordside- and the Tutu subdistricts to the north, and the East End subdistrict to the east. The 2010 U.S. Census showed a population of 5,411 people, which is a decrease of 56 people as compared to the 2000 U.S. Census of 5,467. Some of the communities here includes Havensight, Bellevue, Raphune, Hoffman, Bolongo and Bovoni.