Cruz Bay, St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, Lesser Antilles (U.S. Territory)

 Cruz Bay, St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, Lesser Antilles (U.S. Territory)

Cruz Bay is the main town on the island of Saint John in the United States Virgin Islands. According to the 2000 Census, Cruz Bay has a population of 2,743 people. Cruz Bay, located on the west coast of Saint John, is the island's largest commercial center and the location of the main port on Saint John. The primary access to Saint John is through Cruz Bay Harbor. Frequent barge and ferry, including car ferry, service connects Saint John to the neighboring more-developed island of Saint Thomas. Ferries also run regularly between Cruz Bay and Tortola, Virgin Gorda, and Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands. Cruz Bay is home to numerous shops and restaurants which are frequented by tourists and locals alike.Permanent-tent colony of Maho Bay camps), set in the midst of St. John’s verdant national parkland, was the first resort to be built almostentirely of recycled materials and designed to operate exclusively on solar and wind power. But it offers no telltale signs of its building materials’ humble origins: rubber tires, bottle glass, waste plastic, newsprint, and discarded lightbulbs. The resort’s two hillside sites were excavated by hand, built on stilts, and linked by an intricate labyrinth of elevated steps and wooden walkways, leaving the environment undisturbed.

 The Virgin Islands National Park Visitor Center, the Elaine Sprauve Library, a post office, and a bank are also located in Cruz Bay. The National Park Service has its headquarters near the waterfront in Cruz Bay as does U.S. Customs and Immigration.

Rather than dominate the beautiful, pristine tract of parkland that leads down to its own white-beached aqua cove, Harmony blends with it, leaving guests to feel like privi-leged interlopers in paradise. This is not everyone’s idea of a dream vacation, but with some of the highest occupancy rates in the Caribbean, they must be doing something right.

In large part due to the foresight of conservationist Laurance Rockefeller back in the 1950s, more than two-thirds of St. John is protected virgin forest, with three dozen well- marked hiking trails winding through more than 9,000 tropical acres. The Reef Bay Trail, starting not far from Harmony Resort from a spot on Centerline Road, is one of the most popular. It’s all downhill, beginning at 800 feet above sea level and winding past spectac-ular views, ancient graffiti-like petroglyphs, and the ruins of 18th-century Danish plant
tion houses before ending about three hours later on the southern shore.

WHAT: hotel, site.
HARMONY STUDIOS AND MAHO BAY CAMP: at Maho Bay, 8 miles/12 km northeast of Cruz Bay. Tel 340/776-6240, fax 340/776-6504; in the U.S., tel 800-392-9004 or 212-472-9453, fax 212861-6210; mahobay@maho.org; www.maho.org. Cost: Harmony Studios doubles from $110
low season), $185 (high season). Maho Bay Camps doubles from $75 (low season), $108 (high season). REEF BAY TRAIL: begins 5 miles/ 8 km east of Cruz Bay. When: open daily. Every Mon, Thurs, and Fri, a Park Service naturalist leads an organized walk, for which there’s a nominal fee. Call the Cinnamon Bay Campground, tel 340/776-6330, to reserve a spot. BEST TIMES: Nov-Apr.