By Roger Cox

Waves were breaking against the protective reef several hundreds yards off St. Croix’s northern shore as six of us followed Brian Updike on a guided kayaking tour of Salt River Bay National Historic Park and Ecological Preserve. The day had begun inauspiciously, with a storm and then a gray haze of volcanic ash from the eruption on the nearby island of Montserrat. But for the next several hours, none of that would matter as we explored a mangrove-lined lagoon bathed in sunshine and enveloped in Brian’s impassioned narrative about its ecology, its future and its bloody past.

It was in this bay in 1493 on his second voyage to the New World, Updike told us, that Christopher Columbus skirmished with the native Carib Indians, an encounter that cost each side a life and touched off a century of warfare between the Spanish and the Caribs. Vestiges of the pre-Columbian era survive in a ceremonial ball court, village middens and burial gro-unds. Later the Dutch built a fort, whose remaining earth-works dominate one of the headlands.

Paddling around the bay (or, more often, pedaling, since Updike’s high-end kayaks come with foot pedals attached to special underwater flippers), wat-ching for iguana perched on the limbs of the mangroves, was an invigorating way to explore part of the island. As much as I love the Caribbean, I’ve never been one to spend long hours on the rotisserie of a sun-drenched lounge chair, even if it is parked on a fabulous crescent of coral sand and bordered by a turquoise sea. I crave activity—and not just tennis, which in these subtropical latitudes is best avoided between noon and 3 or 4 p.m., but kayaking, snorkeling, hiking, sailing, anything. Perhaps it’s a character flaw or a congenital defect, but I don’t do nothing well.

And that is one powerful reason I’m drawn to the U.S. Virgin Islands. Each of its three major landfalls—St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix—can satisfy the indolent and the antsy equally well. Anchored at the edge of the Caribbean, just 40 miles due east of Puerto Rico, this trio is politically a U.S. territory, which means the dollar is the local currency and everyone speaks English, though nowhere else in the United States has these turquoise waters, Danish forts and practice of driving on the left. But though the three all show a family resemblance, each has its own very distinct personality. The trick is to find the one that suits you and your needs best.

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