Carambola Beach Resort & Golf Club - St. Croix, USVI

Tucked on 28 acres at the far reaches of St. Croix's north shore, Carambola Beach Resort at Davis Bay looks like everybody's dream of a Caribbean resort. Red roofs shelter spacious cottage-style rooms with terracotta tile floors, hammocks swing from trees at the sugar sand beach, and dark woods accent the rattan furnishings. Rocking chairs in every room look like they came straight from one of the old sugar plantations that thrived in St. Croix's agrarian heyday. Planter-style ceiling fans create a cooling breeze if you're a fresh air aficionado. Prefer airconditioning? Just flip the dial. Not all rooms are nearthe beach, although it's a quick stroll to the sand.

The rooms come complete with telephone, television, coffee makers, hair dryers, iron, an ironing board, and a view of either the garden or the ocean. One room is wheel chair accessible. The second-floor rooms offer better views, a bit more privacy and feature higher ceilings. A screened porch in every one of the 150 rooms and spacious beachfront public patios provide perfect spots for entertaining the upscale guests you're likely to meet at this resort. The resort also has two suites, one of which served as a beach house for the Rockefeller family that built the resort.

Lush greenery surrounds the meandering walkways, leading from the cottages to the pool with its Jacuzzi to the four turf tennis courts (you can pay to play on the five clay courts near the golf course), to the exercise room. A watersports center at the beach provides scuba and
snorkeling. The resort's 18-hole golf course is just a short ride a way via complimentary shuttle.

Diners have a trio of choices, and the restaurants are open to non-guests. The Saman Room serves breakfast and lunch daily, plus dinner on certain nights. The Mahogany Room serves dinner only on certain evenings. And, if you're in the mood for a New York deli-style sandwich, you can stop by - you guessed it - the New York Deli for sit-down or take-away sandwiches and salads. And don't miss the Sunday brunch, a scrumptious affair which is popular enough to draw a healthy crowd of locals. The resort takes its name from the carambola fruit, a star
shaped citrus that grows in the Caribbean.

A visit here puts you a long way from anywhere, but with a gorgeous beach, good food, a small selection of upscale shops, and lots of low-key activities, why would you want to leave? In fact, you may want to buy a piece of the rock, as the locals put it. Carambola, went timeshare in December 1998 with a hand full of units offered as time-shares. While it is still operated as a hotel, the units have kitchenettes.

If you want to take a tour of the 58-square-mile island, taxi drivers will be glad to accommodate you, or you can have a rental car delivered. Take the North Shore Road, listed as Route 80 on your map, for a gorgeous drive that puts you right at water's edge. The quaint and cozy shops of Christiansted are a 25-minute ride away. Frederiksted, a bit closer with a 15-minute drive, has a few shops and a lovely stroll along its promenade.

The Carambola is a quiet, remote resort beckoning for you to enjoy the beauty of St. Croix.