Waves at Cane Bay, The - St. Croix, USVI

If you venture out to the Waves at Cane Bay, it's because you love diving. This 12-room resort focuses on underwater sports and casual living. It attracts youthful, active people who want to spend most of their day in the water. Owner Kevin Ryan runs a full-service dive shop, renting equipment and providing scuba lessons. There are many convenient beach entry sites for divers along the north shore.

Tucked away on St. Croix's north shore, the Waves at Cane Bay sits right at water's edge. The beach is rocky, but the sandy Cane Bay Beach is next door, and the world-famous Cane Bay Reef is just 100 yards offshore. You can also sunbathe on a small patch of sand beside a pool carved from the coral along the shore. Waves crash dramatically over its side, creating a foamy whirlpool when the surf's up.

Two peach and mint-green buildings house enormous, balconied guest rooms with cream and soft pastel print accents. Each studio has a king size bed and a screened balcony directly on the water. All have kitchens or kitchenettes, but only some have air-conditioning. Rooms on the bottom
floor are wheelchair accessible.

If you're not cooking at home, you'll dine most evenings at the hotel's seaside restaurant, now under new management and featuring a much improved menu. If you don't have a rental car, you'll find it difficult to get to any other restaurant. Even if you do, you face a long drive on dark, lonely roads to St. Croix's main town of Christiansted. Frederiksted is about 15 minutes away, where you'll find a few small but interesting restaurants and some shopping.

When you need to stock up on groceries, several vast supermarkets are located a few miles away on the Queen Mary Highway. Cost-U-Less sells foods by the case or large boxes or bags including dried fruits and nuts perfect for energy-boosting snacks. Sunshine Supermarket is a more
conventional store with fresh fruits and vegetables.

All that diving will probably send you to bed early, but you may want to browse about the television cable channels or read a book from the hotel's small library.