Buck Island Reef

Protecting Your Park Please treat Buck Island and its reefs like endangered species. The National Park Service (NPSJ and concessioners urge careful enjoyment. All watercraft must follow all boating regulations. Fishing is prohibited in the marine garden and tightly regulated elsewhere. Review boating and fishing regulations at the NPS visitor center in Christiansted before you set out. Waterskiing and spearfishing are prohibited. Anchoring and scuba diving are prohibited in the lagoon and at the underwater trail: boats must pick up a mooring. Corals are not rocks but fragile skeletons: if you tire while snorkeling, do not stand or hang on them! Use the rest floats. Do not feed fish. On the island: The island closes to visitors at sunset. Pets, vehicles Safety Tips for Sea and Shore (except wheelchairs), artificial lighting, camping, generators, and loud music are prohibited. Build fires only in NPS-placed grills at picnic areas. Digging, tent poles, beach umbrellas, and stakes are prohibited on beaches. A concessioner's boat anchors off West Beach for snorkeling practice. Local custom and town ordinances require that you wear shirts or coverups in Christiansted. Bathing suits alone are not acceptable. To avoid sunburn hazard, use sunscreen (SPF 15-30 recommended; reapplying often), hat, and cover-up clothing. An average Buck Island tour puts you in sunlight 4 hours, ample for severe burning despite the trade winds' cooling effect. Bring a bathing suit, shoes (topsiders, sandals, or flipflops), and towel. A cement pier for N PS operations and passenger off-loading also provides wheelchair access. Reef and marine hazards: Shoreline shallows and near-shore reefs contain stingrays, spiny sea urchins, fire coral, fire worms, barbed snails, and sharp corals. Cuts from marine organisms infect quickly; clean and medi- cate them. Portuguese man-<i-war and sea wasps, both stinging jellyfish, are rarely found here. Barracuda and sharks, if encountered , should be treated with caution but are not usually aggressive toward snorkelers. Hazards ashore: Stay on the beach or designated paths to avoid hazardous vegetation. Contact with poisonous manchineel trees-sap, leaves, bark, and fruit resembling Puerto Rican Trench. On clear days you can see St. Thomas and SL John 45 miles to the north. The main trail continues over the island's spine and descends the south side. It takes small switchbacks through frangipani trees, organpipe cactus, Ginger Thomas, and bromeliads. The trail ends at Diedrich's Point picnic area. It's an easy walk along the shoreline back to West Beach. For the less energetic, the West Beach trail offers a hike to giant tamarind trees. Return along the water's edge until fallen trees prevent going further; then take the trail back to the picnic area. Research and Monitoring also are undertaken. Hurricane Hugo's effect on Buck Island in 1989 forced long-term, dramatic changes in both land and marine systems. Hugo brought 14 hours of sustained 150 mph winds with gusts to 204 mph. More than tJOpercent of the beac h forest was killed but lefl standing. Hawksbill turtle nesting areas were disrupted. Nearly 100 percent of the south barrier reof was destroyed by scouring and pounding from srorm waves; most of the reef crest was relocated 90 feet landward, narrowing the south lagoon. Monitoring of the coral reef's recovery continues. Manchineel tree Fire c oral ATLANTIC OCEAN Information about Buck Island is available at the NPS visitor center in Fort Christiansvaern, downtown Christiansted. Six concessioners offer trips to Buck Island from St. Croix under NPS permits. Make reserva· tions by phone or in person. Half-day trips go from 9 a.m. to 12 noon and 1 to 4 p.m.; full-day trips 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Most tours pro· vide 90 minutes for swimming and snor· keling, with equipment provided. Fish top and bottom, Al Grotell; middle fish and snorkelers, Henry E. Tonnemacher. Snorkeling Picnic Areas Walking Trails Beginners easily snorkel Buck Island's coral grottoes with expert adviceand a short lesson-from the boat's crew. A guide takes 6 visitors at a time through the underwater trail; signs tell what you see. Maximum water depth in the grottoes is 12 feet. Always snorkel with a buddy and keep well in front of boats moored at the underwater trail. Scuba diving is allowed in the national monument only in 2 designated areas. These 30to 40-foot, shallow dives go through haystack formations of elkhorn coral. West Beach and Diedrich's Point provide picnic tables, charcoal grills, and pit toilets, with some shade at West Beach. Diedrich's has a 20 x 20-foot shelter. Please take all trash off the island with you , including bottle caps, which hurt bare feet. Dead and down wood may be gathered for use in grills but avoid poisonous manchineel wood. Do not empty grill ashes on the ground; grease attracts biting ants. Put only cool ashes in trash cans. If you must leave ashes that are not cool , extinguish them with sand and leave them in the grill. A marked hiking trail from either Diedrich s or the West Beach picnic areas crosses the island. At a walking pace you can do it in 45 minutes. If you plan to hike, wear shoes and shirt and bring drinking water. From West Beach the trail goes through low-lying beach forest, giant tamarind trees, guinea grass hillsides, and tropical dry forest near the island"s peak. A side trail goes out to an observation point with views of the coral reef below and darker, deeper water further out where the continental shelf falls off to the 5-mile-deep Private Boating Taking your own boat to Buck Island? Contact the NPS visitor center in Christiansted for information. Vessels over 42 feet should anchor at West Beach and visit the underwater trail by dinghy. Snorkelers on underwater trail with, top to bottom, stoplight parrotfish, French angelfish, and coney. For more than 20 years the NPS and scientists have studied Buck Island's coral reef system. Monitoring and research also focus on fish and fisheries; sea turtle, brown pelican, and least tern nesting; and visitor activities and their impacts. The effects of natural disasters such as hurricanes and humancaused disasters such as ship groundings and oil spills are also monitored, as are the recoveries from them. Exotic plant management, reintroduction of native plant species, and control of rat and mongoose populations JOST _...1C:. •• .... ST. TH OMAS." ' •. ):.. ...... ~: ;9fuJ>~~ y __.- n r.5 ~~R'6~ ---Road ·- -~ . Town .c;· Ch~r:tt~;,:- ~., Amatie ' , ~..4 •"!' ·• Hassel Island , VANDYKE ~\~ . ~: - .... · -.-- -: 1 ...:.. ST. JOHN-\-- Virgin Islands National Park CARIBBEAN SEA Christiansted National Historic Site Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve \ BUCK ISLAND REEF NATIONAL MONUMENT <:::e:> ~ \~ North (!) small green applescauses a chemical burning. Touching your eyes after such contact causes swelling or blindness. Christmas bush looks like holly but gives contact dermatitis. Stinging nettle is painful. Several more trees, cactuses, and other plants bearing thorns or barbed hairs should be avoided. Beware of centipedes, scorpions, biting spiders, and ants. ., Frederiksted ST. CROIX ~ ~ -';"'< 0 10 Km """"""'~==! 0 10 Mi Day trips with NPS concessioners enable you to explore Buck Island and its coral reefs. On St. Croix, Christlansted National Historic Site preserves picturesque architecture of the Danish era. Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve combines tropical land and water ecosystems with evidence of continuous human history over 2,000 years. For information on these parks write or call: P.O. Box 160, Christiansted, St. Croix, VI 00821-0160; 809773-1460.