Salt River Bay is a designated National Park located on the North Coast of the island of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Salt River Bay is a 5-mile journey west of Christiansted Harbor and is 38 miles south of St. Thomas.

Inside the inlet is an excellent anchorage that is frequently noted as a preferred hurricane hole, and the grounds of the park are open for exploration if you can get ashore with a dinghy. Mangrove swamps and salt marshes line most of the shore.

Salt River Bay is reached via an approach from the north from the Caribbean Sea through a narrow cut in the reef that protects Salt River Bay. Visible in the image above, swells break on both sides of the cut that leads to Salt River Bay, but once you are inside, you will find 6-foot depths in a winding channel that leads back to the mangrove swamps and the protected anchorage. Ashore is a small marina that has showers, water, shore power, fuel, ice and transient slips.

See our “Local Notices to Mariners” blog for updates on the latest conditions and advisories for this area.