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Park right outside the entrance of the Carambola Beach Resort St Croix on the northern end of the island.

The guard will direct you to a parking lot to the left of the entrance. The trailhead is a short walk from the parking lot.

After you park, you will follow the paved road to the left of the parking lot. Shortly after, there is another paved road that splits off to the left from the main paved road.

Ignore it and keep to the right.

Keep following the main paved road.

After the short walk on the paved road, you will encounter a dirt trailhead on the right-hand side.

It is not very obvious and is only marked by a short wooden post, so pay attention. 

Although we did not do this, you could also start inside the Carambola Beach Resort St Croix and cut through their water treatment section to access the trail. It does shave off some time.

We enjoy hiking and elected not to do this.

Alternatively, you could drive the road all the way down to the beach, but this is extremely risky because the road is in almost impassable condition.

You need a pretty high-clearance SUV if you attempt this. Also, make sure you carefully understand your car rental agreement because heaven forbid anything happens to your SUV during this off-road attempt.

Yeah, I wasn’t up for that risk, so we passed on this option.

Lastly, another option is to go through a company that offers off-road tours like Tan Tan Tours.

This is the easiest and most direct way to enjoy Annaly Bay Tide Pools.

Follow the 2.7-mile Trumbull Trail through the lush rainforest. You will get hot and sweaty, but at least most of the trail is shaded.

We saw some cool trees with spikes called Monkey No Climb and some hermit crabs along the way.

As you hike towards the top of the hill, you will pass by a beautiful viewpoint of the Carambola Beach Resort St Croix below.

The trail will eventually lead to a dirt rocky road.

Turn right.

At least when we went, there was an arrow someone formed out of pebbles to designate which direction to go.

Follow this road, which will lead you to a pebbly beach with crashing waves.

As you are facing the water, walk to the left along the beach.

Rock scramble over the last section, which will bring you face-to-face with the gorgeous naturally made blue-green tide pools.

The rock scramble is a little dangerous. Do not attempt this at high tide; only do the rock scramble at low tide. Use common sense and be safe.

Some people tried to climb up higher on the rocks to avoid getting wet. This seems more dangerous. I would advise rock scrambling on the lower rocks which are more stable NOT on the higher rock cliffs.

You are going to get wet. At a few points, I timed my foot placement based on when the waves were receding.

Then hop into the clear refreshing water after your sweaty hike and enjoy!

You can see a few little fish swimming around and some hermit crabs hanging out in the rock crevices. There are sea urchins, so be careful.

There is also a second tide pool if you continue to round the corner past the first tide pool.

It took us a little over an hour to reach Annaly Bay Tide Pools.

In total, we spent 3 hours on this excursion (2-hour hike roundtrip + 1 hour at the Annaly Bay Tide Pools). 

You need to be in relatively good shape to do this hike. The hike can be challenging in sections due to uneven sections with exposed roots, slippery areas, and a short rock scramble section at the end where you have to purposely plan your next step as the waves crash in.

A must-do. If you love getting outdoors and enjoying a little adventure, this excursion will be right up your alley. Because this activity requires a little effort, Annaly Bay Tide Pools is not overly crowded. Of course, this could always change over time, but when we went, there were only a few other couples.

Plan in advance, bring the items I suggested, go during low tide, and enjoy one of St Croix’s most unique attractions.

Still trying to figure out how to incorporate the tide pools into your vacation?

Check out my St Croix itinerary below.  

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Questions about our experience at Annaly Bay Tide Pools?

Let me know in the comments below!