Anchorage· Buck Island (St Croix)· Virgin Islands (BVI, USVI and Spanish Virgins)
Buck Island West Beach Anchorage
17° 47.2′ N · 64° 37.8′ W
The day anchorage off Buck Island's west end, a sand-and-seagrass patch in turquoise water right off Turtle Beach. It is the only place in the monument where you may drop a hook, and where boats too big for the lagoon stop to dinghy around to the snorkel trail.
Practical
Coordinate is the centroid of the three NPS anchor-zone corner points in the Superintendent's Compendium, Appendix A (17.784966 N, 64.628795 W; 17.786244 N, 64.631829 W; 17.78765 N, 64.629602 W, NAD83/WGS84). Day use only, 7 am to 5 pm; overnight anchoring is prohibited. Anchor only inside the buoyed zone, on sand, never on seagrass or coral. Keep at least 12 ft from other boats; no rafting within 100 ft of the West Beach shoreline; at most two boats rafted, at least 150 ft from the beach and 50 ft from other boats. Vessels 91 ft and over may not use the zone and must use the NPS large-vessel anchorages (Location 1: 17.78279 N, 64.6356 W; Location 2: 17.78357 N, 64.6311 W; Location 3: 17.77795 N, 64.6259 W; Location 4: 17.77897 N, 64.6363 W). The NPS brochure says vessels over 42 ft should anchor here and visit the underwater trail by dinghy. Concession boats also use this spot for snorkel practice. Picnic tables, charcoal grills and vault toilets ashore. Permit status: see the monument entry (permit dropped January 2025 per the NPS permits page; the 2026 Compendium still lists one).
Best for
Lunch stop, Turtle Beach and the summit hike
Season
Year-round day stop; exposed if the trades go north of east or in a north swell
Nearby
- Turtle Beach (Buck Island)0.2 NM away
- Buck Island Overlook Trail0.6 NM away
- Buck Island Reef National Monument0.6 NM away
- Buck Island Underwater Trail0.9 NM away
- Buck Island Lagoon Moorings1 NM away
- Buck Island SCUBA Cut Mooring1.1 NM away
- Duggan's Reef (Teague Bay)1.7 NM away
- Goat, Soup and Whiskey (Coakley Bay)1.7 NM away