Dive· St Croix· Virgin Islands (BVI, USVI and Spanish Virgins)
Salt River Canyon (West Wall)
17° 47.1′ N · 64° 45.4′ W · approximate
St Croix's most requested boat dive: 'The Pinnacles', a maze of swim-throughs, ledges and coral pinnacles on the west side of a drowned river canyon cut into the edge of the Puerto Rico Trench.
Practical
Position approximate: GoToStCroix's listing coordinate falls inside the bay, so this is placed just outside the reef at the bay mouth, where the NPS says the canyon begins 'just beyond the breaking waves'. Boat dive only, from the dive mooring (the Coast Pilot reports dive moorings on the east and west walls). The mooring is in about 20 ft, with an almost sheer drop to 200 ft, then 500 ft and beyond; visibility 60 to 80 ft, up to 100 ft; surface chop, surge and current where the wall turns into the canyon (GoToStCroix). Rays, groupers, jacks, barracuda, sharks; humpback song in February and March. Inside National Park waters: no taking anything. Go with a local dive operator for the first visit.
Best for
Advanced wall and swim-through diving
Nearby
- Salt River Canyon (East Wall, Barracuda Bank)0.2 NM away
- Columbus Landing Site (Salt River)0.4 NM away
- Salt River Bay Bioluminescent Bay0.5 NM away
- Salt River Bay National Historical Park0.6 NM away
- Salt River Marina0.6 NM away
- Salt River Marina Fuel Dock0.6 NM away
- Cane Bay Beach & The Landing Beach Bar3 NM away
- Governor Juan F. Luis Hospital (St Croix)3.1 NM away