U.S. Virgin Islands · VI

Rainbow Beach

Rainbow Beach is St. Croix's serviced west-coast beach: a stretch of pale, soft sand where the island's own landmass shelters the sea into a wide, calm pool. About a mile north of Frederiksted on the coast road, it is the rare Caribbean beach you can reach with nothing in your bag—rental racks and a toes-in-the-sand bar sit just steps from the water—and it faces due west, so the day has a built-in finale. The appeal is ease more than spectacle. The water stays flat almost year-round because the trade winds have no open fetch to build waves against in this lee, the entry shelves gently over sand, and the high salt content makes floating effortless. It is a beach for swimming, lounging, drinking something cold and watching the sun drop into the sea, with a modest nearshore reef there for anyone who wants to put a mask on.