How to Visit Cas Cay (USVI) in St Thomas

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I’ve been to St. Thomas on several occasions as a day trip aboard a cruise ship, so I’m always looking for new things to do from Charlotte Amalie. This time, I chose to go on an excursion to Cas Cay, USVI, in St Thomas. While I’ve spent the days there Charlotte Amalie is a popular cruise port.Relaxing on beautiful beaches Snorkeling St. John, or hop on the local ferry to visit Water Island nearby.

This adventure takes place in Cas Cay is a half day tour where you go kayaking, snorkeling, and hiking around the Cas Cay Mangrove Lagoon Marine Reserve & Wildlife Sanctuary. It’s the best eco-friendly tour in St Thomas and involves plenty of soft adventure to paddle and see amazing local wildlife.

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Cas Cay St Thomas USVI: Our Amazing Ecotour

VI Ecotours offers two tour options, one morning and one afternoon. The morning tour starts at 9am, while the afternoon tour begins at 1pm. If you’re visiting from a cruise ship, I recommend doing the morning tour, but it all depends on when your ship is in port.

The Cas Cay Kayak Snorkel and Hiking Tour lasts three hours and it is recommended that you arrive at least 15 minutes early. The meeting point is at the VI Ecotours Mangrove Lagoon Marina (6526 Estate Nadir, St. Thomas Mangrove Lagoon Wildlife Sanctuary & Marine Reserve).

You’ll need to make your own way there, though you shouldn’t have any issues hiring a local taxi. VI Ecotours is 17 minutes away by car from Havensight Pier, where most cruise ships dock. You can ask your taxi driver for a specific time to pick you up.

Once you arrive, the folks at VI Ecotours will set you up with all the necessary equipment you’ll need. The tour begins with kayaking, so you’ll receive a lifejacket and a tandem kayak to use. Yes, you’ll be kayaking with your travel buddy or you’ll be matched with someone from the group if you’re traveling solo. They’ll also provide you with snorkel equipment and a safety briefing.

Kayaking in the Cas Cay Mangrove Lagoon

After a brief safety lesson, and an explanation about where we would visit, we were ready kayak around the Mangrove Lagoon. We left many of our belongings behind as we didn’t want them to get wet, and they were locked up safely in a storage locker.

We boarded tandem kayaks. Yes, those that you share with someone else. As our tour guides joked, “We’re tour guides, not relationship counselors!”, they can be both fun and frustrating to navigate depending on your partner. Thankfully we had more fun than frustrated.

I paddled with my sister, Robyn. She sat up front and led us. Left, right, left, right.If she wanted more paddle on one side she would shout out. Left! You can also find out more about Right!With that, we were on a roll.

All around us was the mangrove lagoon. Giant roots stretched from the shoreline to the water below. We learned about the importance of mangroves to the natural environment in tropical or subtropical areas.

Healthy mangrove forests provide nutrients to those who live in this natural environment.
Mangrove forests are home to many threatened and endangered species, including manatees and sea turtles.
Mangrove forests provide a nursery to juvenile fishes and other species. They are also used by hundreds of bird species for nesting, resting and feeding during migration.
Less than half of the world’s original mangrove forest remains today, mostly due to clear cutting for shrimp farms. They are disappearing faster than tropical forests, but there is little attention paid to the problem.

Though we didn’t see very many birds while kayaking, this protected area is a large habitat for resident and migratory birds on the island. Cas Cay will delight anyone who enjoys bird-watching. It’s also ideal for kayaking and paddling with its calm, peaceful waters. We kayaked to Cas Cay Island, a wildlife refuge island off the coast St. Thomas.

Cas Cay Wildlife Sanctuary: Hermit Crabs

We left our kayaks on the shores and hiked on one of Cas Cay’s forest paths. Cas Cay is an abandoned 15-acre island with volcanic cliffs and mangroves to the north. Our first stop was right off the coast to see the hermit crabs.

These creatures are truly fascinating. everywhere!From above, it looked like they were small shells scurrying along the forest floor. Our guide reassured us that the shells of these creatures are very strong. They can actually withstand 500 pounds! Even if someone stepped on top of one, it wouldn’t be enough weight to injure the crab or its shell.

I was impressed by how well-informed the guides were when explaining the significance and importance of the hermits crabs in the forest. Apparently, hermit crabs “upgrade” their shells up to three times a year, discarding their old one for a carefully chosen new one.

Hermit crabs are also nature’s meteorologists; we can tell what the weather is going to be like by how far the hermit crabs have climbed up the tree trunks. They can predict weather changes like hurricanes.

Cas Cay Wildlife Sanctuary, The Local Flora

We continued our walk down the forest trail, as our guides pointed to some of the local plants. Machineel trees are poisonous and grow in St. Thomas. We were told to avoid any contact with the tree. The leaves and fruits are laced with a caustic sap which can cause serious injuries or even death.

Christopher Columbus called the fruit of the Machineel tree the “Death Apple” after several of his men ate the fruit. If the sap gets into your eyes, it can cause permanent blindness.

On this hike, the view from Cas Cay was breathtaking. The water of the ocean smashed into huge boulders and volcanic rock along the shore. This water filtered into the calmer areas, where we first paddled.

Even though we were wearing our bathing suit and were already slightly soaked from kayaking, it started to rain. We were going to be in the water soon enough snorkeling, so the rain water really didn’t matter. I thought the hazy rainy atmosphere was very beautiful. I’m sure that this place looks simply gorgeous on a sunny day, though the rain delivered a rather enchanting aura.

Cas Cay Wildlife Sanctuary Red Point Blowhole

The Red Point Blowhole is one of the highlights from the short hike. A blowhole occurs when a wave enters an underwater cave and is pushed into a cavity that exists above. This results in a powerful blast.

The waves were crashing against the cliffs furiously and water was spraying in the air. Although we spent a lot of time here, this scenery was so beautiful that I could have watched it all day.

Snorkeling St. Thomas

We walked back to our kayaks, grabbed our snorkeling gear and headed out to explore the underwater area around the mangrove forest. It’s a very unique area to snorkel and One of my favorite snorkeling spots in the Caribbean. It appeared that there were few coral reefs when swimming away from the shore.

Many volcanic rocks are buried below the surface of these waters, and they provide great hiding spots for fish. There’s a large variety of fish, some I had never seen while snorkeling in the past. I saw a massive porcupinefish, which was huge compared to the other fish. Another fish that I spotted that was different was the Spotted Trunkfish. It glided effortlessly through the water.

Robyn even saw a very unique carnivorous plant. The plant looked like any other reef plant. However, when our guide skimmed its surface, it contracted rapidly to trap prey. Though we didn’t see any that day, others in our group saw barracudas, and on other occasions, stingrays, small sharks, and octopus have been seen at this snorkeling site.

I would highly recommend swimming around Cas Cay with your snorkel mask on. This is one the best places for snorkeling in St Thomas. We swam through the mangrove forest at the end of our trip. We saw their extensive roots intertwined below the surface of water. This was also the home of many species of juveniles fish.

How to Book Your Tour

I highly recommend This tour takes you to Cas Cay, USVI.. It was great to get a glimpse of St. Thomas from a different perspective, especially with so many cruise ships in the port. It’s very quiet and peaceful there, even with a couple of tour groups.

In addition, we visited a region in St. Thomas that had been preserved and largely untouched. The tour guides are very knowledgeable, and the trip is very educational. It was great to be active and get a little exercise on a tour. You can Book this tour now.

There are more places to snorkel in the Caribbean

Love snorkeling in St. Thomas? Here are even more places to go snorkeling in the Caribbean that I know you’ll love.

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