The Christiansted Boardwalk

The Christiansted boardwalk is the walkway along the harbor in downtown Christiansted, St. Croix. It has restaurants and bars with tables on the water, the boats to Buck Island, a dive shop, gift shops and a seaplane terminal, and it's free and open at all hours. Go at sunset, when the boats are coming home.

What's on the boardwalk

A walk from end to end

The whole thing takes only a few minutes if you don't stop, and you will. Starting at the fort end, you've got the park's lawns and the yellow fort above Gallows Bay. Walking west, you pass the King Christian Hotel and the dock for the Protestant Cay ferry. Next is the busy middle stretch, with Rum Runners below Hotel Caravelle and the shops of King's Alley, where Brew STX has its address at 55 Kings Alley. Keep going and you'll reach The Mill, with Sion Farm's tasting room inside an old sugar mill, and then Shupe's. The walk ends near the Svend Aage Ovesen Seaplane Terminal, and that's a good spot to turn around and walk back with the evening sun behind you.

Restaurants and bars on the boardwalk

The food row is short, so you can walk its whole length, read the menus and decide. Here's who's there.

Rum Runners is right on the boardwalk and open all day, from breakfast through dinner, with steaks and seafood on the Christiansted waterfront and live bands on weekends. For a harbor table at any hour, start here.

Brew STX is a two-story restaurant and microbrewery at 55 Kings Alley with pub food, its own craft beer, regular live music and harbor views. It's open every day from 11 a.m., with a good choice for groups, since everyone can find something.

Shupe's, the sister restaurant to Brew STX, is a casual place for burgers and chicken sandwiches that often has local bands and DJs.

The Mill Boardwalk Bar Brick Oven Pizza serves wood-fired pizza and cocktails on a waterfront deck. Sion Farm Distillery keeps its tasting room here too, inside the old sugar mill, pouring Mutiny Island Vodka, which is made from breadfruit, and local infusions. The tasting room opens Tuesdays from 3 and Wednesdays through Saturdays from 11, closing at 7.

1756 Grotto at Comanche Inn is the boardwalk's dressed-up option: upscale farm-to-fork dining from chef Stephen Coe, in the historic inn. Book this one ahead.

A short walk inland brings you to the rest of downtown's dinner tables, including Galangal, with French-Asian dining in an old great house on Church Street, built in 1789. On a busy night it can save your evening to have a reservation a block or two back from the water. Our guide to Christiansted restaurants covers them all, and our Crucian food page explains what to order. Hours and menus change here as they do anywhere, so call before you plan a birthday around one.

Buck Island boats and other trips

If you're going to Buck Island, the odds are good you'll leave from this neighborhood. The monument covers 176 acres of island and more than 18,000 acres of protected water about 1.5 miles offshore, and visitors go with an authorized concessioner or by permit on a private boat. Here are two operators close to the boardwalk.

Big Beard's is at 81 Queen Cross Street, phone (340) 773-4482. Caribbean Sea Adventures is at 1102 King Street, Suite 12, phone (340) 773-2628. It also books parasailing in Christiansted Harbor, private charters and fishing trips. Its boats leave from Christiansted and from Green Cay Marina, so read your confirmation email for your departure point. Prices can change, and the operators' sites have the current ones. Our guide to Buck Island boat tours compares every option.

For divers, Blue Salt Divers is at 1000 King Street, #6, right on the walk. It runs two-tank boat dives morning and afternoon on its boat Lil' Salty, night dives, lionfish hunts, shore dives and PADI courses. Phone 340-773-3307.

The seaplane

This is the best free show in town. On most days, a Seaborne Airlines Twin Otter on floats comes down into the harbor, throws up a long white wake and taxis to its ramp at the Svend Aage Ovesen Seaplane Terminal. Stop at the rail with a drink and watch it happen. Conversations pause for it.

You can also ride it. Hop on and you'll be on the St. Thomas side around 25 minutes later, one harbor to the next. Schedules vary, so check with Seaborne on your dates. It's a very easy day trip, and our St. Thomas guide tells you what to do when you land.

Seaplanes have a long history on this water. Aviation pioneer Charles F. Blair Jr. founded Antilles Air Boats here in 1963. After he died in a 1978 crash, his widow, the actress Maureen O'Hara, ran the airline as president for about six months, becoming the first woman to lead a U.S.-based airline. Antilles flew until 1981. Today Seaborne is described as the only multi-engine seaplane airline operating in the U.S., and the base has a water landing area 7,000 feet long and 600 feet wide.

The car ferry doesn't use the boardwalk. The QE IV leaves from Gallows Bay Terminal, a short drive east of downtown, Wednesday through Monday at 8 a.m. Crossing takes about 2 hours 10 minutes, and the fare listed by the island's tourism guide is $85 one way or $150 round trip. Older pages list lower fares, so check on (340) 473-1322.

Protestant Cay

From the boardwalk you can see a small green island just out in the harbor, and that's Protestant Cay. It has a beach, a shop and a beach bar at the Hotel on the Cay. A small ferry makes the two-minute crossing from the boardwalk, near the King Christian Hotel. Published hours and fares vary, with one guide saying about every ten minutes from 7 a.m. to midnight and another saying day visitors pay $5 round trip, so ask at the dock. It's the closest swim to downtown. If you'd rather drive, The Shoys is a short trip east.

The tarpon

Lean over the rail at the docks and you'll probably see them: big silver tarpon, hanging around the docks, boardwalks and charter boats. They've learned that the restaurants are a reliable source of food. People have been known to toss in chicken wings, french fries, fish skin and tortillas, and a hungry tarpon hitting the surface is a show that children will happily watch for as long as you let them.

Shops on and near the walk

You can do your souvenir shopping in one short stroll.

• Purple Papaya, at the boardwalk, for souvenirs, beach gear and swimwear.
• Chaney Chicks, just off the boardwalk, for jewelry made from sea glass and chaney, the old china shards that wash up on the island.
• Joyia, in the pink Wiesner Building near the boardwalk, for jewelry and gifts.
• Crucian Gold, on Strand Street just beyond the boardwalk, for gold, silver and copper jewelry.
• Sonya Ltd., in Christiansted, birthplace of the island's hook bracelet. Our hook bracelet page tells the story.
• ib designs, on Company Street, for island-inspired jewelry.
• Undercover Books & Gifts, a bit farther out, the island's independent bookstore.

Why the town grew up here

This harbor is the reason Christiansted exists. The National Park Service's site at the walk's east end tells the story of the Danish years, 1734 to 1917, and of the people from Europe, Africa, the West Indies and North America who came through. It describes the wharf as a cosmopolitan port through the 18th and 19th centuries.

You can see what that port looked like, since the buildings are still here. A customs house has stood on this spot since the 1730s, and the current one was finished in 1842. The old Scale House and the Danish trading company's warehouse stand close by. The Steeple Building dates to 1751. The fort was home to the colony's governor, then to its commandant and his family. Set up in 1952, it was the Park Service's first unit in the territory, and it's right there at the end of your walk, so it's worth an hour of your morning.

If you're a Hamilton fan, the CHANT Alexander Hamilton Walking Tour takes you to sites from his early years on the island, with local guides. Our Hamilton guide has the story.

When to go

Early morning. The harbor lies stillest now, and the walk is mostly joggers, dog walkers and crews getting boats ready. It's the time for a coffee and a photograph with nobody in it.

Mid-morning. The Buck Island boats load and leave, and you can watch the coolers and sunscreen head out. There isn't much shade on the walk, so midday works best in short stretches. Slip a block inland for the shade of the covered walks on King Street and Company Street, which you'll find covered in the Christiansted guide.

Five to seven in the evening. This is the time. Day boats come home, sunset sails head out, the rails fill up and the first round lands. Rum Runners and the others get busy, and live music starts on weekends.

After dinner. The restaurant stretch stays lively through dinner, and the tarpon come in under the lights. Downtown quiets down at a reasonable hour, so end your walk on the lit, busy part of the boardwalk and head back to the car from there.

Nights the boardwalk fills up

Jump Up. Christiansted's street party closes the downtown streets to traffic from 6 to 10 p.m. for music, dancing, food, street vendors and stilt dancers, and it's free. It has usually run in February (the Friday before Valentine's Day), late May, July and November (the Friday after Thanksgiving), with dates subject to change. See our Jump Up guide.

The Christmas Boat Parade. Decorated, lit boats fill the harbor one evening in early to mid-December, generally the second Saturday, with the parade starting after sundown and ending in fireworks. The 2025 parade was on December 13. The boardwalk is the grandstand, so come early for a place at the rail and book dinner well ahead.

An evening on the boardwalk

Here's how we'd spend one. Get to town around 4, park, and see the fort before it closes at 4:30. Take a slow walk west along the water, stopping at the shops around King's Alley. If you like a happy hour, one local guide lists Shupe's from 4 to 6 on weekdays. Find a place on the rail by 5:30 and watch the boats come in, then have dinner at Rum Runners, Brew STX or The Mill, or head inland to something more special if you've booked. After dinner, walk back along the water and look for the tarpon. If it's a weekend, you'll probably hear a band on the way to your car.

The boardwalk with kids

It's one of the easiest evenings out you can have with children. They can see the boats and the seaplane, and they'll enjoy the tarpon at the docks. A burger at Shupe's or pizza at The Mill keeps everyone happy. Keep a hand on small children near the rail and the dock edges. If they've got energy to burn, take them up on the ramparts at the fort during the day, or take the ferry over to the cay for a swim. Traveling with kids has more ideas for the week.

Parking and getting there

You'll find street parking and lots downtown, and a daytime spot is usually easy to find away from the busy times. Near the fort, cars left in the park service lot after 4:30 p.m. get towed, so don't leave it there for dinner. The Christiansted guide has more on getting around town. Once you've parked, everything on this page is a short walk, and the main run of the boardwalk is flat and easy for strollers. Taxis work well if you plan to enjoy the rum, since the island doesn't have Uber or Lyft. See getting around.

At the east end, Fort Christiansvaern and the rest of Christiansted National Historic Site are worth an hour. The fort opens every day, 8:30 to 4:30, apart from Thanksgiving and Christmas. The park's five Danish buildings tell you how this wharf made the town: it was a cosmopolitan port through the 18th and 19th centuries, and the customs house and scale house still stand right where the ships came in.

Staying near the boardwalk

Hotel Caravelle and the King Christian Hotel are right at the harbor if you want to walk down to breakfast. If you'd rather have your own kitchen and a pool, Beach-Access Condo and Caribbean Blue Hideaway are nearest of our homes, little more than a mile from the boardwalk by map, and Sunset Oasis is just beyond. It makes for an easy night out and a short drive home. Live dates for all of them are on our rentals page, and the differences between a hotel and a house are in villa or hotel.

Questions guests ask

Where on St. Croix is the boardwalk?

In downtown Christiansted, along the harbor on the island's northeast side. It runs from near the fort, in the east, to the seaplane terminal, in the west.

Who serves food along the boardwalk?

Rum Runners, The Mill, Shupe's, 1756 Grotto at Comanche Inn and Brew STX. Galangal and other dinner spots are a short walk inland.

Does the boardwalk cost anything?

No. It's free and open at all hours. What changes through the day is what's open along it, from breakfast at Rum Runners through dinner and music in the evening.

Do Buck Island boats leave from here?

Yes. Both Big Beard's and Caribbean Sea Adventures run trips there from Christiansted, half day and full day, from about $95 per adult. Check your confirmation for the exact departure point.

Can you swim from the boardwalk?

Not from the walk itself, since it fronts a working harbor. The closest swim is Protestant Cay, a two-minute ferry ride from the boardwalk, and The Shoys is a short drive east.

Does the St. Thomas ferry leave from the boardwalk?

No. The QE IV ferry leaves from Gallows Bay Terminal, east of downtown. The Seaborne seaplane does leave from the boardwalk's west end, and it's in Charlotte Amalie roughly 25 minutes later.

Are the tarpon dangerous?

They're big and they make a splash, and they're after the scraps. Enjoy the show from the rail.

What's the best hour for a visit?

Five to seven in the evening, when boats come home, the light turns gold and the first round lands. Go early in the morning for a quiet walk.

Where should I park?

Use street parking or a downtown lot. If you park at the fort, move your car by 4:30 p.m., because the park tows after that.