Area 2 ha | Island group Virgin Islands | |
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District District of Saint Croix | ||
Protestant cay
Protestant Cay is a four-acre triangular islet in the Christiansted Harbor, 200 yards north of Christiansted. It has the closest beach to Downtown Christiansted. The island is home to a resort, the Hotel on the Cay, which is home to a sand beach, several shops and restaurants. The ferries to Protestant Cay are free of charge and leave from King’s Wharf in Christiansted. The endemic Saint Croix ground lizard was once roaming Saint Croix and all nearby islands and islets, but is now only found on Protestant- and Green Cays off Saint Croix’s northern coast. Local legend says the island is named because the Roman Catholic French rulers of the late 1600s wanted all of non-Catholic faith to be safely interred on the offshore islet. As only Catholics were allowed burials on Saint Croix, people of other faiths were buried on Protestant Cay.