Beaches · West End

Rainbow Beach

Rainbow Beach's reputation on St. Croix is inseparable from what sits on it: Rhythms at Rainbow Beach, a beach bar and restaurant that traces back to 1971, when a small group of locals took over a hot-dog stand next to a beach house and repainted it in rainbow colors — a history the current operators still tell. What that legacy built is consistently called one of the best sunset spots on the island, a short walk or cab ride from the Frederiksted cruise pier, with live music, jet ski and paddleboard rentals, and calm water that reviewers note rarely sees the sargassum that plagues other St. Croix beaches. The trade-off for that popularity is that Rainbow functions as much as a restaurant scene as a quiet beach — expect crowds, especially when a cruise ship is in port, and a few recent reviews mention service and cleanliness slipping during busy stretches. For travelers who want the beach without the bar tab, the sand itself is calm and swimmable independent of Rhythms, with reviewers describing crystal-clear water lapping right up to the restaurant's tables.