Virgin Islands National Park guide · 1 min read
Kayaking to Whistling Cay's Ruins and Reefs
Kayaks and windsurfers can be rented at Cinnamon Bay, which also has a restaurant, a snack bar, a small commissary, restrooms, and showers.
Kayaking is one of the ways visitors explore the park's waters, alongside snorkeling, sailing, and windsurfing. Once you are in the water, the clear sea at Cinnamon Bay gives even a beginner plenty to look at.
Sea turtles and tropical fish are part of the scenery here, and the clear water makes them easy to spot. Coral reefs are part of the park's marine scenery as well. At Waterlemon Bay, reached by a flat trail of about 1.1 miles one way that starts near the Annaberg Ruins, snorkelers have spotted a turtle, sea urchins, and plenty of tropical fish above a rocky bed of coral.
Near Cinnamon Bay Cay, the water hides several historic features. An underwater fish holding pen, likely built by the Taino people or their ancestors, sits there. Divers and snorkelers can also look for a village that now lies underwater, along with a plane that sank in the 1940s. Allow about two hours for the search, and stop at the Cinnamon Bay Heritage Center and Archaeology Lab for hints about where to look.
On land, the ruins of the Cinnamon Bay Plantation stand just across the street from the beach, with remains dating to the 18th century. The Cinnamon Bay Nature Trail, a half-mile loop, passes the ruins and continues into the forest behind them, and much of it is shaded. From the water and the hillsides, the British Virgin Islands can be seen in the distance.
