Virgin Islands Ecotours | Enjoy USVI Tours: Kayak, Hike & Snorkel

Ever wonder how a hermit crab finds its perfect shell? Some shells are too big and some are too small and pretty soon this becomes a retelling of Goldilocks. But several different species, both terrestrial and marine hermit crabs, have developed their own system of finding one that’s “just right.” How? They’ve been known to form vacancy chains as a way to exchange shells between them.

It works like this. One crab finds a vacant shell, but alas, it’s too big for him. Instead of moving on he waits there. Soon, other hermit crabs arrive, they see that the vacant shell is too big for them as well, but they wait, and they all begin to form an orderly line ranging from the biggest among them to the smallest. Finally, when the right size hermit crab comes along he sees that the vacant shell is just what he needs: the perfect upgrade, room-wise, for him to continue to grow. He abandons his old shell, and all the hermit crabs waiting in line rapidly exchange theirs in sequence, so by the end of it, they all have a larger shell that is just right for them.

Hermit crabs are fascinating creatures and on our Mangrove Lagoon Cas Cay tours you get a chance to see them face to face and even participate in a hermit crab race!

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sustainable ecotourism in the US Virgin Islands

What is Sustainable EcoTourism?

By Chrissann Nickel • April 23, 2025

Sustainable ecotourism is about curating a mindful way for our visitors to explore the Virgin Islands in ways that protect the environment, respect the local culture, and support the VI economy.

A person is sitting in a chair on a beach under a palm tree.

Our Favorite St. John Photo Ops

By Chrissann Nickel • March 27, 2025

St. John is an incredibly picturesque island. Those white sand beaches, the sparkling aquamarine water, and those dramatic green hillsides… both locals and visitors alike can’t resist pulling out their phones to snap one more picture, again and again. And don’t get us started on those Virgin Islands sunsets! Whether you’re a first time visitor to the island, or will be coming back soon on your 36th annual vacation, every trip to STJ is special—and every trip is worth commemorating with fresh photos. One of our newest experiences that we’re excited to offer is our Private Photoshoot Tour . On it, you’ll be matched with a talented professional photographer who will take you to some of St. John’s most stunning photo ops and take photos of you that are 1,000x better in framing, lighting, and style than those your well-meaning taxi driver took for you off the side of the road (he tried his best, but… we said what we said ;) ). In celebration of this new tour, we thought we would share some of our personal favorite photography spots on St. John. Here they are, in no particular order: