Day Trip to St John USVI
St John USVI has no airport and is mostly a national park. With that in mind, it is a great spot to visit on a day trip from St Thomas Island because of its stunning beaches and wildlife. In fact, the island is so beautiful wild, that one can enjoy watching sea turtles in the wild and even encounter wild donkeys on the island too!
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A ferry service connects both islands and takes around 15 minutes one way. Passenger ferries depart every hour on the hour from 6 am to 8 pm. Car barge ferries depart every odd hour per 2 hours (i.e. 915am, 1115am, etc). Tickets for visitors are different price points compared to the locals. It is roughly $16.50 per person round trip for tourists.
To catch the ferry from St Thomas to St John, you must make your way to Red Hook. Take a safari bus from Charlotte Amalie and ask the driver to take you down, Red Hook. You can also take a shared taxi directly (ask your hotel if staying in St Thomas to call one for you) and may cost you $12 per person.
St Thomas taxis are reliable and are fairly safe, as long as you hail the ones that have an official taxi sign up top. Safaris are also a safe and cheap way to tour the island. However, it is harder to figure out where one needs to stop or get the safari as some bus stops are not clearly marked. These safari taxis are open-air and cost $2 per person for tourists.
Once in St John, if you have a car, then feel free to drive around, but the roads are steep and can be difficult to drive around if you are not familiar with the area. Most people rent Jeeps on the island as sedans may have a hard time going up and down the hills.
If you didn’t rent a car, the major beaches are easy to get to by shared taxis. Get one from the ferry terminal and they stop at most of the popular beaches like Honeymoon Beach and Maho Beach. Prices vary depending on your start and end destination, so bring small bills with you. No credit cards, only cash is accepted.
Most shared taxis stop in parking areas by the beach and wait to fill up with passengers before leaving. They will take you directly back to the ferry terminal with stops at various other beaches along the way, depending on where the other passengers are going. These taxis are plentiful and abundant unless you end up in the lesser-visited parts of the island, with which you will definitely need a car.
Allot enough time when you are heading back from a beach to a docked cruise ship if going on a day trip in St John. The boat heading from St John to Red Hook might be completely full by the time you try to head back, and ferries only run once an hour. You definitely don’t want to miss your ship (because it will sail without you!)
Aside from vacation rentals or small hotels located in St John, one can travel hack their way and stay at the Westin St John, which is a category 7 in the award chart. One would need between 50,000 to 70,000 Bonvoy points to stay 1 night, depending on if it’s regular, off-peak, or peak season.
All the taxis essentially make a stop at the Westin, just tell the driver that’s where your destination is. While we have personally not stayed at the Westin during our stay, it did come up in our list of places to stay in, but sadly we did not have enough time to do so.
If you have the Bonvoy Brilliant card, then you can use some of those statement credits you’ll get per cardholder year to offset some of the costs you’ll incur while staying. If staying off-peak, you can opt to use your free night, or just use your points!
The resort looks brilliant, and has an amazing pool. A downside might be the food options, as the resort has an expensive restaurant attached to it, and if you don’t have a car, then Cruz Bay may have to suffice, but will cost extra in terms of taxi fares.
St John has one of the best beaches in the Caribbean, with clear, turquoise blue water and almost no waves or currents. Best of all, a lot of the beaches in St John are great for snorkeling, whether looking for sea turtles or fish in general. Here’s a list of the best beaches that we recommend visiting in St John.
One reason why we chose to go to Maho Beach directly instead of Honeymoon Beach was it was free, and second, that there is a high chance of seeing sea turtles in Maho. There are also food options available in Maho as well as a working bathroom.
There are a few shady areas available, but they get picked up quickly by other beachgoers, so we did not spend as much time hanging out on the beach.
Our first attempt at looking for sea turtles was not that great. We were on the wrong side of the beach, and ended up going to a less crowded area on the farther end.
We then met a lady who was just swimming and standing by the water. She pointed at where she saw a sea turtle last, and within 3 minutes of swimming there, found 2 sea turtles!
It was such an amazing experience seeing these turtles up close. They are so huge and yet so docile, just calmly swimming along as they eat the sea grass below.
While watching sea turtles, do not step on the sea grass underneath you, even if the water is shallow. These gentle creatures eat sea grass and stepping on them is akin to trampling on them. You wouldn’t want someone trampling all over your meal, right?
The second rule is not to chase after the turtles. Observe from a distance, and if they swim away, don’t swim furiously after them. They are super fast swimmers and if you lose sight of them, it may take a while to find them again.
Third, if the turtles are surfacing, give them enough space to swim up to the edge and breathe. You wouldn’t want to get hit by their strong legs, and you definitely wouldn’t want to disturb their patterns.
Fourth, and most important of all, do not touch the turtles. Ever. You also should not try and feed the turtles. Who knows what sort of crap you can give them when they eat sea grass in their natural habitat.
Remember, these creatures are wild and endangered. You can get prosecuted by harassing a sea turtle.
Another tourist favorite is Trunk Bay. This beach has an entrance fee of $5 per person. There’s plenty of parking available but good luck trying to get a spot by midday – they’re most probably gone.
As you can tell from the entrance fee, this is the most popular and touristy beach in St John. Powdery white sand and a snorkel trail, it is also a place to watch sea turtles. There are concessions in the area, but not a lot. Restrooms are also available.
The prettiest feature of Trunk Bay is the island, and the sand looks amazingly white. Is it worth the entrance fee if you can go to the other beaches for free? Well, up to you to decide. Best time to visit is if there are no cruise ships docked in St Thomas, as it will be extremely crowded and busy during those times.
Popular for those who refuse to pay for taxis, this beach is a quick hike from the Virgin Islands National Park Visitor Center. Easy walking distance from Cruz Bay, a hike to the beach on the Lind Point Trail takes between 20 to 40 minutes, depending on your physical condition.
There are no restrooms in the area, no concessions, and no shade. It is a spot strictly for swimming and sunbathing. Not even a good spot for snorkeling as the waves are a bit too strong.
Why should one go here? Well, the hike to the beach offers amazing views of Honeymoon Beach and Trunk Bay if taking the higher route. It also is relatively empty, as the only way to get to the beach is by hiking!
Honeymoon Beach is the farther hike from Salomon Beach. This place has a concession stand as well but closes early (before 4 pm). In fact, VI Eco Tours operates directly from Honeymoon Beach, so one can rent snorkels, kayaks, and even go on tours with them.
It has a bit more shade than the other beaches we have been on and is larger than Salomon’s Beach. There are bathrooms in the area as well, perfect if you need to go! It is a bit more developed, and there are golf carts that take you to Caneel Bay for an extra fee.
Personally, we would opt to stay longer in Honeymoon Beach than in Salomon Beach, strictly for the convenience of having bathrooms and a chance to buy food and water from a place nearby. Only go to Salomon Beach if you really want seclusion and privacy.
If you love buying and collecting souvenirs, then there are only two souvenir spots to visit. Avoid the other shops that seem to be selling just jewelry, as they may not appeal to everyone, especially to those who are visiting on a budget.
The small store has a lot of books and information about the area if you are a book collector and a history buff. If you don’t want to pay for souvenirs, then you can grab one of the USVI National Park brochures and stamp it with a commemorative stamp with the date you visited. It’s free, it’s amazing, and a great souvenir from your trip.
Perhaps the best place to buy souvenirs on the island. This general store is located in the second floor building close to the ferry dock in Cruz Bay. The minute you step in, you’ll see a lot of tea, spices, and coffee. After all, who wouldn’t want to bring home some Caribbean spices on your trip? It’s perfect to tote even for those who travel without a checked bag!
Our little family managed to buy coffee, tea, spices, and a toy for our little one. We bought too much stuff, to be honest. There’s jewelry as well, towels, clothing, chocolates, sweets, pretty much everything that you may need for your trip back!
The store also has a lot of variety of hot sauces, preserves, and the like, but since these are liquid, we can’t just carry them on the plane. Do check out the store if you can! This post is not sponsored, by the way, we just love the store so much that we had to give them a shout out!
Unfortunately, if you are on a day trip to St John, you won’t have time to see the sights or other beaches in town unless you are the type of traveler who’s okay snapping a photo and saying you’ve been there. The other beaches could be done on a different trip, and there are just a few more things to see and do while on the island.
Hopefully, this has been an informative post and helped you plan your next day trip to St John from St Thomas.
**Note: our GoPro Hero 3 broke the night after our day trip to St John. We were silently hoping the photos would be saved, but nope, corrupted, so the only photos we had of St John are from our phone, which was not a lot of photos. Oh well!
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