St. John, US Virgin Islands

• Things to do in St. JohnSt. John is mostly national park, and nearly all the things to do in St. John follow from that: North Shore beaches with reefs a short swim off the sand, more than twenty trails and sugar mill ruins, most of it free.
• Cruz Bay to Jost Van DykeThe boat from Cruz Bay to Jost Van Dyke runs three days a week, one ferry out in the morning and one back from Great Harbour at 3:30 pm.
• Hiking in St. John: the Reef Bay Trail and six moreThe Reef Bay Trail is the hike St. John is known for, about three miles from Centerline Road down through the ruins of four sugar estates to the sea, counting the side trail to a waterfall and petroglyphs.
• Kayaking and paddleboarding on St. JohnThe best kayaking on St. John is in the North Shore coves, tucked out of the trade winds, with Maho and Francis holding up best when a winter swell comes in.
• Scuba diving on St. John, Virgin IslandsScuba diving on St. John, in the US Virgin Islands, is mostly a boat day.
• Shopping in St. John, USVI, from Mongoose Junction to Coral BayShopping on St. John, USVI, is a small-town affair, and that is the appeal.
• St. John snorkeling, from the beach and by boatSt. John snorkeling is mostly a matter of walking in from the beach.
• The Lind Point Trail from Cruz BayThe Lind Point Trail is the hike you can start from the ferry.
• The Ram Head Trail on St. JohnThe Ram Head Trail leaves the far end of Salt Pond Bay for the headland at St. John's southern tip: just under a mile of narrow, rocky path, across a beach of round cobbles and up to an overlook with sea on three sides.
• Virgin Islands National ParkVirgin Islands National Park takes in almost 58 percent of St. John's land, in the US Virgin Islands: the North Shore beaches and the reefs off them, the sugar ruins and more than 20 trails.
• Where to see sea turtles on St. JohnOn St. John the turtles keep better hours than the people do.
• St. John resorts or a villa?Most lists of St. John resorts run long, but only three take overnight guests: Gallows Point Resort in Cruz Bay, Lovango Resort & Beach Club on its own cay, and the Westin at Great Cruz Bay.
• The Westin St. John or a villa nearby?The Westin St. John is a vacation-ownership resort on Great Cruz Bay that also rents, and it suits a short stay with young children: a kids club, a big pool and the beach on foot.
• St. John carnival, 8 Tuff Miles and the island's yearSt. John carnival is the St. John Celebration, also called the St. John Festival: a run of steel pan nights, village nights and boat races in Cruz Bay that builds to J'ouvert on July 3 and the parade and fireworks on July 4.

• St. John charter boats and boat rentalsA St. John charter boat almost always collects you in Cruz Bay and takes your party around the USVI, to Jost Van Dyke or into the BVI.
• Fishing charters on St. JohnFishing on St. John means a private boat for up to six, and each of the St. John, USVI fishing charters here collects you in Cruz Bay.
• St. John USVI photographers for family and proposal shootsMost people hire a St. John, USVI photographer for one hour at the edge of the day: a family barefoot at the waterline, a proposal on an empty beach, a honeymoon portrait on the villa deck.
• Private chefs and catering on St. John USVIA private chef on St. John, USVI cooks dinner in the villa kitchen and leaves it clean, and four island chefs print what that costs, $95 to $219 a person, before gratuity and often a minimum spend.
• Snorkeling tours on St. JohnSt. John snorkeling tours earn their price on the reefs a swimmer cannot reach: the offshore cays, the East End, a guided turtle swim.
• St. John water sports rentals, from paddleboards to snorkel gearSt. John water sports are the quiet kind: snorkel gear, paddleboards and kayaks, rented by the week in Cruz Bay or by the hour on the beach.
• St. John wedding venues and plannersSt. John wedding venues sell the setting and the rooms together: a resort lawn in Cruz Bay or a private cay reached by boat, with the site fee tied to your guests' room nights.

• Car ferry from St. Thomas to St. JohnThe car ferry from St. Thomas to St. John is a barge: it leaves the ramp at Red Hook, crosses in about 25 minutes and lands at Enighed Pond, just south of the Cruz Bay passenger dock.
• How to get around St. JohnThe easiest way to get around St. John is a rental Jeep.
• How to get to St. John: airfare to St. Thomas, then a ferryAirfare to St. John, US Virgin Islands, is really airfare to St. Thomas.
• St. John island weather forecast, month by monthThe best time to visit St. John is February or March, the driest weeks of the year and the most expensive.
• St. John mapSt. John is the smallest of the three main US Virgin Islands, just east of St. Thomas and 20 minutes by passenger ferry from Red Hook on St. Thomas, and it has no airport.
• St. Thomas to St. John ferryThe ferry from St. Thomas to St. John leaves Red Hook, on the East End, about once an hour from early morning into the evening, and lands in the middle of Cruz Bay twenty minutes later.

• A St. John honeymoon, decided by the house and the road to itA St. John honeymoon is a week inside a national park, and the house you choose decides what kind of week it is.
• Annaberg Sugar PlantationThe Annaberg Sugar Plantation is the ruin of the largest sugar estate on St. John, on the hill above Leinster Bay inside Virgin Islands National Park.
• St. John day trips: a week planned by the driveA week of St. John day trips works best ordered by the drive.
• St. John family guide: traveling with kidsA St. John family trip works best around the calm bays of the North Shore.
• All St. John guidesEvery beach, activity and planning page on the island, in one list

Both US islands

• The US Virgin Islands, the factsThe flag, the governor, the clock and the paperwork, in quick answers
• Vacation rentals on both US islandsEvery owner-listed villa on St. John and St. Thomas, at the owner’s rate
• The Virgin Islands: every planning guideWhere the islands lie, whose they are, and the guides for each
• The Painkiller drink: the Virgin Islands recipe, two waysThe Painkiller drink is the Virgin Islands cocktail: dark rum, pineapple juice, orange juice and cream of coconut over ice, nutmeg grated on top.
• Driving in St. Thomas and St. John, US Virgin IslandsDriving in St. Thomas, USVI, and on St. John means keeping left on steep, winding hill roads that run slower than the map suggests.
• US Virgin Islands vs Puerto Rico: which suits your weekChoosing between the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico is choosing how big a week you want.
• The US Caribbean islands, and where you can go without a passportOnly two flags in the Caribbean are American, so the US Caribbean islands are a short list: Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands of St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix, a domestic flight for a US citizen, no passport, same dollar, same phone.
• St. Thomas time zone: the one clock the US Virgin Islands keepSt. Thomas and the rest of the US Virgin Islands keep Atlantic Standard Time, four hours behind UTC, and the clocks are left alone all year, so the St. Thomas time zone matches New York through the summer and runs an hour ahead of it in winter.
• The US Virgin Islands flag, and what it meansThe US Virgin Islands flag is a white field with a yellow eagle between a blue V and I, the eagle carrying the shield of the United States, laurel in one talon and three arrows in the other.
• Virgin Islands wildlife and where to see itThe Virgin Islands wildlife you meet first is the kind that does not hide: an iguana the length of your arm on a stone wall in Charlotte Amalie, a donkey standing in the road over Coral Bay, a pelican folding into the water beside your towel.
• Planning a Virgin Islands weddingTwo decisions make a Virgin Islands wedding: which side of the border, and how big.
• The US Virgin Islands short-term rental license and room taxRenting a villa by the week in the US Virgin Islands takes a short-term rental license from the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs and a room tax account with the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
• Wheelchair accessible travel on St. Thomas and St. JohnSt. Thomas and St. John are steep islands, wheelchair accessible in part, and a week here turns on three things: a villa with a step-free way from the car to a bedroom, a ferry you can roll onto, and the few beaches with mats or paths to the water.
• What to wear in St. Thomas, and what to pack for the Virgin IslandsLight, loose clothes, a swimsuit and a hat are what to wear in St. Thomas in any month, with a thin long-sleeved shirt for the noon sun and the mosquitoes at dusk.
• Reef-safe sunscreen in the USVI and what the law bansThe US Virgin Islands ban sunscreen with three common chemical filters, in your beach bag as well as on the shelf.
• USVI ferries and the last boat on every routeThe USVI ferry most visitors take is the short hop from Red Hook on St. Thomas to Cruz Bay on St. John, hourly and inexpensive until late at night.
• Ferry from St. Thomas to TortolaThe ferry from St. Thomas to Tortola leaves from two docks, and the house you are going to picks one.
• The US and British Virgin Islands mapOn a US Virgin Islands map, St. Thomas and St. John sit at the western end of a chain that runs east from Puerto Rico, and most of what lies beyond them flies another flag.
• US Virgin Islands bachelorette partyA US Virgin Islands bachelorette party usually means eight to twelve friends in one rented house, and the real planning is getting everyone around.
• Christmas in the Virgin Islands, and the holiday weeks around itChristmas in the Virgin Islands arrives with the dry season: December is warm and far drier than November.
• US Virgin Islands family vacationFor a US Virgin Islands family vacation, St. Thomas is the easier island with small children: the plane lands there, a few neighborhoods are flat enough for a stroller, and Magens Bay lists lifeguards.
• US Virgin Islands history: the Danish Virgin Islands, 1672 to 1917The US Virgin Islands were Danish for nearly 250 years.
• The best Virgin Island to visit, by the week you wantThe best Virgin Island to visit on a first trip is St. John or St. Thomas, and the real difference is a ferry.
• Do you need a passport for St. Thomas and the US Virgin Islands?You do not need a passport for St. Thomas as a US citizen from the mainland: the US Virgin Islands are part of the United States, so St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix are a domestic flight.
• Is St. Thomas safe? Safety in the US Virgin IslandsIs St. Thomas safe?
• US Virgin Islands weather by monthUS Virgin Islands weather barely changes in temperature from month to month; rain and storms are what decide the trip.
• Hurricane season in the US Virgin IslandsUS Virgin Islands hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30, and about ten weeks of it carry most of the risk.
• Virgin Islands webcamsThe beaches and harbors live, on the cameras their owners run

• St. John restaurants and bars, by areaSt. John restaurants gather in two places: Cruz Bay, where most of the island's tables sit a short walk from the ferry, and Coral Bay on the far side, with a handful of bars on the harbor.
• Coral Bay, St. John restaurants and barsIn Coral Bay, St. John, the restaurants are a short list that closes early: two bar-grills, a beachfront restaurant at Friis Bay, two coffee counters and a taco bar floating in the bay.
• Restaurants and bars in Cruz BayMost restaurants in Cruz Bay, St. John, sit within a few minutes' walk of the ferry, in three clusters: the beach bars at Wharfside Village, the dinner rooms on the streets behind the dock, and the courtyard at Mongoose Junction.

• Clinic, doctors and villa services on St. JohnSt. John has no hospital, so the clinic matters.
• St. John car rental and Jeep rentalEvery St. John car rental is a small desk in Cruz Bay, renting mostly Jeep Wranglers and four-wheel-drive SUVs.
• Starfish Market, Dolphin Market and groceries on St. JohnStarfish Market, at The Marketplace in Cruz Bay, and Dolphin Market's three stores are where St. John shops for groceries, and both will deliver an online order to the villa.
• St. John taxis and the water taxi from St. ThomasA water taxi from St. Thomas to St. John is a private boat, and it earns its fare when your flight lands after the last ferry.