Cruz Bay, St. John
Cruz Bay is St. John's ferry town and the only place on the island where dinner is a walk: restaurants, the Park visitor center and Mongoose Junction are all on foot. For the beaches you will still want a car: Honeymoon Beach is a 20-minute walk, Trunk Bay a short drive on the North Shore Road. Below: the setting, beaches by drive time, parking, steepness, dining, and rentals in and around town.
Estates and places here: Enighed, Cruz Bay Town, Pastory, Bethany, Caneel Bay, Dennis Bay and Hawksnest, Susannaberg, Hawksnest, Caneel, Contant (the Cruz Bay side). These are the names on addresses and deeds; a villa in any of them is listed under Cruz Bay.
Staying in Cruz Bay
Cruz Bay is where St. John begins. The passenger ferry from Red Hook lands at the Loredon L. Boynes Sr. Dock in the middle of town, 20 minutes across and $8.15 an adult, and the Virgin Islands National Park visitor center sits two blocks away at Cruz Bay Creek, open Monday to Thursday 8:15 am to 4 pm and Friday 8:15 am to 1:30 pm per the National Park Service (NPS) as of October 2026. Everything that arrives on the island arrives here: the ferries, the car barge, the jeep rental counters and the full grocery, Starfish Market in The Marketplace on Route 107, open 7 am to 9 pm every day by its own listing.
The villas climb the hillside above the harbor, most of them facing west toward St. Thomas, and by our measurement the roads roll rather than climb, so an ordinary rental car copes. Some houses are a block from the dock and some are well up the hill, and the way home is uphill, so read the walk time on the listing rather than trusting the address. For that climb with bags, a taxi from the dock to Bethany, Contant or Gallows Point is $8 to $9 for one person and $6 to $7 each for two or more, plus $3 a bag, on the Virgin Islands Taxicab Commission's tariff in force since October 2022. The harbor has a small beach 8 minutes on foot from the center of town, the only sand most houses here can walk to. Honeymoon Beach is the one Park beach reached without a car: 1 mile from the visitor center on the Lind Point Trail per NPS, which we measure at 17 minutes at a pavement pace.
Rent a car anyway, in Cruz Bay, St. John as everywhere else on the island. The beaches that bring people to St. John are along North Shore Road: Hawksnest at 8 minutes by car, Trunk Bay at 13 and the Annaberg lot at 27. Trunk Bay charges $5 a person aged 16 and over and has taken card or mobile payment only since October 1, 2026, per NPS. If you bring your own car, the barge lands at the Theovald Moorehead Dock and Terminal at Enighed Pond, $65 a car one way on the Big Red Barge and Love City Car Ferries rates pages as of October 2026, a 9 minute walk from the passenger dock.
The tradeoff: the houses nearest the dock live by the ferry's day, which runs 6 am to 10 pm from Cruz Bay, and the only beach on foot is the harbor's. For sand at the bottom of the garden, look to Great Cruz Bay, 12 minutes south by car; for quiet, to Coral Bay, 28 minutes east over the mountain road. Whichever you choose, shop here before you drive out.
Suits a first visit, a short one, and anyone who would rather walk to dinner than drive to it.
Getting around
Plan on a car in Cruz Bay: the roads roll rather than climb and the nearest sand is a few minutes away.
| Drive to | Minutes |
|---|---|
| Cruz Bay Beach | 1 |
Measured on the island's roads.
How to get to Cruz Bay from St. Thomas
The usual way: a taxi to the Red Hook ferry terminal (36 min), then the ferry to Cruz Bay (20 min, $8.15 a person). About 56 minutes from Cyril E. King airport to Cruz Bay, more on cruise-ship days. Six other ways across are below, with times and fares.Every route
The boat if you are stepping off a cruise ship or staying downtown: it leaves from the waterfront terminal, twice a day each way.
- Ferry, Charlotte Amalie to Cruz Bay45 min
Plus $4 a bag; $3.50 child; $6 for residents 60 and over with the elderly IDTwo a day each way: 8:45 and 11:15 am from Cruz Bay, 10 am and 12:30 pm from Charlotte Amalie (Transportation Services of St. John)Varlack Ventures lists its own Charlotte Amalie run as suspended for the off-season, as of October 2026; check its page before you plan on that boatNo reservationTimes (Transportation Services of St. John and Varlack Ventures)
45 min$13 a person$12 resident
The closest boat to the airport and the fastest door to dock, but two sailings a day, four Friday to Sunday. It lands at Cruz Bay Creek, not the main ferry dock.
- Taxi to Crown Bay Marina8 min
- Boat to Cruz Bay Creek35 min
Boat only; $15 senior, $10 child 3 to 11. The taxi to Crown Bay is $8 for one rider, $6 each for two or more.3:30 and 5:30 pm daily; 9:45 am and 2:15 pm Friday to SundayCheck in 30 minutes before departureTimes (Inter Island Boat Services)
43 min$20 a personThe route most guests take. The taxi is the long part; allow extra on cruise-ship days and at school-run time.
- Taxi to the Red Hook ferry terminal36 min
- Ferry to Cruz Bay20 min
Ferry only, plus $4 a bag. The taxi to Red Hook is $23 for one rider, $17 each for two or more.Ferry hourly, 5:30 am to 10 pmNo reservationTimes (VITRAN, run by Transportation Services and Varlack Ventures)
56 min$8.15 a person$6 residentRarely the best choice from the airport: the terminal is closer than Red Hook, but the crossing is twice as long and only two boats a day leave Charlotte Amalie.
- Taxi to the Charlotte Amalie ferry terminal12 min
- Ferry to Cruz Bay45 min
Ferry only, plus $4 a bag. The taxi to the terminal is $11 for one rider, $9 each for two or more.Two a day from Charlotte Amalie, 10 am and 12:30 pm (Transportation Services of St. John)Varlack Ventures' Charlotte Amalie run was suspended for the off-season in October 2026; it usually sails again from about November, so check its page firstTimes (Transportation Services of St. John and Varlack Ventures)
57 min$13 a person$12 residentYour own boat on your own schedule, any hour with notice. Priced by the boat, from $695, so it makes sense for a full house arriving together. The operator does not publish the crossing time, so no total is shown.
- Taxi to Crown Bay Marina8 min
- Water taxi to Cruz Bay
The boat, not the seat; the operator quotes from $695 from Crown Bay and from $495 from Compass Point Marina. The land taxi to Crown Bay is $8 for one rider, $6 each for two or more.By reservation; 24-hour service with notice
from $695 a boat
- FerryThe Red Hook ferry
The default way over: hourly until 10 pm, no booking, and it lands at the main dock in the middle of Cruz Bay.
- Ferry, Red Hook to Cruz Bay20 min
Plus $4 a bag. Varlack adds a fuel surcharge from June 12, 2026.Hourly, 5:30 am to 10 pm from Red Hook, 6 am to 10 pm from Cruz Bay; an off-season timetable runs from late July, usually to the end of October, so check the operator's current scheduleNo reservation; buy at the windowTimes (VITRAN, run by Transportation Services and Varlack Ventures)
20 min$8.15 a person$6 resident - Car bargeThe car barge
Only with your own car, or a rental whose company allows the crossing: National and Discount Car Rental say theirs may go (their own pages, 2026-10-09), so ask yours first. Most people rent on St. John. The crossing time is not published, so no total is shown.
- Car barge to the Theovald Moorehead terminal at Enighed Pond
Times (Big Red Barge, Love City Car Ferries and Global Marine)
$65 a car one way, $80 round trip, on the Big Red Barge and Love City Car Ferries rates pages (checked 2026-10-09). Each company sells its own tickets.
Fares change; the operator's page has today's. Road legs measured on island roads. Taxi fares are the Virgin Islands Taxicab Commission's tariff, in force since October 2022: per person, less each for two or more traveling together, plus $3 a bag. Checked 2026-10-09.
Cruz Bay is on St. John's public water mains, fed by a pipe from St. Thomas, though most houses in town still keep a cistern; the power comes over by cable too, and a fault on it left the whole island without power for three nights in March 2026. Phones hold a strong signal in town, which the trip reports and a 2023 field study agree on.
Beaches near Cruz Bay
- Frank Bayabout 3 min
- Solomon Beachabout 4 min
- Caneel Bayabout 7 min
Questions about Cruz Bay
- Where is Cruz Bay?
- Cruz Bay is the main town on St. John in the US Virgin Islands, on the island's west end facing St. Thomas. Every passenger ferry from Red Hook lands at the Loredon L. Boynes Sr. Dock in the middle of town, 20 minutes across. The car barge lands at Enighed Pond, a 9 minute walk from the passenger dock.
- Is Cruz Bay in St. John?
- Yes. Cruz Bay is in St. John, USVI, not on St. Thomas, and it is where the ferry from Red Hook lands after 20 minutes. Great Cruz Bay is a different place: the resort bay 12 minutes south by car, with the Westin St. John at its head.
- Do you need a car in Cruz Bay?
- Yes, rent one. The ferry, the restaurants, Starfish Market and the visitor center are within a ten minute walk of the dock, but every beach worth the trip is a drive: Hawksnest 8 minutes, Trunk Bay 13. Rent the jeep in town.
- How far is Cruz Bay from Trunk Bay?
- 13 minutes by car along North Shore Road, by our measurement. Trunk Bay charges $5 a person aged 16 and over and takes card or mobile payment only since October 1, 2026, per NPS. The other National Park beaches are free.
- How do you get to Cruz Bay from the St. Thomas airport?
- Taxi from Cyril E. King airport to the Red Hook ferry terminal, 36 minutes by our measurement, then the 20 minute passenger ferry at $8.15 an adult plus $4 a bag. Inter Island Boat Services also runs a boat from Crown Bay Marina to Cruz Bay Creek, 35 minutes and $20 by its own timetable, with a reservation required.
Written by Virgin Islands Villas.
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