Lovango Cay, St. John
Lovango Cay is a private island off St. John's north-west coast, with no cars but the resort's own. It suits a couple or a small group content to plan evenings around the last boat. From Cruz Bay, the island is a 10 minute crossing on the resort ferry, per the Lovango Resort and Beach Club as of October 2026.
Estates and places here: . These are the names on addresses and deeds; a villa in any of them is listed under Lovango Cay.
Staying in Lovango Cay
Lovango Cay is the one place on St. John where a boat timetable does the work a car does everywhere else. The island lies off the north-west coast, between St. John and St. Thomas, and on it is the Lovango Resort and Beach Club: treehouses, glamping tents and villas of one to three bedrooms, with a waterfront village of restaurants, shops and the beach club that is open to people who are not staying, per the Lovango Resort and Beach Club as of October 2026. Most guests walk, and the resort calls the ground hilly; its safari-style vehicles do the pick-ups.
Lovango keeps a season. The resort usually opens around mid-December and closes in mid-July, per its own FAQ as of October 2026, with December to April the busy months and May to mid-July quieter. Outside those months the resort is closed, so a stay in the autumn is a question for the owner before it is a question of dates.
No car on Lovango. The crossing is the drive, and the car rule that holds everywhere else on St. John does not apply here. The resort ferry runs from Cruz Bay in 10 minutes and from Red Hook on St. Thomas in 15 to 30, it is complimentary for overnight guests, and every trip needs a reservation, per Lovango as of October 2026. The ferry keeps the resort's season, so ask Lovango for this year's first and last sailings before you fix dates near either end. From Cyril E. King airport the usual way is a taxi to the Red Hook terminal, 36 minutes by our measurement, then the boat, which carries the luggage over and delivers it to the room. The first boat of the morning, at 8 am from the island, needs a day's notice. The resort also arranges private water taxis for after-hours trips, and it has dock space for drop-offs and moorings for anyone arriving on their own boat. If the house you take is not one of the resort's, ask the owner how guests cross before you book flights.
Two beaches are on the island, Crescent Beach and the beach club, and Lovango lists Honeymoon Beach on St. John as a third, reached by boat. For the National Park beaches on the North Shore, take the ferry to Cruz Bay and rent a car there for the day: from Cruz Bay town, Hawksnest is 8 minutes by car and Trunk Bay 13 by our measurement. Of those two, only Trunk Bay charges: $5 for anyone 16 and over, card or phone only, per the National Park Service as of October 2026.
The tradeoff: the last boat. On Lovango's 2026 to 2027 timetable it leaves Cruz Bay at 9:45 pm on most winter nights and at 9:15 pm on Sundays and later in the season, and the resort says the schedule can change, so a dinner in town ends on the timetable, and a missed boat is a private water taxi. Shopping works the same way, carried across by hand from Cruz Bay. If you want a car at the door and dinner on foot, stay in Cruz Bay and come over for a day.
Suits a couple or a small group who want no car and an evening planned around the last boat.
Getting around
You can stay in Lovango Cay without a car: the beach is on foot.
How to get to Lovango Cay 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 Lovango Cay, 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.
Lovango makes all of its fresh water by reverse-osmosis desalination, which the resort calls safe to drink, and about 70 percent of its power from an on-site solar array with battery storage, per Lovango as of October 2026. The island faces the British Virgin Islands across open water to the north-east, so by our read turn data roaming off before a phone settles on one of their networks.
Questions about Lovango Cay
- Where is Lovango Cay?
- Lovango Cay is a small private island off the north-west coast of St. John, US Virgin Islands, between St. John and St. Thomas. It is a 10 minute crossing from Cruz Bay and 15 to 30 minutes from Red Hook on the resort ferry, per Lovango as of October 2026. The island is home to the Lovango Resort and Beach Club.
- How do you get to Lovango Cay?
- By boat only. Overnight guests ride the resort's complimentary ferry from Cruz Bay or Red Hook, reserved for every trip, per Lovango as of October 2026. From the St. Thomas airport, take a taxi to the Red Hook terminal, 36 minutes by our measurement, then the boat. The resort arranges private water taxis after hours, and has dock space and moorings for your own boat.
- Do you need a car on Lovango Cay?
- No. Lovango Cay is the one St. John area where you do not: there are no cars on the island except the resort's guest vehicles, per Lovango as of October 2026. Most guests walk, and the resort's safari-style vehicles do pick-ups on the hills. For a day on the North Shore, take the ferry to Cruz Bay and rent a car there.
- Is Lovango open all year?
- No. Per its own FAQ as of October 2026, the resort is open from about mid-December to mid-July each year and closed the rest, and its ferry runs the same months; ask Lovango for the exact opening week. December to April is the busy season, and May to mid-July is quieter.
- Can you visit Lovango Cay for the day?
- Yes, in season. Lovango sells day packages from St. John and St. Thomas for lunch, dinner or the beach club, and lunch and dinner need a reservation, per Lovango as of October 2026. Day visitors arriving on their own boat can take a mooring. No day fare is published.
Written by Virgin Islands Villas.
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