Francis Bay
Francis Bay is the last beach on North Shore Road on St. John, 25 minutes by car east of Cruz Bay, and free: the National Park Service asks no entrance pass as of October 2026. It calls Francis one of the park's quieter areas, with calm water to Little Maho. Below: the lots, toilets, trail and snorkeling.
Conditions: Unguarded: the park's amenity list for Francis Bay names no lifeguard as of October 2026. Boats moor in the bay overnight, so keep close to the beach when you swim.
Francis Bay at a glance
| Entry | Free, as of October 2026 |
|---|---|
| Hours | Open around the clock, all year; the Francis Bay Trail is day use only (National Park Service, October 2026) |
| Parking | Two lots, one at the beach end and one at the sugar factory trailhead (National Park Service, October 2026); the beach lot holds about a dozen cars by a local account, with overflow along the access road |
| Restrooms | Seasonal or limited |
| Shade | Plenty |
| Snorkeling | 4 of 5, Very good |
| Crowds | Quiet |
| Drive from Cruz Bay | about 25 minutes by car |
| Lifeguard | No |
Verified Oct 9, 2026.
Conditions today at Francis Bay
As of 7:00 AM on Oct 16, 2026, island time. Read each morning from the National Weather Service, DPNR, the National Park Service and Open-Meteo; the bay opens west, by our read from the map.
- Sea state
- Sheltered. The swell is from the east at 0.9 m, period 4 seconds; Francis Bay opens west, so the bay sits in the lee.
Open-Meteo wave model at the nearest ocean cell; the bay's opening is our read from the map.
- Rip current risk
- Low. Surf around 3 feet, east winds around 15 mph.
National Weather Service San Juan, surf zone forecast for St Thomas, St John and adjacent islands, issued 3:51 AM.
- Water test
- Not a site in DPNR's weekly programme, which samples St. John only some weeks.
Department of Planning and Natural Resources, Beach Water Quality Monitoring Program.
- Park alerts
- No alert names Francis Bay; the park posts 1 alert today.
National Park Service, Virgin Islands National Park alerts.
- Rain
- Dry through the day; the chance of rain peaks at 21%.
Open-Meteo hourly forecast at the pin.
- The day
- UV index up to 8; sunset 5:55 pm; sea 30 °C, 85 °F.
Open-Meteo.
Getting there
About 25 minutes by car from Cruz Bay. How to reach St. John: Airfare to St. John means a flight to St. Thomas, Car ferry from St. Thomas to St. John, How to get around St. John, St. John map, St. John weather by month, St. Thomas to St. John ferry, Things to do in St. John.
How to get to Francis 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), then 25 minutes by road from Cruz Bay to Francis Bay. About 81 minutes from Cyril E. King airport to Francis 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.
How to get to Francis Bay, St. John
Francis Bay is 25 minutes by car from Cruz Bay, the furthest of the park's roadside beaches from town: Hawksnest is 8 minutes, Trunk Bay 13, Cinnamon Bay 17 and Maho Bay 18. Beyond it there is only the Annaberg lot, 27 minutes from town, and the walk to Waterlemon Cay.
The National Park Service lists two lots as of October 2026. It recommends the one at the beach end for easier access; the one at the Francis Bay Sugar Factory is the trailhead, with a steep climb between it and the sand. The park publishes no count for either; one local account puts the beach lot at about a dozen cars, with overflow parking along one side of the access road, so arrive before lunch. Visitors from St. Thomas come over on the Red Hook ferry and pick up a car in Cruz Bay for the drive out. Without one, a taxi from Cruz Bay is $20 for a single rider or $14 a head for a party of two or more, per the Virgin Islands Taxicab Commission's tariff of Oct 24, 2022, unchanged as of October 2026.
What to expect at the park's quiet beach
Quiet is the park's own word: the National Park Service calls Francis Bay one of the quieter areas of the park, and its amenity list, as of October 2026, shows why. It names picnic tables, benches, a kayak launch and an information kiosk; no food, rentals or showers. Bring water, lunch and your own gear.
There are toilets, basic ones with no running water. The park's two pages disagree, the Places To Go page listing toilets and the beach's own page leaving them off as of October 2026, and three local accounts agree on a basic toilet by the main lot. Flush restrooms are at the western end of Maho Bay, one beach back.
Every local account we read describes trees along the back of the sand, with picnic tables in their shade, and few people on a weekday; a quarter mile of beach leaves room for a spot of your own.
Behind the sand is the salt pond. The Francis Bay Trail runs half a mile from the factory lot to the accessible ramp; its lower part is a wheelchair-accessible boardwalk through the mangroves to two viewing platforms, and the park names ducks, stilts, moorhens and migratory shorebirds on the pond. The park's ranger walk around the pond is set for 7:30 to 9 am on its bird-watching page, last updated January 2023, which is the hint on when to come. Allow up to 90 minutes for the walk; the trail also passes the Mary's Point estate house and the Francis sugar factory.
The tradeoff is the 25 minutes. This is a beach for a full day, not a stop on the way somewhere.
Snorkeling Francis Bay: calm water to Little Maho
The National Park Service names Francis Bay for beginners, with calm water from the west end of the beach all the way to Little Maho. It lists schools of juvenile fish and small coral heads, with sea turtles, pelicans and large predator fish chasing the fry. For coral, the park points to the rock shoreline at the north end: along the northwest shore out to the tip of Mary Point it lists gorgonians, tube sponges and patches of colonial anemones in about 10 feet of water.
The shape of it is the ends for coral and the middle for grass. The local accounts agree the snorkeling is good at both rocky ends, and send beginners to the end toward Maho Bay and stronger swimmers to the rocks at the other.
In winter a north swell can cloud the water here too, but by the park's snorkeling page Francis and Maho take less of it than the rest of the North Shore, so on a rough day elsewhere this is the bay to try. For sea turtles over seagrass, the park points to Maho Bay next door.
Boats share the bay: the park's fees page lists Francis Bay among six pay stations for overnight moorings, $26 a night as of October 2026.
If you want a bar at the back of the sand, stop at Maho Bay, 7 minutes back toward town; if you want the beach to yourself, keep driving.
Questions people ask about Francis Bay
- Where is Francis Bay?
- Francis Bay beach sits inside Virgin Islands National Park on the North Shore of St. John, one beach east of Maho Bay and the last one North Shore Road reaches. It is 25 minutes by car from Cruz Bay, measured to the beach lot on island roads in October 2026.
- How do you get to Francis Bay, St. John?
- Drive North Shore Road east from Cruz Bay, past Maho Bay, for 25 minutes. As of October 2026 the National Park Service lists two free lots and recommends the one at the beach end; the other, at the Francis Bay Sugar Factory, has a steep climb down to the sand. The beach lot is small, about a dozen cars by a local account.
- Is there a fee at Francis Bay?
- Not for the beach. As of October 2026 Virgin Islands National Park asks no entrance pass and charges nothing at either lot; Trunk Bay's $5 day pass, for ages 16 and over, is the only beach fee on the park's list. Boats pay: an overnight mooring in the bay is $26 a night.
Written by Virgin Islands Villas. Facts verified Oct 9, 2026. Updated Oct 16, 2026.
