--- title: "Frank Bay, St. John, USVI: No Fee, 9 Minutes from the Ferry · Virgin Islands Villas" url: https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/frank-bay description: "Frank Bay, St. John, USVI: a narrow, stony public beach on the south edge of Cruz Bay, 9 minutes on foot from the ferry dock, no fee, a bird pond behind it." updated: 2026-10-16 source: https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/frank-bay --- [St. John](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john) · [Beaches](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches) · Cruz Bay · south edge of town # Frank Bay Frank Bay, St. John, USVI, is the town beach on the south edge of Cruz Bay, 9 minutes on foot from the ferry dock. Outside the national park, it has no fee: the shoreline is public under the territory's Coastal Zone Management Act, the Department of Planning and Natural Resources says (checked October 2026). Below: the walk, the pond. **Conditions:** Stones and cobbles at the water's edge make the entry the hard part. The strip narrows at high tide and in a swell, and no lifeguard is named. ## Frank Bay at a glance | | | | --- | --- | | Entry | None: a public beach outside the national park, beside a town road | | Hours | None posted: a public shoreline beside a town road, with no gate (our read, October 2026) | | Parking | No lot or count published; the beach is 9 minutes on foot from the ferry dock | | Restrooms | None | | Shade | Sparse | | Snorkeling | 3 of 5, Good | | Crowds | Quiet | | Drive from Cruz Bay | about 4 minutes by car | | Lifeguard | No | Verified Oct 9, 2026. ## Conditions today at Frank 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 5 seconds; Frank 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 sampled**, week of Oct 9, 2026. Met it in 38 of 38 weeks sampled since Aug 2, 2024. [The advisory](https://dpnr.vi.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Beach-Advisory-10.9.26.pdf). DPNR samples for Enterococci bacteria and turbidity weekly; a result after heavy rain can change within the week. **Park alerts** No alert names Frank 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 4 minutes by car from Cruz Bay. How to reach St. John: [Airfare to St. John means a flight to St. Thomas](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/getting-there), [Car ferry from St. Thomas to St. John](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/car-barge), [How to get around St. John](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/getting-around), [St. John map](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/map), [St. John weather by month](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/weather), [St. Thomas to St. John ferry](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/ferry), [Things to do in St. John](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/things-to-do). ### How to get to Frank 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 4 minutes by road from Cruz Bay to Frank Bay. About 60 minutes from Cyril E. King airport to Frank Bay, more on cruise-ship days. Six other ways across are below, with times and fares.Every route From Charlotte Amalie waterfront - Ferry [The Charlotte Amalie ferry](https://transportationservicesusvi.com/schedule) The boat if you are stepping off a cruise ship or staying downtown: it leaves from the waterfront terminal, twice a day each way. 1. Ferry, Charlotte Amalie to Cruz Bay 45 min Plus $4 a bag; $3.50 child; $6 for residents 60 and over with the elderly ID · Two 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 boat · No reservation · [Times (Transportation Services of St. John and Varlack Ventures)](https://transportationservicesusvi.com/schedule) 45 min $13 a person $12 resident From Cyril E. King airport - Ferry [Taxi to Crown Bay, then the Inter Island boat](https://www.interislandboatservices.com/ferry-trips/crown-bay-to-cruz-bay/) 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. 1. Taxi to Crown Bay Marina 8 min 2. Boat to Cruz Bay Creek 35 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 Sunday · Check in 30 minutes before departure · [Times (Inter Island Boat Services)](https://www.interislandboatservices.com/ferry-trips/crown-bay-to-cruz-bay/) 43 min $20 a person - Ferry [Taxi to Red Hook, then the ferry](https://dpw.vi.gov/ferries/) The route most guests take. The taxi is the long part; allow extra on cruise-ship days and at school-run time. 1. Taxi to the Red Hook ferry terminal 36 min 2. Ferry to Cruz Bay 20 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 pm · No reservation · [Times (VITRAN, run by Transportation Services and Varlack Ventures)](https://dpw.vi.gov/ferries/) 56 min $8.15 a person $6 resident - Ferry [Taxi to Charlotte Amalie, then the ferry](https://transportationservicesusvi.com/schedule) Rarely 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. 1. Taxi to the Charlotte Amalie ferry terminal 12 min 2. Ferry to Cruz Bay 45 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 first · [Times (Transportation Services of St. John and Varlack Ventures)](https://transportationservicesusvi.com/schedule) 57 min $13 a person $12 resident - Water taxi [Taxi to Crown Bay, then a private water taxi](https://stthomaswatertaxi.com/) Your 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. 1. Taxi to Crown Bay Marina 8 min 2. 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 From Red Hook, St. Thomas - Ferry [The Red Hook ferry](https://dpw.vi.gov/ferries/) The default way over: hourly until 10 pm, no booking, and it lands at the main dock in the middle of Cruz Bay. 1. Ferry, Red Hook to Cruz Bay 20 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 schedule · No reservation; buy at the window · [Times (VITRAN, run by Transportation Services and Varlack Ventures)](https://dpw.vi.gov/ferries/) 20 min $8.15 a person $6 resident - Car barge [The car barge](https://www.viport.com/schedules-ferrycargoschedules) 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. 1. Car barge to the Theovald Moorehead terminal at Enighed Pond [Times (Big Red Barge, Love City Car Ferries and Global Marine)](https://www.viport.com/schedules-ferrycargoschedules) $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. ## Nine minutes on foot from the Cruz Bay ferry dock Frank Bay is a beach you walk to from the boat. From the Cruz Bay ferry dock it is 9 minutes on foot, by our measurement to Tobacco Road where it meets the shore. By car it is 4 minutes from the center of town, on streets narrow enough that walking is the simpler plan. The route is short and has landmarks. From the one-way street along the harbor, turn right at its end by the Catholic church, climb past the old cemetery with Gallows Point on your right, and take the first right where Tobacco Road drops to the water. A visitor arriving from St. Thomas on the Red Hook passenger ferry steps off at the same dock and needs no taxi. With luggage for a rental here, the Virgin Islands Taxicab Commission's tariff, current since October 2022, lists Frank Bay at $8 for one person or $6 each for two or more from Cruz Bay, plus $3 a bag. No agency or business publishes a lot or a count of spaces at Frank Bay as of October 2026. The beach sits beside a residential road, so a driver is looking for a space on a town street. ## What to expect at Frank Bay beach, St. John Frank Bay beach is a narrow strip beside a residential road, and most of it is stones. Both local guides describe a cobble bottom at the entry and little shade, so bring an umbrella or come late in the day. No park page describes it, because the beach lies outside Virgin Islands National Park in the National Park Service's own boundary data. Late in the day is when it earns the walk. The bay faces west toward St. Thomas and the cays between, so the sunset is the view, and the guides agree the beach is rarely busy. Across the road is Asta Pond, also called Small Pond at Frank Bay: a 2.4-acre wetland designated a wildlife sanctuary in March 2000 and managed by the territory's Fish and Wildlife Division, as the Virgin Islands Source reported in March 2006, when the Audubon Society of the Virgin Islands was building a floating platform for the birds to rest on. Nothing newer has been published. A local guide points to a bench on the road side as the place to sit and watch it, and names pintail ducks and herons on the water. No source lists food or rentals at the beach as of October 2026. Coconut Coast Studios, the gallery of the watercolor painter Elaine Estern, gives its address as 264 Tobacco Road, Frank Bay on its own site, which was selling a 2027 calendar when we read it in October 2026. The site prints no opening hours, so call before walking over for the gallery alone. The tradeoff is the ground underfoot. This is a beach for a swim and a sunset a short walk from dinner in town, not for a day on soft sand. ## Swimming and snorkeling at Frank Bay: shoes first Get in carefully, and the swimming is easy after that. The entry is over cobbles, so wear water shoes, and give the beach a miss when a swell is running: the strip narrows and the surf breaks on stones. Look down for sea urchins as you wade in, and up for the wake of a passing ferry, which a local guide warns can run up the beach. On the snorkeling the local guides part ways. One calls the reef and rock at each end of the beach rich in fish; the other says it is not a top snorkeling site and points to shallow patch reef on the eastern side, toward Gallows Point. No authority rates it. Read together, that is a fair snorkel close to town, at the edges, on a calm day, and we score it 3 of 5 for that reason. No source names a lifeguard at Frank Bay as of October 2026, so treat the water as unguarded. ## Frank Bay or the trail to Solomon Beach From the middle of Cruz Bay there are two beaches a visitor can reach without a car, and they are opposites. Frank Bay is 9 minutes from the ferry dock on streets, stony, short of shade and usually empty. Solomon Beach starts at the park's visitor center in Cruz Bay and takes 16 minutes on foot by our measurement, on a trail the park calls rocky, to a reef the National Park Service describes on its snorkeling page. Pick Frank Bay for the last hour of light or a swim between the ferry and dinner. Pick the trail when the beach is the point of the day. Suits a guest staying in a Cruz Bay condo, a day visitor with an hour before the boat, and anyone who wants the sunset with a swim; not a family after soft sand, shade and a restroom. ## Questions people ask about Frank Bay **Where is Frank Bay on St. John?** Frank Bay is on the south edge of Cruz Bay, on the west end of St. John, US Virgin Islands, just around Gallows Point from the ferry harbor. It runs beside Tobacco Road with a salt pond across the road, and it lies outside Virgin Islands National Park by the park's own boundary data. **Can you walk to Frank Bay from the ferry?** Yes. Frank Bay is 9 minutes on foot from the Cruz Bay ferry dock, measured on the street network in October 2026, and the walk needs no taxi. No agency or business publishes a parking lot or a count of spaces there as of October 2026; by car it is 4 minutes from the center of town. **Is there a fee at Frank Bay?** No. Frank Bay is outside Virgin Islands National Park, and no gate, charge or hours is published for it as of October 2026. Under the Department of Planning and Natural Resources' public-access rule, no beach in the territory may be fenced, and the public may be on any of them. Written by Virgin Islands Villas. Facts verified Oct 9, 2026. Updated Oct 16, 2026. Facts checked against [the National Park Service](https://services1.arcgis.com/fBc8EJBxQRMcHlei/arcgis/rest/services/NPS_Land_Resources_Division_Boundary_and_Tract_Data_Service/FeatureServer), [the Department of Planning and Natural Resources](https://dpnr.vi.gov/coastal-zone-management/public-access-viczmp/) and [Coconut Coast Studios](https://www.coconutcoaststudios.com/). Checked October 2026. ## Villas near Frank Bay [All villas on St. John](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/vacation-rentals) Within about ten minutes by car, listed by their owners. See rates and dates, then write to the owner. [Indo House Great Cruz Bay, St. John · 4 bedrooms About 5 min drive From $4,000 / night](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/villas/indo-house) Featured Drive times are estimates for island roads. ## Nearby beaches - [Solomon Beach Estate Contant · 1.3 km away · free entry](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/solomon) - [Great Cruz Bay Beach Great Cruz Bay · 1.3 km away · free entry](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/great-cruz-bay) - [Honeymoon Beach Estate Contant · 1.6 km away · free entry](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/honeymoon-beach) [Every beach on St. John, compared](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches)