--- title: "Honeymoon Beach, St. John: Under a Mile's Walk from Cruz Bay · Virgin Islands Villas" url: https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/honeymoon-beach description: "Honeymoon Beach, St. John: free, no road to the sand, 1.4 km on foot from the park visitor center in Cruz Bay on the Lind Point Trail, or in by shuttle or boat." updated: 2026-10-16 source: https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/honeymoon-beach --- [St. John](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john) · [Beaches](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches) · Caneel Bay · Virgin Islands National Park # Honeymoon Beach Honeymoon Beach is a National Park beach on St. John with no road in: 1.4 km on foot from the park visitor center in Cruz Bay by the Lind Point Trail, by shuttle, or by boat. Entry is free per the National Park Service as of October 2026. Below: the walk, the concession's prices, the reef, the other Honeymoon Beach. **Conditions:** The National Park Service asks for reef-safe sunscreen and does not allow pets on park beaches. The Lind Point Trail is narrow and rocky by the park's own description and not suitable for strollers, so wear shoes for the walk in. Caneel Bay Beach Club's rules warn of fire coral and sea urchins and say there is no lifeguard on duty, as of October 2026. *A palm trunk on a sandy beach with calm water and a green hillside behind, U.S. Virgin Islands.* Palm and sand under a green hillside, U.S. Virgin Islands ## Honeymoon Beach at a glance | | | | --- | --- | | Entry | Free | | Hours | The park is open 24 hours a day (NPS); Caneel Bay Beach Club says it serves every day from morning to sunset, and sells its half-day pass as 4 hours and its full-day pass as up to 8 (its own site, checked 2026-10-08) | | Parking | No road reaches the beach. Walkers start from the park visitor center in Cruz Bay, with a parking pass from its desk, or the first two gravel lots at the North Shore Road trailhead (NPS); the beach club's shuttle fare includes parking at the Caneel Bay gate (its own site) | | Restrooms | Yes | | Shade | Plenty | | Snorkeling | 4 of 5, Very good | | Crowds | Busy | | Getting there | about 17 minutes on foot from Cruz Bay | | Lifeguard | No | Verified Oct 9, 2026. ## Conditions today at Honeymoon Beach 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 northwest, by our read from the map. **Sea state** **Sheltered.** The swell is from the east at 0.9 m, period 5 seconds; Honeymoon Beach opens northwest, 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 Honeymoon Beach; 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 17 minutes on foot 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). ### From Cruz Bay to Honeymoon Beach By boat - Charter By boat: Honeymoon Beach from the water The park lists a boat as the other way in. Ask the charter where it leaves from and where it may land. 1. Day charter or private boat to Honeymoon Beach Charters price by the boat From Cruz Bay - On foot Walk the Lind Point Trail from the park visitor center No road reaches the beach. The park gives the trail as about a mile and 20 to 40 minutes on a narrow, rocky path; 17 minutes is the map's pace, so allow the park's time with a bag. 1. Walk the Lind Point Trail to Honeymoon Beach 17 min 17 min Fares change; the operator's page has today's. Road legs measured on island roads. Checked 2026-10-05. ### How to get to Honeymoon Beach 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 Honeymoon Beach, 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. ## The walk from Cruz Bay on the Lind Point Trail Honeymoon Beach is reached on foot, by shuttle or by boat, not by car. The Lind Point Trail starts behind the park's Cruz Bay Visitor Center, and our map measurement of the walk to the sand is 1.4 km, a little under a mile, in 17 minutes. The park's trail page allows 20 to 40 minutes for a path it calls narrow, rocky and not accessible, which rules out a stroller, so plan on the park's number and wear shoes. Of the trail's upper and lower routes, the lower one passes Salomon Beach first. A second trailhead is on North Shore Road at the park sign, and the park sends drivers there to the first two gravel lots. The Red Hook passenger ferry brings St. Thomas visitors to Cruz Bay. The park says you can walk from the ferry terminal to the visitor center, so this is one St. John beach that needs neither a taxi nor a jeep. Drivers ask at the visitor center desk for a parking pass before they set off. The third way in is the concession's shuttle: $6 a person one way or $12 round trip from the main gate of Caneel Bay, every 15 minutes, parking included and $5 for each chair you bring, on Caneel Bay Beach Club's site as it reads in October 2026. Ring the club, 340 690-CLUB, before you count on it. A taxi to that gate from Cruz Bay costs one passenger $9, or $8 each in a group, on the Virgin Islands Taxicab Commission's 2022 schedule. ## What to expect: shade, a concession and no road The National Park Service describes Honeymoon as a white-sand beach where palm and seagrape trees provide generous shade. Bring a hat, not an umbrella: the beach club says umbrellas are not permitted, because the park designates this a turtle nesting area. It is one of the few park beaches with something for sale: the park's amenities list runs to a bar, table-service food, snacks, ice cream, a gift shop, lifejacket rentals and picnic tables. Restrooms are not on that list, but the concession's rules page says showers and restrooms are open to all guests and visitors, walkers who buy nothing included. The concession is Caneel Bay Beach Club, and as of October 2026 its site is selling passes and hiring and says it serves every day from morning to sunset. Its prices as the site reads that month: a chair for the day at $25 a person, a 4-hour pass with chair, towel and attendant at $75, an 8-hour pass with the round-trip shuttle at $150, a cabana for up to four at $800, a USVI resident package from $20, and walking in by the trail at $0. The tradeoff is how firm any of that is. No page on the club's site carries a date, and the park took proposals for a new Caneel Bay lease until Jul 8, 2026, so who runs this beach could change. Carry water on the walk in, and confirm prices and hours with the club before you build a day around them. Expect company at midday, when day charter boats put in from late morning to mid-afternoon; the early walker has the sand first. There is no lifeguard on duty, by the club's rules page as of October 2026. Caneel Beach is about 540 m along the same shore in a straight line, by our measurement, but when the park reopened it on Aug 1, 2024, it said there would be no access between the two by trail or on foot at this time, and no later park page we could open says otherwise. ## Snorkeling Honeymoon Beach along the reef to Caneel The snorkeling is along the shore, not out in the bay. The National Park Service describes a narrow reef that follows the shoreline east from Honeymoon toward Caneel Bay, and off the rocky point on the other side, between Honeymoon and Salomon, it names five corals in clear water: brain, lettuce leaf, elkhorn, mustard hill and pillar. We score the snorkeling 4 of 5, on the park's description and two local guides who call it good; none of them puts it among the island's top sites, and the park itself does not rate it. Virgin Islands Ecotours runs a 3-hour guided hike and snorkel here in the afternoons, $99 for ages 13 and up and $69 for ages 2 to 12, per its own page in October 2026. The club's rules warn of fire coral and sea urchins, ask swimmers to stand only in sand, and say not to snorkel alone. The park's own rules apply as everywhere: reef-safe sunscreen, and no pets on the beach. ## Honeymoon Beach, St. John, or the one on Water Island There are two Honeymoon Beaches in the US Virgin Islands, on different islands. This page is the one on St. John, inside Virgin Islands National Park, also searched as Honeymoon Bay, St. John. The other is on Water Island, off St. Thomas, and has its own page here; a search for Honeymoon Beach, St. Thomas usually means that one, while this one is a ferry to Cruz Bay and a walk. Suits a visitor without a car, a day trip off the Red Hook ferry, and anyone who would rather walk 1.4 km than look for a parking space; not someone who cannot manage a rocky trail, or a family carrying a full day of gear. ## Questions people ask about Honeymoon Beach **Where is Honeymoon Beach?** This Honeymoon Beach is on St. John, US Virgin Islands, inside Virgin Islands National Park, on the Caneel Bay shore just north of Cruz Bay. The park puts it at 18.3400, -64.7914. A different Honeymoon Beach is on Water Island, off St. Thomas. **How do you get to Honeymoon Beach, St. John?** Walk the Lind Point Trail from behind the park's Cruz Bay Visitor Center, 1.4 km by our measurement, or start at the park sign on North Shore Road. The beach concession also lists a shuttle from the Caneel Bay gate, $6 a person each way as of October 2026, and boats come in. No road reaches the sand. **How do you get to Honeymoon Beach from St. Thomas?** For the Honeymoon Beach on St. John, take the passenger ferry from Red Hook to Cruz Bay, walk to the park's Cruz Bay Visitor Center, and follow the Lind Point Trail for 1.4 km. The Honeymoon Beach on Water Island is a separate trip from St. Thomas and has its own page. **Is Honeymoon Beach, St. John open?** The National Park Service lists no closure for Honeymoon Beach as of October 2026, and the park is open around the clock all year. Caneel Bay Beach Club, the concession, is selling day passes on its own site as of October 2026 and says it serves every day from morning to sunset, though no page on it carries a date. Written by Virgin Islands Villas. Facts verified Oct 9, 2026. Updated Oct 16, 2026. Facts checked against [the National Park Service](https://www.nps.gov/places/honeymoon-beach.htm), [the Caneel Bay Beach Club](https://www.caneelbaybeachclub.com/) and [Virgin Islands Ecotours](https://www.viecotours.com/st-john/honeymoon-beach-guided-ecohike). Checked October 2026. ## Villas near Honeymoon Beach [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 8 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 · 0.4 km away · free entry](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/solomon) - [Caneel Bay North Shore · 0.5 km away · free entry](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/caneel) - [Hawksnest Beach Cruz Bay · 1.3 km away · free entry](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/hawksnest) [Every beach on St. John, compared](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches)