Maho Bay

Maho Bay at a glance

Verified Oct 9, 2026.

Conditions today at Maho 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 northwest, by our read from the map.

Sea state

Sheltered. The swell is from the east at 0.9 m, period 4 seconds; Maho Bay 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 Maho 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 18 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.

Eighteen minutes out, with the lot at the far end

Maho Bay is 18 minutes from Cruz Bay on North Shore Road, past Hawksnest, Trunk Bay and Cinnamon Bay. The beach is flat and the road runs beside it, which is why the park describes it as easily reached from the road. The park's large lot is at the eastern end and the restrooms are at the western end, so the first stop decides the walk.

The lot holds 33 cars, by the park's own figure from the 2017 rebuild, on gravel laid in a permeable grid to keep runoff out of the bay; the park's reopening notice that December counts two parking areas in all. Thirty-three is not many for the beach the park calls popular, and the park publishes no fill time, so the rule is the earlier the better. From St. Thomas the route is the passenger ferry from Red Hook to Cruz Bay, then this road by rented jeep, or by taxi: $17 from Cruz Bay for one person, $12 a head for two or more, the Virgin Islands Taxicab Commission's fare since October 2022.

Maho Bay beach now: sand, seagrass and a road

Maho Bay beach today is 0.3 mile of flat sand beside North Shore Road, with seagrass in the middle of a shallow bay and a beach bar across the road. The park's own page calls it Maho Beach, and popular.

Green sea turtles graze the seagrass, and the National Park Service names this as the place to see them, with one caveat: they are seen more often early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Come early or late in the afternoon, not at noon, and give them room; the park asks that nobody touch or harass a turtle. Most accounts we read add rays over the same grass.

The water is what the park calls clear and calm, which is why it names Maho for families and for people new to snorkeling. For shade there are coconut palms along the sand, and the rental stand across the road lists shade tents as well.

The park lists restrooms at the western end, picnic tables, a pavilion, a kayak launch and lifejackets, and across the street food and drink vendors and gear rentals. The business there is Maho Crossroads, by its own site a beach bar with food, drinks and shady seating. Its stand, Maho Watersport Rentals, lists chairs from $10 and clear kayaks from $40 on its own page as of October 2026. Neither publishes hours, so treat lunch as likely, not certain.

The tradeoff is the road, and the company. The beach sits beside the road, the bar and the rental stand are across it, and it fills in high season and on holidays. Francis Bay, 7 minutes on, is the one the park calls quiet.

Snorkeling Maho Bay: seagrass, then the rocks

Start over the seagrass in the middle of the bay, where the turtles graze, and keep your distance; the park asks for reef-safe sunscreen or a rash guard. The National Park Service then points left, facing the water, to coral and fish along the western side, more of both the closer you get to the point between Maho and Cinnamon Bay, and to the northeast, where rocks and reef hold angel fish and, with luck, an octopus in the crevices.

The reef is patchy rather than a wall, and the coral worth the swim sits at the two ends, not off the middle of the sand. Come for the animals over the grass, not for a reef.

A north swell can stir the bay up and cut visibility, but Maho and Francis Bay are, by the park's account, less affected by winter swells than elsewhere on the North Shore, so on a day when Trunk Bay and Cinnamon Bay are rough this is the one to try. The bay has no marked snorkel trail, and no lifeguard is published for Maho as of October 2026; keep children within reach in the water.

Is Maho Bay worth the drive?

Yes if turtles are the point of the trip, and no if a road at your back and a lot at the far end bother you. It is 18 minutes from Cruz Bay, five more than Trunk Bay and one more than Cinnamon Bay, and it is free. What it has that the others do not is the seagrass, and the park's own advice on timing is what makes the drive pay: an early start meets the turtles and beats the rush for the 33 spaces.

Suits an early riser, a first snorkeler who wants calm water, and a rough winter day when the rest of the shore is taking the swell.