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St. John · Things to do

Things to do in St. John

Things to do in St. John happen mostly inside Virgin Islands National Park, which holds almost 58 percent of the island's land, per the National Park Service. The days are beaches, reefs you swim to from the sand, trails, sugar ruins and a boat to Jost Van Dyke. Below: how to shape the days, then each page by kind.

Written by Virgin Islands Villas · Facts checked Oct 2026

How do you plan days around the park?

Leave early, and put the long drives on the same day. No pass is needed to enter the park; the one charge is at Trunk Bay, $5 per person 16 and over, card or phone only since October 1, 2026, per the National Park Service. What runs short is parking: the park says the popular North Shore lots can fill by 10 am, on a page last updated December 2024.

Distance sorts the island into two kinds of day. From Cruz Bay, Caneel is 7 minutes by car and Trunk Bay 13, so a North Shore morning works if you are out of the house before the lots fill. The south shore is the far side, 45 minutes to the Little Lameshur lot by our measurement, and it reads better as one long day than as two short trips. Annaberg and the trailheads sit between the two.

Do you need a car or a boat?

For most of this list, a car. In September 2026 we measured the 21 St. John neighborhoods we list, and 19 came out car required. Without one, Cruz Bay is the base: the town, the park visitor center and two beaches are all reached on foot.

The boat covers what no road does: the cays off Cruz Bay, where the park's dive guide puts its strongest sites, and Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands. That boat leaves Cruz Bay at 8 am on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays and lists $150 for an adult round trip, plus $30 a person in customs and immigration fees, per Inter Island Boat Services as of October 2026. Bring a passport, which the Government of the Virgin Islands requires of every visitor, children included. The tradeoff: a boat day keeps the boat's clock, back from Great Harbour at 3:30 pm.

Beaches

18 pages, each with a page of its own.

On the water

2 pages, each with a page of its own.

On land

2 pages, each with a page of its own.

Day trips

One page, each with a page of its own.

Charters, tours and weddings

4 pages, each with a page of its own.

Featured villas on St. John

All villas on St. John

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Questions about things to do on St. John

What is there to do in St. John?
Almost 58 percent of the island's land is national park, so most days are spent in it: the North Shore beaches, reefs reached by swimming out from the sand, more than 20 trails by the National Park Service's count as of 2022, and the Annaberg sugar ruins above Leinster Bay. Off the island, the boat to Jost Van Dyke is the usual day out. Walking into the park is free; Trunk Bay and the boats are what cost money.
What to do in Cruz Bay, St. John?
Cruz Bay is the ferry town, and all of it is on foot. The park visitor center, 8 minutes from the ferry dock, is open Monday to Thursday 8:15 am to 4 pm and Friday until 1:30 pm, per the park's home page as of September 2024. A trail starts behind it, and the Jost Van Dyke boat checks in by 7:15 am, per Inter Island Boat Services as of October 2026. The rest is a drive.
How do you get around St. John without a car?
On foot from Cruz Bay, and by taxi. The Lind Point Trail runs from the park visitor center to Solomon in 16 minutes and to Honeymoon in 17, as we measured them. For anywhere farther, the National Park Service says to book a set time for the taxi's return whenever one drops you at a beach, so schedule the pick-up before the driver leaves.

Sources: the National Park Service (checked Oct 9, 2026) · Inter Island Boat Services (checked Oct 9, 2026) · the Government of the Virgin Islands (checked Oct 9, 2026)