--- title: "Things to Do in St. John, USVI: Ideas by Category" url: https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/things-to-do description: "Things to do in St. John, USVI, by kind: beaches, reefs, trails, ruins and the boat to Jost Van Dyke, with the park's one fee and the drive from Cruz Bay." updated: 2026-10-09 source: https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/things-to-do --- [St. John](https://virginislandvilla.com/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. - [Trunk Bay 13 min by car from Cruz Bay Cost $5 per person, 16 and over; card or mobile payment only](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/trunk-bay) - [Caneel Bay 7 min by car from Cruz Bay Cost Free](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/caneel) - [Cinnamon Bay 17 min by car from Cruz Bay Cost Free](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/cinnamon-bay) - [Honeymoon Beach 17 min walk Cost Free](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/honeymoon-beach) - [Maho Bay 18 min by car from Cruz Bay Cost Free](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/maho-bay) - [Waterlemon Cay 27 min drive + 20 min walk Cost Free](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/waterlemon) - [Hawksnest Beach 8 min by car from Cruz Bay Cost Free](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/hawksnest) - [Oppenheimer (Gibney) Beach 9 min by car from Cruz Bay Cost Free](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/oppenheimer) - [Francis Bay 25 min by car from Cruz Bay Cost Free, as of October 2026](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/francis-bay) - [Salt Pond Bay 41 min drive + 10 min walk Cost Free](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/salt-pond) - [Hansen Bay 39 min by car from Cruz Bay Cost No fee published; a parking donation is asked by the family whose land the parking is on (the local guides, read Oct 8, 2026; no operator publishes it)](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/hansen-bay) - [Solomon Beach 16 min walk Cost Free](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/solomon) - [Jumbie Beach 11 min by car from Cruz Bay Cost Free, as of October 2026 (NPS)](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/jumbie) - [Lameshur Bay 45 min by car from Cruz Bay Cost Free](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/lameshur) - [Frank Bay 4 min by car from Cruz Bay Cost None: a public beach outside the national park, beside a town road](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/frank-bay) - [Denis Bay 10 min drive + 4 min walk Cost Free, as of October 2026 (National Park Service)](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/denis-bay) - [Haulover Bay 38 min by car from Cruz Bay Cost Free](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/haulover) - [Great Cruz Bay Beach 9 min by car from Cruz Bay Cost None: the shoreline is public by territorial law, and the small lot at the south end is free to park in (October 2026)](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/great-cruz-bay) ## On the water 2 pages, each with a page of its own. - [Scuba diving on St. John, Virgin Islands St. John, Virgin Islands scuba diving is mostly done from a boat.](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/things-to-do/diving) - [St. John snorkeling, from the beach and by boat St. John snorkeling is done mostly from the beach: over 40 percent of Virgin Islands National Park is underwater, per the National Park Service, and the reefs start off sand you can drive to.Cost Free, except Trunk Bay at $5 a person, 16 and over](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/things-to-do/snorkeling) ## On land 2 pages, each with a page of its own. - [Hiking on St. John: the Reef Bay Trail and six more The Reef Bay Trail is the hike St. John is known for: about three miles one way from Centerline Road down to the sea, and a 900 foot climb back out, per the National Park Service.Cost Free; no permit or reservation for a self-guided hike](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/things-to-do/hiking) - [Virgin Islands National Park Virgin Islands National Park is on St. John, in the US Virgin Islands, and the National Park Service puts almost 58 percent of the island's land inside it.Cost Free; no entrance pass and no charge for cars](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/things-to-do/national-park) ## Day trips One page, each with a page of its own. - [Cruz Bay to Jost Van Dyke The boat from Cruz Bay to Jost Van Dyke leaves at 8 am Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays, back from Great Harbour at 3:30 pm, per Inter Island Boat Services, October 2026.Cost $150](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/things-to-do/jost-van-dyke) ## Charters, tours and weddings 4 pages, each with a page of its own. - [Boat charters on St. John A private boat charter from St. John runs $995 to $3,500 for a full day for six on the operators' own rate pages as of October 2026, before fuel, tip and, for the BVI, customs paid in cash.](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/experiences/boat-charters) - [Fishing charters on St. John St. John, USVI fishing charters run $800 to $1,950 for a private boat and up to six anglers, from a four-hour half day to a ten-hour marlin trip, as the three captains price them in October 2026.](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/experiences/fishing) - [St. John snorkeling tours, and the beaches that need none St. John snorkeling tours cost $75 before fees to $159 an adult on a shared trip, on the operators' own pages as of October 2026, and a private boat for up to six starts at $850 for four hours, before fuel and tip.](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/experiences/snorkel-tours) - [St. John wedding venues and planners St. John wedding venues publish site fees from $2,500 at The Hills to $25,000 at Gallows Point, each tied to villa or room nights booked, as of October 2026; a planner's beach ceremony starts at $695.](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/experiences/weddings) ## Featured villas on St. John [All villas on St. John](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/vacation-rentals) Listed by their owners. See rates and dates, then write to the owner. [Indo House Great Cruz Bay, St. John · 4 bedrooms From $4,000 / night](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/villas/indo-house) Featured ## 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](https://www.nps.gov/viis/planyourvisit/gettingaround.htm) (checked Oct 9, 2026) · [Inter Island Boat Services](https://www.interislandboatservices.com/ferry-trips/red-hook-cruz-bay-jost-van-dyke/) (checked Oct 9, 2026) · [the Government of the Virgin Islands](https://gov.vg/index.php/news/valid-passport-required-enter-virgin-islands) (checked Oct 9, 2026) - [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) - · [St. John carnival, 8 Tuff Miles and the island's year](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/events) - · [All St. John beaches](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches) - · [Back to St. John](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john)