Snorkeling tours on St. John
St. John snorkeling tours earn their price with a boat to the offshore cays and the East End, or a guide who finds the turtles at Maho Bay. Low Key Watersports and Cruz Bay Watersports sell shared seats, Sunshine Daydream a private boat, and Virgin Islands Ecotours the turtle snorkel. Trunk Bay and Waterlemon Cay start from the sand.
Written by Virgin Islands Villas · Updated Nov 2026
Snorkel tours on St. John, side by side
| Name | What | Departs from | Group size | Rates | Phone | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virgin Islands EcotoursMap | Guided snorkels from the beach and by kayak in the national park, gear and life jacket included; a self-guided Hurricane Hole kayak rental too. | Mongoose Junction, Cruz Bay; Maho Bay for the turtle snorkel | about 12 to 20 | From $99 adult, from $59 child (Maho Bay snorkel, 3 hours; taxi from Cruz Bay $40 more); from $119 kayak and snorkel; from $159 full day with picnic | (340) 779-2155 | Oct 2026 |
| Cruz Bay WatersportsMap | Catamaran snorkel sails with lunch at a floating taco bar or the Pizza Pi boat, and BVI days to the Baths and Jost Van Dyke. | Westin St. John Resort Villas, Great Cruz Bay | about 60 a sailing, shared | From $129 on sale against $189 (Pizza Pi and Lime Out sails); BVI days to the Baths and Jost Van Dyke from $179 against $239, November 2026 | (340) 244-1493 | Nov 2026 |
| Low Key WatersportsMap | A Cruz Bay dive shop's two-stop boat snorkel, gear, flotation, drinks and snacks included, for anyone comfortable in water over their head; private dive and snorkel charters too. | Its beach boutique, 1 Bay Street, Cruz Bay | — | $80 a snorkeler, 3 hours, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 12:45 pm; private dive and snorkel charters on request | (340) 693-8999 | Nov 2026 |
| Ocean SurfariMap | Power catamaran trips to two snorkel stops in the national park; the afternoon trip ends with pizza at Christmas Cove. | Red Hook, St. Thomas, with a Cruz Bay pickup | up to 12 on the private trip | $75 adults 11+, $55 ages 3 to 10, plus $5 fuel and $4 park fee (morning park snorkel); $99 and $79 plus $5 fuel (Do It All); $1,295 private for up to 12 | (340) 227-5448 | Oct 2026 |
| Sunshine Daydream Boat ChartersMap | Private captained snorkel days around St. John and the USVI on 32-foot World Cat powerboats, four hours or a full day; snorkel gear, water and ice included. | National Park Visitor Center, Cruz Bay; the Westin for its guests; Sapphire Beach Marina, St. Thomas ($150 marina fee) | up to 12 | $850 for 4 hours, $1,095 for a full day, for up to 6, $50 each guest over 6; fuel $150 to $350 and tip extra | (340) 776-0928 | Oct 2026 |
| Reef2PeakMap | An outfitter based at Maho Bay: guided East End snorkels from Haulover Bay and Princess Bay, booked by phone, and snorkel gear rented at Maho Bay. | Haulover Bay or Princess Bay, East End | up to 10 (kayak and snorkel) | Snorkel gear $20 a day, $100 a week, at Maho Bay; guided snorkels priced by phone | 617-378-5745 | Oct 2026 |
St. John snorkeling trips: kayak, catamaran or private boat
Decide first what carries you to the reef. Virgin Islands Ecotours works from the shore and by kayak: its Maho Bay turtle snorkel meets on the beach, with the gear, a life jacket and a guide who knows where the turtles graze, and children are welcome on it. Turtles feed over the seagrass early and late in the day, so ask what time a trip reaches the water.
The shared boats go where a swimmer cannot. Low Key Watersports, a dive shop on Bay Street in Cruz Bay, runs a three-hour, two-stop boat snorkel on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, gear, flotation, drinks and snacks included; it asks that everyone be comfortable in water over their head. Cruz Bay Watersports sails big catamarans from the Westin at Great Cruz Bay, with lunch at a floating taco bar or the Pizza Pi boat. Some boats start on St. Thomas and reach you second: Ocean Surfari's afternoon trip leaves Red Hook at 2 pm and picks up in Cruz Bay at 2:30.
A private boat is the third way, and the only one where the stops are yours to choose with the captain. Sunshine Daydream takes up to twelve from the park visitor center in Cruz Bay for four hours or a full day, with gear, water and ice aboard. On the East End, Reef2Peak guides small groups off Haulover and Princess Bay, booked by phone, on the quiet side of the island, far from the North Shore crowds.
Snorkeling from St. John beaches, no tour needed
Most of what the tours sell is also a drive and a swim. The drives from Cruz Bay, by our measurement:
| Beach | From Cruz Bay | Entry |
|---|---|---|
| Hawksnest | 8 minutes by car | Free |
| Trunk Bay | 13 minutes by car | A small fee, card or phone |
| Maho Bay | 18 minutes by car | Free |
| Waterlemon Cay | 27 minutes to the Annaberg lot, then the trail | Free |
Trunk Bay charges the island's only beach fee, and it and Maho Bay rent gear on the sand; the stands and what they charge are on St. John water sports. Waterlemon is the long one, about twenty minutes on foot from Annaberg along the shore, and the current runs around the cay: a swim for the confident, on a calm day.
Trunk Bay's snorkel trail and the park's reef rules
The park itself runs no guided snorkel. What it offers comes with the Trunk Bay fee: the Underwater Snorkel Trail, a loop of roughly 300 feet out along the cay and back, with underwater plaques naming what you are looking at. It is the gentlest reef on the island for a first swim with a mask.
Sunscreen should be reef-safe by its ingredient list, not by what the label claims. At Hawksnest, keep clear of the elkhorn coral, a federally protected species, and never swim directly over it; at Leinster Bay, stand only on sand. The rest of the rules for Virgin Islands National Park are on our park page.
What a St. John snorkel excursion costs beyond the ticket
Fees, taxis and tips add up. Ocean Surfari adds a $5 fuel surcharge and a $4 park fee a person to its $75 morning trip, and a 20 percent gratuity for six or more. Virgin Islands Ecotours adds $40 for the taxi from Cruz Bay to Maho Bay. Cruz Bay Watersports lists its Pizza Pi and Lime Out sails at $189 and often runs them on sale at $129. A private boat adds fuel, $150 to $350 a day on Sunshine Daydream, and a suggested $250 to $350 for the captain. Low Key's $80 seat is the plainest price on the list, with the gear, drinks and snacks in it.
With a car and a mask of your own, the first snorkel of the trip costs nothing: Maho Bay, early, then the reefs you can reach from the beach.
Featured villas on St. John
All villas on St. JohnListed by their owners. See rates and dates, then write to the owner.
Questions about snorkel tours on St. John
Is there a Trunk Bay snorkeling tour?
The trail is the tour. The National Park Service's Underwater Snorkel Trail loops roughly 300 feet out along Trunk Bay Cay, with plaques, self-guided, for the park's small entry fee at Trunk Bay. Gear rents at the beach.
How much are snorkeling trips on St. John?
$75 an adult before fees on Ocean Surfari's morning park trip, $80 on Low Key Watersports' boat snorkel from Cruz Bay, $99 for Virgin Islands Ecotours' Maho Bay turtle snorkel and $159 for its full day, and from $179 for a Cruz Bay Watersports day in the BVI. A private boat for six is from $850 for four hours, before fuel and tip.
What does a snorkel tour add over a beach?
A guide, the gear and a boat to the cays no beach reaches. Hawksnest, Maho Bay and Waterlemon Cay are free national park beaches snorkeled from shore, and Trunk Bay charges a small fee.
Does the National Park Service run snorkel trips on St. John?
No. The park runs no guided snorkel and points beginners to the self-guided Underwater Snorkel Trail at Trunk Bay; every guided trip on this page is a private operator's.
Sources: National Park Service (checked Oct 9, 2026)
Every listing is free: an operator can ask to be added or corrected through our contact page.