--- title: "St. John Water Sports: Snorkel Gear to Rent by Week or Hour" url: https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/things-to-do/water-sports description: "St. John water sports: where to rent snorkel gear, paddleboards and kayaks, by the week in Cruz Bay or the hour at the beach, and the one jet ski tour." updated: 2026-10-21 source: https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/things-to-do/water-sports --- [St. John](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john) · [Things to do](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/things-to-do) # St. John water sports rentals, from paddleboards to snorkel gear St. John water sports are the quiet kind: snorkel gear, paddleboards and kayaks, rented by the week in Cruz Bay or by the hour on the beach. Engines are the exception. Jet skis and e-foils are not allowed in Virgin Islands National Park waters, and the island's only jet ski is a guided hour from the Westin. Written by Virgin Islands Villas · Updated Nov 2026 ## Water sports on St. John, side by side *Rates and phone numbers as each operator publishes them, or as a recent local source prints them where the operator does not, checked on the day in the last column.* | Name | What | Where | Rates | Phone | Checked | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Virgin Islands Ecotours](https://www.viecotours.com/st-john/) [Map](https://www.google.com/maps?cid=9961809577227312098) | Snorkel backpack sets with a life jacket, weekly paddleboards and kayaks with a car-top rack, beach chairs and shade tents; picked up in Cruz Bay, open daily 8 am to 9:30 pm, or delivered. | Mongoose Junction, Cruz Bay; delivery to villas | Snorkel set $12 a day, $55 a week; paddleboard $200 a week; kayak $220 single, $250 double a week; chairs $10 a day | (340) 779-2155 | Oct 2026 | | [Low Key Watersports](https://divelowkey.com/snorkel-gear-rental/) [Map](https://www.google.com/maps?cid=1882060639088660110) | A Cruz Bay dive shop, open Monday to Saturday 8 am to 5 pm, renting snorkel sets with prescription masks, paddleboards, beach tents, chairs and coolers by the day or week. | 1 Bay Street, Cruz Bay | Snorkel set $10 a day, $50 a week; prescription set $15 a day; paddleboard $60 a day, $300 a week | (340) 693-8999 | Oct 2026 | | [Reef2Peak](https://reef2peak.com/) [Map](https://www.google.com/maps?cid=3704906423803606876) | A rental stand on the sand at Maho Bay, 10 am to 4 pm daily: paddleboards, sit-on-top kayaks, snorkel gear and beach chairs. | Maho Bay, North Shore | Paddleboard or single kayak $35 an hour, $80 for 6 hours; board $250, kayak $200 a week; snorkel gear $20 a day | 617-378-5745 | Oct 2026 | | [Maho Watersport Rentals](https://maho-watersport-rentals.myshopify.com/) | The rental counter at the Maho Crossroads beach bar: clear and ocean kayaks, inflatable paddleboards, snorkel gear, floats, shade tents and chairs. | Maho Crossroads, across North Shore Road from Maho Bay | Clear kayak from $40 an hour; paddleboard from $30 an hour; mask and fins $20 a day; Air Buddy $50 for 3 hours | — | Oct 2026 | | [Cinnamon Bay Resort & Campground](https://www.cinnamonbayvi.com/thingstodo) [Map](https://www.google.com/maps?cid=10862670145121045687) | The park campground's watersports desk, 9 am to 4 pm, open to day visitors: kayaks, clear kayaks, paddleboards, snorkel gear and chairs; no season is posted, so call in September and October, when the campground is closed. | Cinnamon Bay, North Shore | Snorkel set $10 a day, $50 a week; kayak $30 an hour, $75 a day; paddleboard $35 an hour, $75 a day; SUP lesson $60 | 340-714-7144 | Oct 2026 | | [Cruz Bay Watersports](https://cruzbaywatersports.com/tour/jet-ski-guided-tours/) [Map](https://www.google.com/maps?cid=9725720407630038751) | A tour company, not a gear shop: the island's one jet ski outing, a guided hour across Pillsbury Sound, 18 and over to drive; also snorkel and sunset sails. | Westin St. John Resort Villas, Great Cruz Bay | Guided jet ski hour $149 a single rider (on sale against $169, October 2026) | (340) 244-1493 | Oct 2026 | ## Snorkel gear rental in Cruz Bay, day or week The cheapest mask on the island is a weekly one collected in town. Two shops a short walk from the [ferry](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/ferry) dock in [Cruz Bay](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/areas/cruz-bay) rent a full set for $10 to $12 a day, or $50 to $55 for the week. Virgin Islands Ecotours, at [Mongoose Junction](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/things-to-do/shopping), packs its set in a backpack with a life jacket and a snorkel map, everything a family needs for the first morning, and it keeps its doors open into the evening, every day. Low Key Watersports, on Bay Street, is a dive shop and the place to ask for a prescription mask; it closes at 5 and on Sundays, so a late ferry or a Sunday arrival means Ecotours. Collect the gear on the way from the ferry and it rides in the car all week, ready for whichever bay is calm; [snorkeling on St. John](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/things-to-do/snorkeling) rates them. At the beach the gear keeps beach hours, and the price depends on the stand: [Maho Bay](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/maho-bay) charges twice the town rate for a day, while the [Cinnamon Bay](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/cinnamon-bay) desk matches it. [Trunk Bay](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/trunk-bay) has a rental counter too, run with the park's facilities; ask the price at the window. ## Paddleboards and kayaks: on the roof or at Maho There are two ways to paddle. A weekly board or kayak from Cruz Bay goes on the roof of the [rental car](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/services/car-rentals): Virgin Islands Ecotours sends its boards and kayaks out with a soft rack and delivers to the villa, and Low Key rents boards by the day or the week. Guided paddles, and where to launch on each shore, are on [kayaking on St. John](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/things-to-do/kayaking). Or rent by the hour where you launch. Maho Bay is the one beach with two stands: Reef2Peak on the sand, from 10 to 4, and Maho Watersport Rentals across the road at the Crossroads bar, which adds clear-bottomed kayaks and the Air Buddy, a floating air supply it sells as the step between snorkeling and scuba. An hour on a board or in a kayak runs $30 to $40 at either. The desk at Cinnamon Bay keeps similar prices from 9 to 4, but the campground around it closes in September and October, so call before you count on it then. One rule to know before you paddle: the park allows no kayaks or paddleboards within 200 feet of the west side of Trunk Cay, where the snorkel trail runs. ## A jet ski on St. John means a guided tour Nobody on St. John rents a jet ski to ride alone, and the park's rules are why. Personal watercraft are barred in [Virgin Islands National Park](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/things-to-do/national-park) and the Coral Reef National Monument, e-foils and motorized surfboards included, and so are water skiing and towing anything behind a boat, which rules out parasailing too. Federal rules allow jet skis in only 21 named parks, and this is not one of them. The exception is Cruz Bay Watersports' guided tour from the Westin at [Great Cruz Bay](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/areas/great-cruz-bay): one hour behind a guide across Pillsbury Sound, $149 for a single rider, drivers 18 and over with a license and a card deposit. It is sold as a rental, but the guide sets the route. To ride one yourself, or to parasail, the stands are a ferry ride away: see [jet ski rentals on St. Thomas](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/things-to-do/water-sports). ## Cruz Bay Watersports, Wharfside and the dive boats Cruz Bay Watersports, despite the name, is a tour company working from the Westin St. John and from two resorts on St. Thomas, selling catamaran snorkel sails, sunset sails, BVI days and the jet ski hour. Its Westin beach rentals are not bookable, so for gear, the shops above are the ones to call. Wharfside Watersports, on the beach at Wharfside Village in Cruz Bay, rents the dinghies and Zodiacs you drive yourself, and it sits with the other self-drive desks on [the St. John boat charters page](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/things-to-do/boat-charters). Low Key also runs dive boats, covered on [St. John diving](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/things-to-do/diving). For the week, a snorkel set from town and a car is most of what the water here asks for. 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. [Featured, paid placement Indo House Great Cruz Bay, St. John · 4 bedrooms From $4,000 / night](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/villas/indo-house) ## Questions about water sports on St. John ### Can you rent a jet ski on St. John? Not to ride on your own. Jet skis, e-foils and motorized boards are barred in Virgin Islands National Park waters. Cruz Bay Watersports runs a guided one-hour tour from the Westin, $149 for a single rider, 18 and over to drive. A jet ski to ride yourself, and parasailing, are a ferry ride away on [St. Thomas](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/things-to-do/water-sports). ### Where can I rent snorkel gear on St. John? In Cruz Bay, Virgin Islands Ecotours at Mongoose Junction ($12 a day, $55 a week, with a life jacket) and Low Key Watersports on Bay Street ($10 a day, $50 a week). [Maho Bay](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/maho-bay), [Cinnamon Bay](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/cinnamon-bay) and [Trunk Bay](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/trunk-bay) rent gear at the beach. ### What is Cruz Bay Watersports? A tour company at the Westin St. John and two St. Thomas resorts, not a gear shop in Cruz Bay. It sells snorkel sails, sunset sails, BVI days and a guided jet ski hour from the Westin; its sails are compared on [St. John snorkeling tours](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/things-to-do/snorkel-tours). ### Can you paddleboard or kayak at Trunk Bay? Not near the snorkel trail. The park allows no kayaks or paddleboards within 200 feet of the west side of Trunk Cay. Maho Bay, with a rental stand on the sand and another across the road, is the easier launch. Sources: [National Park Service](https://www.nps.gov/viis/learn/management/upload/2026-VIIS-SC_Clean_Final-signed-2.pdf) (checked Oct 21, 2026) · [eCFR, 36 CFR 3.9](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-36/chapter-I/part-3/section-3.9) (checked Oct 21, 2026) Every listing is free: an operator can ask to be added or corrected through [our contact page](https://virginislandvilla.com/contact). - [Kayaking on St. John](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/things-to-do/kayaking) - · [Boat charters on St. John](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/things-to-do/boat-charters) - · [Snorkel tours on St. John](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/things-to-do/snorkel-tours) - · [Fishing charters on St. John](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/things-to-do/fishing) - · [Things to do](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/things-to-do) - · [Back to St. John](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john)