Water Island, St. Thomas

Staying in Water Island

Water Island is the one St. Thomas area that is not on St. Thomas. It sits across the harbor from Crown Bay Marina, part of the US Virgin Islands in the St. Thomas district, and nothing but a boat joins the two. A stay here is a house rented by its owner, and the week runs on the ferry timetable: you cross with your bags, and you go back to St. Thomas when the boat goes. Honeymoon Beach, in Druif Bay, is a 5 minute walk from the ferry dock at Philips Landing by our measurement, and Dinghy's Beach Bar and Grill on the sand posts hours of 10:30 am to 9 pm daily, with the kitchen closing at 8, as of October 2026.

The Water Island Ferry is the scheduled way over. On its posted timetable as of October 2026, boats leave Crown Bay Marina on the hour, from 7 am Monday to Friday, 8 am on Saturday and 9 am on Sundays and holidays, with the last one out at 6 pm every day. Returns leave Philips Landing at a quarter past, the last at 6:15 pm. A visitor pays $20 round trip or $10 one way, and a USVI resident $12 with a current ID, on fares the operator dates February 1, 2025. No reservation is needed: buy tickets from the store under the marina office or from the crew. The operator states no crossing time, so we print none.

The car rule that holds across St. Thomas does not hold here. Water Island is the exception, with the ferry in the car's place. A flight that lands in the afternoon makes a boat the same day. The taxi from Cyril E. King airport to Crown Bay is $8 for one person or $6 each for two or more, plus $3 a bag, on the Virgin Islands Taxicab Commission's tariff in force since October 2022. A later arrival is a run arranged with the operator, which takes requests outside the timetable and books night runs in high season, per its FAQ as of October 2026. Luggage pays its own way across: $2 a suitcase and $3 a large box each way, cargo only with a passenger, and no fuel. On the island, Dinghy's rents four-seat golf carts for $65 a day, 8 am to 6 pm, booked online, as of October 2026. Ask the owner how the house is reached from the landing and whether a cart comes with it.

Every other beach is a ferry and then a car. Crown Bay Marina is 9 minutes by car from Charlotte Amalie town, and from the town Brewers Bay is 13 minutes and Magens Bay 14, by our measurement. A beach day on St. Thomas means a rental or a taxi from the marina, timed back to the 6 pm boat.

The tradeoff: the 6 pm boat. A dinner in Charlotte Amalie, a late flight or a second run for groceries all meet the last scheduled crossing, and each one after it is arranged by phone with the operator. Shopping is carried across and paid for by the box. In August 2026 the Senate approved Bill 36-0340, which would lease about 180 acres for 99 years for the Water Island Hotel and Marina and new homes, and sent it to the Governor in August 2026, per the Legislature of the Virgin Islands. If evenings in town are the point of the trip, stay on St. Thomas and come over for a day at Honeymoon Beach.

Suits a household that wants no car and is content to end the evening by the last boat.

Getting around

In Water Island, the ground measures steep, so ask the owner about the driveway.

Water Island is not on any public water main, so the houses all catch and store their rain in cisterns, while power reaches the island from St. Thomas by the Water and Power Authority's undersea cable; whether a house has a generator is for its owner to say. By our read, phones pick up a St. Thomas signal across the narrow harbor.