---
title: "St. Thomas Jet Ski Rental and Parasailing: What Each Costs"
url: https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/things-to-do/water-sports
description: "St. Thomas jet ski rental at four launches, parasailing from Sapphire Marina, surfing at Hull Bay and beach gear to rent: prices per ski and the age rules."
updated: 2026-10-21
source: https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/things-to-do/water-sports
---

[St. Thomas](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas) · [Things to do](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/things-to-do)

# St. Thomas water sports: jet ski rental, parasailing and gear

St. Thomas has four places to start a jet ski rental: [Lindbergh Bay](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/beaches/lindbergh-bay) by the [airport](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/airport), the Westin at Frenchman's Reef, and Compass Point and Sapphire marinas on the East End, all priced by the ski and the hour. Parasailing flies from Sapphire, the resort beaches rent paddleboards and kayaks, and [Hull Bay](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/beaches/hull-bay) has the island's one surf break.

Written by Virgin Islands Villas · Updated Nov 2026

## Water sports on St. Thomas, 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 | Group size | Rates | Phone | Checked |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [JetskiVI](https://www.jetskivi.com/rates-jet-ski-rentals-usvi.php) [Map](https://www.google.com/maps?cid=17573661409072371941) | Freestyle jet ski rental and guided rides past Water Island and Honeymoon Beach. 18 to drive alone; 15 to 17 with an adult 21 or over aboard. | Emerald Beach Resort, Lindbergh Bay | 1 or 2 a ski | $100 for 30 minutes, $175 an hour; guided 45 minutes $125, 90 minutes $210; $15 a passenger | (340) 774-5840 | Oct 2026 |
| [Funtime Jet Ski Rentals](https://www.funtimejetskivi.com/book-online) | Jet ski rental by the half hour or the hour, guided one-hour tours, tubing behind a jet ski and beach chairs, on the sand at Lindbergh Bay; daily 10 am to 5 pm. Tour prices on request. | Lindbergh Bay Beach, by the airport | — | 30 minutes from $90, 1 hour from $180; jet ski tubing from $60 for 15 minutes | (340) 626-9665 | Nov 2026 |
| [Tropical Adventure](https://tropicaladventurevi.com/jet-ski-rentals/) [Map](https://www.google.com/maps?cid=9053885002659211130) | Jet ski rental with a safety boat in and out of the marina, and a 1.5-hour jet ski shuttle to the Pizza Pi boat at Christmas Cove. Drivers 16 and over; ID and card in the booker's name. | Compass Point Marina | 1 or 2 a ski; Pizza Pi shuttle up to 6 guests | 1 hour $125 (SeaDoo) or $145 (Yamaha); Pizza Pi shuttle $145 (SeaDoo, one rider) or $175 (Yamaha) | (340) 474-9727 | Oct 2026 |
| [Coastal Water Sports](https://www.coastalwatersportsvi.com/) [Map](https://www.google.com/maps?cid=272419604782628204) | Freestyle WaveRunner rental on the East End, 9 am to 4 pm Sunday to Friday, closed Saturdays; delivers WaveRunners to a beach house or villa. | Sapphire Marina, slip N-29 | 2 a WaveRunner | $130 a half hour, $190 an hour; a second rider free; $5 card fee | (340) 643-8257 | Oct 2026 |
| [Cruz Bay Watersports](https://cruzbaywatersports.com/jet-ski-tours/) | Guided jet ski tour past Hassel and Water Islands. 18 to drive; driver's license and card deposit; runs at a minimum headcount. | The Westin Beach Resort & Spa at Frenchman's Reef | 1 or 2 a ski, 250 pounds combined | from $149 (sale; $169 list) | (340) 244-1493 | Oct 2026 |
| [Parasail Virgin Islands](https://parasailvirginislands.com/rates-locations/) [Map](https://www.google.com/maps?cid=15398757237516657081) | Parasail flights from the boat deck over Pillsbury Sound, about 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 on the water. From age 4; combined weight 160 to about 550 pounds. | Sapphire Marina (Havensight closed as of November 2026) | up to 15 a boat; flights of 1 to 3 | $120 a parasailor; $70 an observer; private boat $1,150 for up to 10 parasailers | (340) 227-8303 | Nov 2026 |
| [Flyboard St. Thomas](https://www.flyboardstt.com/) | Flyboard sessions, a board lifted by water jets from a personal watercraft, daily between 10 am and 4 pm. | Lindbergh Bay | 1 | $150 for 30 minutes | (340) 774-5840 | Oct 2026 |
| [Water Action VI](https://wateractionvi.com/) | The rental hut on the sand at Lindbergh Bay that JetskiVI and Flyboard St. Thomas book through: kayaks, paddleboards and tubing walk-up, no booking; e-foil booked ahead. | Lindbergh Bay, in front of Emerald Beach Resort | — | kayak $25 for 30 minutes (double $35); paddleboard $25 for 30 minutes; tubing $25 a person for 15 minutes; e-foil $185 for 30 minutes, $250 with a lesson | (340) 774-5840 | Nov 2026 |
| [VI Jet Boat, Screamin' Eagle](https://vijetboat.com/faq/) [Map](https://www.google.com/maps?cid=1519921821148854595) | A jet boat ride with 180-degree spins along the coast, about 40 minutes from boarding to landing; riders 42 inches and taller, and soaked unless you book the dry run. | Havensight, by the cruise ship dock | up to 22 | $65 adults, $60 children; whole boat $966 for up to 21 | (340) 775-9360 | Oct 2026 |
| [St. Thomas Scuba and Snorkel Adventures](https://www.stthomasadventures.com/surfsup) [Map](https://www.google.com/maps?cid=15899316901049895790) | Dive shop at Hull Bay renting surfboards and paddleboards and teaching on the north-shore break in the winter swell; strong swimmers only for a first lesson; a private surf charter priced by the day. | Hull Bay | lessons from 2 | surfboard or paddleboard $75 a day, $200 a week; 2-hour surf lesson $100 | (340) 474-9332 | Oct 2026 |
| [Aqua Action Dive Center](https://www.aadivers.com/rates.php) [Map](https://www.google.com/maps?cid=590783373963754367) | Dive shop on the beach at Secret Harbour renting kayaks, paddleboards, snorkel gear, chairs and floats. | Secret Harbour | — | kayak $40 an hour (double $45); paddleboard $45 an hour; snorkel set $25 a day; chair $15, umbrella $10 | (340) 775-6285 | Oct 2026 |
| [Sapphire Beach Club](https://www.sapphirebeachclubvi.com/about/) [Map](https://www.google.com/maps?cid=4233485734398765331) | Beach rentals through Naia Boutique at the club, on the beach facing St. John across Pillsbury Sound. | Sapphire Beach | — | snorkel and mask set $15 a day; snorkel board $15 for 2 hours; chaise $15 a day; cabana $275 a day | (340) 714-7874, ext. 5 | Oct 2026 |
| [WoW Water Sports](https://www.magensbaywws.com/home) [Map](https://www.google.com/maps?cid=6924678934945077958) | Kayaks, paddleboards and Sunfish sailboats on the sand at Magens Bay since 1976; no rental period is posted, so ask what the price buys. | Magens Bay | — | single kayak $30; paddleboard or pedal kayak $35; Sunfish $45 | (340) 514-4167 | Oct 2026 |
| [Dinghy's Beach Bar and Grill](https://dinghysbeachbar.com/water-island/) [Map](https://www.google.com/maps?cid=17028829581932646385) | Beach bar on Honeymoon Beach listing paddleboards, kayaks and snorkel gear; no prices posted. | Honeymoon Beach, Water Island | — | — | (340) 227-5525 | Oct 2026 |

## Jet ski rental in St. Thomas, launch by launch

Choose the launch before the company. On the south side, Lindbergh Bay has two desks on the sand by the airport: JetskiVI rents from Emerald Beach Resort and runs guided rides past [Water Island](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/areas/water-island) and [Honeymoon Beach](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/beaches/honeymoon-beach-water-island), and Funtime Jet Ski Rentals rents by the half hour or the hour, guides one-hour tours and tows riders on a tube. Cruz Bay Watersports guides from The Westin Beach Resort & Spa at Frenchman's Reef, out past Hassel and Water Islands. On the East End, Tropical Adventure rents from Compass Point Marina and runs a jet ski shuttle to the floating pizza boat at Christmas Cove, and Coastal Water Sports rents freestyle hours from Sapphire Marina, closed Saturdays, and will bring WaveRunners to a beach house.

A first-timer is better off on a guided ride than a freestyle hour: the guide leads the slow run out of the bay and sets the pace beyond it. JetskiVI, Funtime and Cruz Bay Watersports all guide, and Tropical Adventure sends a safety boat in and out of the marina with its rentals.

Cruz Bay Watersports, Tropical Adventure and Coastal Water Sports all ask for a credit card and a photo ID, and Tropical Adventure turns away a booking whose card and license do not match. Bring the card you booked with.

## What a St. Thomas jet ski tour costs per person

The price is a ski, not a person, so two on one ski halves it. Each ski's price, and the share for two riders:

| Ride | Price for the ski | Two on one ski, each |
| --- | --- | --- |
| JetskiVI, 45-minute guided cruise | $125, plus $15 a passenger | $70 |
| JetskiVI, 90-minute guided ride | $210, plus $15 a passenger | $112.50 |
| Tropical Adventure, Pizza Pi shuttle, 1.5 hours | $175 a Yamaha; $145 a SeaDoo, one rider | $87.50 on the Yamaha |
| Coastal Water Sports, freestyle hour | $190, a second rider free, $5 card fee | $97.50 |

Cruz Bay Watersports' guided tour is from $149, a sale price on a $169 list, and caps rider and driver together at 250 pounds, so most pairs ride one to a ski. Funtime quotes its tours when you book.

## Jet ski rules in the Virgin Islands, in plain words

The territory's rules keep jet skis away from swimmers. Free riding starts 500 feet off the shore, cays included, and 200 feet beyond any reef. Inside the bays the skis launch from, Lindbergh Bay, Frenchman Bay and Jersey Bay among them, a ski runs out in a straight line at a slow, no-wake speed, so part of a rented hour is the trip to open water. The Mangrove Lagoon behind Compass Point is closed to motorboats.

To drive alone a rider must be 18; at 14 to 17 a rider needs a parent's written consent and the boating course that the Department of Planning and Natural Resources requires of anyone 14 to 18 who drives a jet ski. Every rider wears a life jacket. The rental desks set their own floors as well: 18 at Cruz Bay Watersports; 18 alone at JetskiVI, or 15 to 17 with an adult 21 or over aboard; and 16 at Tropical Adventure, where a driver under 18 still needs the course and a parent's consent.

The two rules posted where you can check them are the Department of Sports, Parks and Recreation's ban on jet skis in swimming areas and the sign at the [Magens Bay](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/beaches/magens-bay) gate, which keeps them out of that bay altogether.

## Parasailing in St. Thomas, from Sapphire Marina

One company flies parasails off St. Thomas with a site of its own: Parasail Virgin Islands, from Sapphire Marina on the East End, over Pillsbury Sound with St. John and the British Virgin Islands in view. A flight is $120 a parasailor, singly, in pairs or in threes, and the boat holds up to 15, so plan on an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half on the water for a flight of minutes. Riders go up from age 4 and land back on the deck, dry unless they ask for a dip.

The weather and the scale decide the day: the captain needs a combined weight of at least 160 pounds and no more than about 550, and a non-refundable deposit holds the seat; a weather cancellation is refunded, one of your own inside 24 hours is not. Its Havensight launch near the cruise pier is closed for now; call before planning around it.

## Surfing on St. Thomas: Hull Bay on a north swell

Surfing on St. Thomas is one beach and one season. Hull Bay, the fishing-boat cove west of Magens on the north shore, opens to the north-northwest, and when a winter swell comes down from the Atlantic it is the island's break; the rest of the year it is usually flat enough to snorkel. Those swells run from about November to March, the months the one shop at the bay calls its best.

That shop is St. Thomas Scuba and Snorkel Adventures, at 10-1 Hull Bay. It rents a surfboard or a paddleboard by the day or the week and teaches a two-hour lesson, board included, with a minimum of two and strong swimming asked of beginners; it will also run a private surf charter to breaks around the islands, priced by the day. Surfboards are hard to rent anywhere else on the island, so a surfer who is particular about a board brings one.

Be honest with yourself about the scene. It is small: one break, one shop, no lifeguard, fishing boats moored off the same sand and using the ramp, and a week without a north swell has no wave at all. Ask the shop what the swell is doing before you drive over the hill, and on a flat day [take the snorkel](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/things-to-do/snorkeling) along the western point instead.

## Snorkel, paddleboard and kayak rentals on the beach

Every beach in the territory is [open to the public by law](https://virginislandvilla.com/usvi/beach-access), so a resort's sand is yours to swim from even where its rentals are not; [Bolongo Bay](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/beaches/bolongo) keeps its kayaks and boards for its own guests. The gear rents on the sand at five beaches. At Lindbergh Bay, Water Action VI, the hut on the sand that JetskiVI books through, rents kayaks and paddleboards by the half hour and tows riders on a tube, walk-up with no booking, and takes e-foil sessions by reservation. At [Secret Harbour](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/beaches/secret-harbour), Aqua Action Dive Center rents snorkel sets by the day and kayaks and paddleboards by the hour. [The Sapphire Beach Club](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/beaches/sapphire) rents snorkel and mask sets through Naia Boutique. WoW Water Sports rents kayaks, paddleboards and Sunfish at Magens Bay, past [the park's gate fee](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/beaches/magens-bay). Dinghy's, on Honeymoon Beach across on Water Island, lists paddleboards, kayaks and snorkel gear without prices.

[Lindquist Beach](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/beaches/lindquist), whose rentals the Magens Bay Authority runs, has closed for sargassum in recent summers; check its status before you go. At [Coki Beach](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/beaches/coki) the vendors rent snorkel gear and floats with no prices posted; ask before you sit down. To be taken to the reefs instead, [St. Thomas snorkeling tours](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/things-to-do/snorkel-tours) lists every boat and guided swim.

Villas on St. Thomas

Every villa on the island is listed by its owner on [St. Thomas vacation rentals](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/vacation-rentals). See rates and dates, then write to the owner.

## Questions about water sports on St. Thomas

### How old do you have to be to drive a jet ski in St. Thomas?

Eighteen to drive alone, by our reading of the territory's motorboat rules; at 14 to 17 a rider needs a parent's written consent and the boating course the Department of Planning and Natural Resources requires of anyone 14 to 18 who drives a jet ski. The rental desks set their own floors: 18 at Cruz Bay Watersports, 18 alone at JetskiVI or 15 to 17 with an adult 21 or over aboard, and 16 at Tropical Adventure, where a driver under 18 still needs the course and the consent.

### Do you need a license to rent a jet ski in St. Thomas?

No boating license for an adult, but a photo ID; a driver 14 to 18 also needs the boating course the Department of Planning and Natural Resources requires. Cruz Bay Watersports and Tropical Adventure ask for a driver's license, Coastal Water Sports for a driver's license or other photo ID, and all of them for a credit card.

### How much is a jet ski tour in St. Thomas per person?

Prices are a ski, so it depends on sharing. JetskiVI's 45-minute guided cruise is $125 a ski plus $15 a passenger, $70 each for two, and Cruz Bay Watersports' guided tour is from $149 a ski on sale.

### How much is parasailing in St. Thomas?

$120 a parasailor with Parasail Virgin Islands from Sapphire Marina. A rider along for the boat ride is $70, photos are $40, and the whole boat for up to 10 parasailers is $1,150 with the crew's gratuity included.

### Can you surf on St. Thomas?

Yes, at Hull Bay on the north shore, when a north swell runs, usually from about November to March. St. Thomas Scuba and Snorkel Adventures, at the bay, rents boards at $75 a day and teaches a two-hour lesson for $100. Outside a swell the bay is usually flat, and it is the island's only break.

### Where can you rent snorkel gear on St. Thomas?

On the sand at Sapphire Beach, $15 a day from the beach club, and at Secret Harbour, $25 a day from Aqua Action Dive Center. Coki Beach's vendors rent sets without posted prices. Nothing is rented on the sand at [Brewers Bay](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/beaches/brewers-bay); at Hull Bay the dive shop rents boards, so ask it about masks before you count on one.

Sources: [Department of Planning and Natural Resources](https://dpnr.vi.gov/environmental-enforcement/boating-education/courses/) (checked Oct 21, 2026) · [Department of Sports, Parks and Recreation](https://dspr.vi.gov/library/2026-02-18-Beach-Vendor-RRs-for-DSPR-Publication.pdf) (checked Oct 21, 2026) · [Magens Bay Authority](https://magensbayauthority.org/smith-bay-park/) (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. Thomas](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/things-to-do/kayaking)

- · [Boat charters on St. Thomas](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/things-to-do/boat-charters)

- · [Snorkel tours on St. Thomas](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/things-to-do/snorkel-tours)

- · [Fishing charters on St. Thomas](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/things-to-do/fishing)

- · [Things to do](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/things-to-do)

- · [Back to St. Thomas](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas)