--- title: "Is St. Thomas Wheelchair Accessible? In Part: What Works" url: https://virginislandvilla.com/usvi/accessible-virgin-islands description: "Wheelchair accessible St. Thomas and St. John: beach wheelchairs at Trunk Bay and Magens Bay, a ramped Red Hook ferry, boardwalks and step-free villas." updated: 2026-10-21 source: https://virginislandvilla.com/usvi/accessible-virgin-islands --- [US Virgin Islands](https://virginislandvilla.com/usvi) · Before you go # Wheelchair accessible travel on St. Thomas and St. John Written by Virgin Islands Villas·Updated Oct 2026 St. Thomas and St. John are steep islands, wheelchair accessible in part, and a week here turns on three things: a villa with a step-free way from the car to a bedroom, a ferry you can roll onto, and the few beaches with mats or paths to the water. All three exist, and each is worth a call ahead. At a glance · checked Oct 2026 | | | | --- | --- | | Beach wheelchairs, St. John | Trunk Bay With accessible parking, restrooms, changing rooms and paths to the water, per the National Park Service's accessibility page, updated January 21, 2026. Hawksnest has the same parking, restrooms and paths, with no beach wheelchairs listed. | | Beach wheelchairs, St. Thomas | Magens Bay, with roll-out mats to the water AccessMats and floating WaterWheels chairs, unveiled by the Governor's office on January 19, 2021. The Magens Bay Authority publishes no current schedule for them, as of October 2026: call before you go. | | Boardwalks | Cinnamon Bay ruins, Francis Bay salt pond, Annaberg ruins All three listed as wheelchair accessible on the park's accessibility page (January 2026). The park's older Annaberg page (2021) says the path from the lot exceeds wheelchair safety standards. | | Ferry, Red Hook to Cruz Bay | $8.15 one way, about 20 minutes, hourly The adult fare on Transportation Services of St. John's fares page; hourly to a 10 pm last boat, with a 5:30 am weekday boat, per the Department of Public Works as of October 2026. Its newest boat, the Spirit of 1733, was built with side boarding ramps, five wheelchair spaces and two accessible restrooms (DPW, August 2024). | | Car barge | $65 one way, $80 round trip, plus a $5 ramp fee The car's fare covers everyone in it; Big Red Barge and Love City Car Ferries' rates and the Port Authority's ramp fee at Red Hook, as of October 2026. | | Not accessible | The Skyride to Paradise Point; the Lind Point Trail The Skyride operator's FAQ answers no on handicap access (checked 2026-10-09); the park calls the Lind Point Trail narrow and rocky, not accessible. | | Wheelchair accessible villa, on this site | Step-free from parking to a bedroom, 32-inch doorways, a step-free shower with grab bars The definition every owner reads before ticking the box. | ## Is St. Thomas wheelchair accessible? In part, and the beach is the easiest part to plan. Magens Bay, 14 minutes by car from Charlotte Amalie by our measurement, is the one St. Thomas beach known to have equipment for a wheelchair: in January 2021 the Governor's office unveiled AccessMats there, bright vinyl walkways rolled across the sand, and WaterWheels, floating beach chairs that run over the mats and into the water. Entry is $7 a person, under 12 free, and parking $2 a car, per the Magens Bay Authority as of October 2026, with the gates open 7 am to 5:30 pm. The tradeoff: nobody publishes whether the mats are down this week or how to borrow a chair, and the Authority's own post about them has gone from its website. Call the Authority before you drive out, and ask for the chairs at the gate. Leave the Skyride to Paradise Point off the list; its operator says it has no handicap access. More on the beach itself is on our [Magens Bay page](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/beaches/magens-bay). ## Which beaches on St. John are wheelchair accessible? Two, both on the North Shore and both in the national park. [Trunk Bay](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/trunk-bay), 13 minutes by car from Cruz Bay, has beach wheelchairs, accessible parking, restrooms, changing rooms and paths to the water, per the National Park Service's accessibility page, updated January 2026. Entry is $5 a person, 16 and over, card or phone only since October 1, 2026. [Hawksnest](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/beaches/hawksnest), 8 minutes from town and free, has the same parking, restrooms, changing rooms and paths, and no beach wheelchairs on the park's list. The park warns that its beach ramps can wash out in storms and high swell, so the ramp in a March photo may be gone in November. Call the park's visitor center, 340-776-6201, the morning you plan to go. The visitor center in Cruz Bay itself has an accessible entrance, parking and restrooms. ## Boardwalks and ruins a wheelchair can reach Three, all named on the same park page. The Cinnamon Bay trail, 17 minutes from Cruz Bay, crosses the sugar ruins on a boardwalk. Francis Bay, 25 minutes out near the end of the North Shore road, has a boardwalk through the mangroves to a salt pond, a good place for birds. [Annaberg](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/things-to-do/annaberg-plantation), 27 minutes to its spur road with the lot a few hundred yards on, is the one to ask about first: the park's accessibility page describes a wheelchair accessible path through the ruins, while its older Annaberg page, from 2021, says the grade from the parking lot exceeds wheelchair safety standards. Both are the park's word, so call the visitor center before you drive. The trails are another matter. The Lind Point Trail behind the visitor center is narrow and rocky, and the park calls it not accessible; most of the island's hikes are the same. ## Is the St. John ferry wheelchair accessible? The newest boat is. The Department of Public Works had the Spirit of 1733 built for the Red Hook to Cruz Bay route with integrated side boarding ramps, five wheelchair spaces and two accessible restrooms, per its August 2024 announcement. The route also runs older boats, and the Department's ferries page does not say which boat sails which hour, so call the Department the day before and ask for the Spirit's sailings. The [passenger ferry](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/ferry) costs $8.15 one way for a visitor, as of October 2026, and takes about 20 minutes. The other way across is to stay with the car. The [car barge](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/car-barge) from Red Hook is the simpler crossing: you drive on at Red Hook and off at Enighed Pond, beside Cruz Bay, and the car's fare, $65 one way or $80 round trip with the operators as of October 2026 plus a $5 ramp fee at Red Hook, covers everyone in it. For a week of beaches on St. John, a rental car taken across on the barge is the plan with the fewest transfers. ## Flying into St. Thomas, and the taxi from the airport Almost every trip lands at [Cyril E. King Airport](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/airport) on St. Thomas. Federal rules put boarding on the airline, not the airport: where a plane of 19 seats or more cannot be reached by a level jet bridge at an airport of this size, the airline must provide a lift or a ramp (14 CFR 382.95 and 382.97). Ask the airline when you book how your flight boards at STT, request wheelchair assistance on the reservation, and ask for your own chair at the aircraft door. The taxis are harder. The shared vans at the curb carry fares set by the Taxicab Commission, and we found no operator or Commission listing for a wheelchair-accessible taxi on either island as of October 2026. A rental car picked up at the airport, or a transfer the villa owner arranges, is the reliable answer. The Department of Public Works runs VITRAN Plus, a door-to-door paratransit service, but a rider applies and has an in-person interview before the first trip, so it is built for residents rather than a week's visit. ## Choosing a villa you can get into On a hillside the house is the hard part. A villa built down a slope comes in tiers, with parking at the top, the living room below it and the bedrooms below that, so a house that suits a wheelchair is the exception, and it is worth finding first. On this site, wheelchair accessible means one thing: step-free from the parking to a bedroom, doorways at least 32 inches wide, and a step-free shower with grab bars, a definition each owner reads before ticking the box. The houses that meet it, or have an elevator, or have a level path and a bedroom on the entry floor, are gathered, as owners list them, in [step-free and accessible villas](https://virginislandvilla.com/collections/accessible). The box describes the house, not the road. Ask the owner how steep the driveway is, how many steps lead to the pool deck, and the width of the bathroom door, and ask for a photograph of the shower. The rest of the week's practical advice, from the car to the beach flags, is on [staying safe in the US Virgin Islands](https://virginislandvilla.com/usvi/safety). ## Questions about the US Virgin Islands ### Is St. Thomas wheelchair accessible? In part. Magens Bay has roll-out mats and floating beach wheelchairs, unveiled by the Governor's office in January 2021, though the Magens Bay Authority publishes no current schedule for them, so call first. Airlines must provide a lift or ramp at Cyril E. King Airport where there is no level jet bridge. We found no wheelchair-accessible taxi listed on the island as of October 2026, so plan on a rental car. ### Is St. John wheelchair accessible? More than its hills suggest, if you plan around the national park. Trunk Bay has beach wheelchairs and accessible paths, Hawksnest has accessible paths and restrooms, and three boardwalks, at Cinnamon Bay, Francis Bay and Annaberg, are listed as wheelchair accessible by the National Park Service as of January 2026. Most trails are not, and the park's beach ramps can wash out in a swell. ### Which St. John beaches have beach wheelchairs? Trunk Bay, per the National Park Service's accessibility page, updated January 2026. Entry is $5 a person, 16 and over, card or phone only. Hawksnest has accessible parking, restrooms, changing rooms and paths to the water but no beach wheelchairs on the park's list. Call the visitor center, 340-776-6201, before you go. ### Is the St. John ferry wheelchair accessible? The Spirit of 1733, the Department of Public Works' newest boat on the Red Hook to Cruz Bay route, was built with side boarding ramps, five wheelchair spaces and two accessible restrooms. The route also runs older boats, so ask the Department which sailings the Spirit runs. The car barge is the other choice: you drive on and off, and the car's fare covers everyone in it. ### Do I need a car with a wheelchair on St. John? Yes, by our read. We found no wheelchair-accessible taxi on St. John or St. Thomas as of October 2026, and the accessible beaches and boardwalks are 8 to 27 minutes by car from Cruz Bay. Rent on St. Thomas and take the car across on the barge, or ask the villa owner to arrange a transfer. Facts checked against [the National Park Service](https://www.nps.gov/viis/planyourvisit/accessibility.htm), [the Department of Public Works](https://dpw.vi.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/009-2024-Press-Release-Progress-made-on-incoming-VITRAN-Ferry.pdf), [the Government of the US Virgin Islands](https://www.vi.gov/governor-bryan-ada-coordinator-julien-henley-unveil-new-accessibility-aids-for-disabled-persons-at-magens-bay-beach/), [the Magens Bay Authority](https://magensbayauthority.org/passes/) and [the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chapter-II/subchapter-A/part-382/subpart-G). Checked October 2026. Related guides - [Reef-safe sunscreen in the USVI and what the law bans](https://virginislandvilla.com/usvi/reef-safe-sunscreen) - [US Virgin Islands bachelorette party](https://virginislandvilla.com/usvi/bachelorette-groups-virgin-islands) - [All of US Virgin Islands](https://virginislandvilla.com/usvi) Own a house in the Virgin Islands? 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