THE 5 MOST BEAUTIFUL BEACHES YOU MUST VISIT IN ST. JOHN USVI RIGHT NOW
THE BEST BEACHES TO VISIT IN ST. JOHN U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS
Are you looking to plan your next beach vacation? Look no further than the beaches on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The beaches in St. John are truly unlike anything else. They’re absolutely stunning and full of wildlife due to them being in the Virgin Islands National Park. I honestly think my love of nature came from growing up in the forest and on the beaches of St. John. A little backstory about me and the Virgin Islands is that I’ve been visiting the islands consistently since I was 3 years old. Wild right?! These beaches have so many memories of my childhood, awkward teen years, and even engagement photos with my now fiancé. I still can’t believe I get to share this special place with him now — and share my favorite beaches with you too! You’ll see pretty quickly that these beaches are more barren and natural than a beach in Florida that’s more open. You typically park by the road then walk through the forest to get to the beach. I thought it was crazy when I visited beaches in other places because there weren’t a ton of trees or vegetation around — it was just road and then beach.
All the beaches is St. John are absolutely beautiful and you’ll be happy no matter which one you choose. However, I wanted to highlight my absolute favorites beaches on the island and why!
What is Cinnamon Bay like in St. John USVI?
Cinnamon Bay is one of the most beautiful beaches on the island! It’s typically where most photographers take their clients, as you’ll see below because of it’s beauty! This beach also has a campground which offer 40 cottage units, 55 eco-tent sites, and 31 bare sites, at varying price points. Cinnamon Bay has a large pavilion, food and drink services along with rental of water-sports equipment. This is one of I think four beaches on St. John that offer this. I remember being on the beach with my entire family when I was younger and walking over to the concessions to get ice cream with my aunt and cousin!
The best spot to be on Cinnamon Bay is to the far right when you walk up to the beach. The far right is where you can see these gorgeous big rocks that are great to walk around and explore. You can grab a spot to sit right before the rocks on the sand and then we would always walk all the way down the beach back to the left down to Little Cinnamon Bay. You do have to walk through the forest a bit to get to the Little Cinnamon Bay but it’s worth it for the snorkeling. We were able to see sting rays and even found an octopus a couple of times. Overall, it’s a fabulous beach you’ll absolutely want to put at the top of your list.
What’s the best time to get to the beach? Cinnamon is always great to go to early in the morning or right at that golden hour before sunset. We went to take our engagement photos right at golden hour and there was hardly anyone there.. I mean like us + 10 people.
What’s the parking situation? There is a decent sized parking lot.
Is there a fee to enter the beach? Nope!
What is Trunk Bay like in St. John USVI?
Trunk Bay has been consistently ranked one of the top beaches in the world and is the most photographed beach in the United States Virgin Islands. Every time I hear this I can’t believe I had the opportunity to grow up on this beach. It’s absolutely unreal. Trunk Bay is absolutely beautiful and feels completely untouched. The most unique thing Trunk Bay has is an Underwater Trail! Guests can enjoy and learn about marine life by reading the plaques along the trail. Yes.. Plaques are quite literally on the ocean floor! The trail follows the west side of Trunk Bay Cay for about 300 feet before making a U-turn back to the beach. This was the coolest thing to me growing up because I’d be reading about a parrot fish and then one would swim by me! Trunk Bay is another one of the beaches with facilities which include: a snack bar, snorkel gear and chair rentals, showers, and restrooms. My favorite place to sit on the beach is if you go to the far left right when you pop out of the trees and go almost to the rocks but stop a little bit short of them. This area is always less crowded because it’s not near the Underwater Trail.
What’s the best time to get to the beach? EARLY, EARLY EARLY!! I repeat.. EARLY! If you want to go to Trunk Bay at noon.. good luck. It’s going to be super hot and crowded. We got to Trunk at around 8:30. a.m. and there were a couple of other people there. When we left around 11:30/12:00 people were starting to crowd the beach and want our spot on the beach and then once we got to the car, there were people driving around fighting for our parking spots.
What’s the parking situation? There is a decent sized parking lot but it fills up FAST if you don’t get to the beach early. Like people parking in the forest full.
Is there a fee to enter the beach? Yes! Trunk Bay is the only beach with any entrance fee. The entrance fee is $5.00 per person and you can see all the details here.
What is Francis Bay like in St. John USVI?
Francis Bay is the beach that holds the most memories to me because it’s the one we went to the most often with my grandma, Frances! We always called it her beach and loved snorkeling in the area because it’s more of a rocky beach compared to the others. When I saw that I mean it has a couple of rocks, by all means it’s not a rocky beach. I feel like Francis is always a good beach to end up at if the others are crowded because it’s still BEAUTIFUL!
What’s the best time to get to the beach? Francis is always iffy because it’s more of a local beach. Not many tourists go here because it’s a little out of the way, which is honestly what I love about it. We went to Francis around 1:30p.m. on a Sunday after Brunch.
What’s the parking situation? Barely anything! Be prepared to park on the side of a gravel road or if you get really lucky you might get a spot at the front that holds about 10 cars.
Is there a fee to enter the beach? Nope!
What is Maho Bay like in St. John USVI?
Maho is the flattest beach for sure with barely any waves so if you’re looking to float on a mat at a beach and chillax in the water, Maho is the beach for you. My absolute favorite thing about Maho Bay is that you’re sure to see a sea turtle swim by while enjoying your beach day. Remember to admire from afar and let the sea turtle do it’s thing.
This beach has a decent amount of parking (compared to other beaches), cute cabana chairs to hangout in across the street from the beach, a food trucks, kayak rentals, and even a food truck! We actually decided to get up super early one morning and watch the sun rise at Maho Bay and it was absolutely worth it. I mean.. the most gorgeous sunrise I’ve ever seen. The sea turtle friends we found at the beach made it even better too!
What’s the best time to get to the beach? Early but not super early like Trunk Bay.
What’s the parking situation? The parking has grown a lot over the years! It used to just be whatever you could get on the side of the road and now they have a little parking lot. However, it does get busy around noon so I suggest getting to Maho early-ish!
Is there a fee to enter the beach? Nope!
What is Honeymoon Bay like in St. John USVI and how to get there
Honeymoon Beach is absolutely incredible and the best part is you can walk from Cruz Bay to this secluded beach away from town. So.. how do you get to Honeymoon Beach in St. John USVI? All you have to do is walk to the Cruz Bay Visitors Center and head to the Lind Point trailhead right behind the building. There are some stairs you’re going to head up and then you’ll be on the trail headed to the beach. I definitely think this is a beginner trail and wasn’t an intense hike by any means. Andrew and I wore our Chaco sandals to hike it and were fine! We even passed some other people in sandals carrying chairs to the beach, if that helps to set the scene of what type of hike this is.
The scenic hike is about 1 mile each way and takes about 20-30 minutes. Be sure to read the trail signs because there is another beach you’ll pass on the way to Honeymoon Beach called Solomon Beach which is a great one too, but just keep walking past those signs and then you’ll eventually pop out of the forest and end up on the beautiful Honeymoon Beach. I do highly recommend bringing a water bottle because even if the hike is easy, it’s humid and hot!
Honeymoon Beach offers an awesome day pass which includes: kayaking, lounge chairs, floats, lockers, snorkel gear, and access to changing rooms and bathrooms for $49! It was well worth it and the staff was extremely helpful and kind. They had a food truck there so if you’re hungry or want a drink, it’s there for you. We didn’t love the piña coladas, but it may have just been a fluke or we should have told them they tasted watery. We just drank it and moved on.
What’s the best time to get to the beach? EARLY! This is a prime beach because it used to be the beach for Caneel Bay Resort which was a 5-star resort. Everyone wants a chance to chill on THE Honeymoon Beach.
What’s the parking situation? If you don’t wish to walk you can also drive to Caneel Bay and then pay for someone to drive you to the beach on a golf cart. I think it’s like $5 - $10 — not too bad.
Is there a fee to enter the beach? Nope!
Always use reef-safe sunscreen
Be sure to look at ingredient lists to make sure reef-damaging substances (such as oxybenzone, butylparaben, octinoxate and 4-methylbenzylidine camphor, all of which have been shown to cause coral bleaching even at low levels) aren't included in your sunscreen when you travel to the USVI.
One of the biggest things I want to say about St. John and USVI visitors is to be respectful and kind to the locals and to leave no trace (pick up all your trash).
Have you been to the USVI before? Have you been to St. John? Do you have any other questions? Let me know!
XOXO