Adventures in St. John, VI

Why Families Love St. John

Two thirds of St. John is Virgin Islands National Park, and that single fact shapes everything about a family trip here. There are no chain hotels along the north shore, no jet skis buzzing the swimming beaches, and no development behind the sand — just a road that drops down to one protected bay after another.

The snorkelling is the reason to bring children. Trunk Bay has an underwater trail with interpretive signs anchored to the seabed, in water shallow and calm enough that a competent young swimmer can follow it without stress, and it rents gear on site. Maho Bay is the turtle beach — seagrass starts almost immediately offshore and green turtles graze it daily, often within thirty feet of the sand in water barely deep enough to swim. Hawksnest Bay puts elkhorn coral within a short swim and parks you almost on the sand.

Annaberg Sugar Plantation is where the trip stops being only about beaches. The ruins of a Danish sugar estate stand on a hillside above Leinster Bay — windmill tower, boiling bench, slave quarters — with an interpretive trail the Park Service does not soften.

Weekend Itinerary

Day 1: Take the ferry over from Red Hook and start at Hawksnest, the first good beach on the north shore road and the easiest to reach. Snorkel the coral heads, then move on to Trunk Bay in the late afternoon once the cruise crowds have gone — check the Charlotte Amalie ship schedule before you choose your timings, because it transforms that beach.

Day 2: Maho Bay first thing, while the turtles are feeding and before the trade winds get up. Then Annaberg while it is still shaded, and Cinnamon Bay in the afternoon — it is the longest beach on the island, so there is room to spread out, and the sugar mill ruins trail behind it is a good half hour.

Day 3: Honeymoon Beach, which has the only proper concession of the group — kayaks, paddleboards, chairs and a beach bar. Note that the Lind Point Trail in from Cruz Bay is about a mile and a half and takes thirty to forty minutes with real elevation change. With small children, take the water taxi instead.

Getting There

There is no airport on St. John. You fly into St. Thomas and take the car ferry or passenger ferry from Red Hook (about 20 minutes) or Charlotte Amalie (about 45). Hire cars are available on St. John itself and are worth it — the north shore beaches are spread along several miles of steep, winding road. Driving is on the left, in left-hand-drive American cars, which takes an afternoon to get used to.

Best Time to Visit

December to April is dry season and peak season together. The water is clearest, the trade winds are steady, and the island is busiest and most expensive. September and October are the quietest and the wettest, and sit squarely in hurricane season. May, June and November are the value months.

The variable that actually changes your day is the cruise ship schedule in Charlotte Amalie rather than the season. On a heavy port day Trunk Bay fills; Hawksnest and Maho barely notice.