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Published: 10/15/24
Our Complete 7 Day St. John USVI Itinerary
My One Week St. John Itinerary will help you plan a perfect vacation on this beautiful Caribbean island.
As the smallest island in the U.S. Virgin Islands (a United States territory) St. John is located in the middle of the Caribbean sea, due east of Puerto Rico and directly south of the British Virgin Islands. At just 17 square miles in size, my biggest concern about spending a week on St. John was that we’d run out of things to do!
Turns out my worries were completely unfounded. Between the dozens of white sand beaches, inland hiking trails, boating excursions, and ample bars and restaurants, you could easily fill a month on Saint John. If your number one priority is to kick your feet up and relax in the tropical paradise, you’d need even more time to accomplish everything I’ve laid out in this itinerary.
In this post, I’m sharing exactly what we got up to in seven days on St. John. As you’ll see, we balanced our beach lounging and R&R with a fair amount of exploring like hikes, rum tastings, and a lot of popsicles. Even after spending a full week on St. John, there were still many corners of the small island that we never reached.
We had the best time on this long-anticipated girls trip. Read on to create your own seven perfect days on St. John!
Day One: Arrive U.S. Virgin Islands
The only way to reach St. John is by boat. The closest airport is Cyril E. King Airport (STT) on the west end of St. Thomas. From there, you must take a taxi across the length of the island to Red Hook where you take a short ferry to Cruz Bay on St. John.
Since we opted to use the private (but spendy) ferry service offered to Westin guests, we basically didn’t lift a finger once we collected our bags. The Westin has its own small lounge next to the STT baggage claim where you can check in and wait for a shuttle across the island to the ferry.
Happily, we arrived right as a shuttle was departing and made our way to the ferry dock in record time. Once we boarded the ferry, it was a quick 15 minute sailing to St. John.
Still, with a 5 a.m. departure from MSP and a layover in Atlanta, this was a long travel day. We were very happy to be greeted with a glass of rum punch on the dock of the Westin. Welcome to St. John!
Day One Waypoints: We didn’t venture beyond the Westin St. John Resort Villas for our first evening on the island. After our long travel day, it felt wonderful to settle into our two-bedroom villa and watch the sunset over Great Cruz Bay from our balcony.
Day One Eats: After getting settled into our digs for the next week, no one had energy to go far for supper. We ended up at Snorkels Bar & Grill on the Westin beach.
Planning tip: If you aren’t staying at the Westin, you’ll want to grab a taxi outside the airport to either the Charlotte Amalie or Red Hook ferry terminals. Most St. John visitors sail from Red Hook because it’s a significantly shorter boat ride. However, the Charlotte Amalie ferry does spare you some time on the windy island roads if you’re prone to carsickness.
Day Two: Trunk Bay Beach
A week goes by pretty quickly if you’re not careful, so we decided to hit the ground running by heading to St. John’s most popular beach: Trunk Bay Beach.
This beach is known for its size, excellent amenities (including food, alcohol, gear rental, flush toilets, and showers), and a snorkel trail around the bay’s coral reef. To reach the beach, we had our first of many rides in the island’s open air taxis! We also spent a slightly ridiculous amount of time faffing about with the grocery order I’d placed while still at home.
Day Two Waypoints: Before heading out for the day, we made the short walk to the Dolphin Market to grab breakfast and snacks. We also met the Westin Concierge to learn more about the resort and island. Most of the day was spent at Trunk Bay Beach before heading into Cruz Bay for dinner and to grab that grocery order from the Starfish Market.
Day Two Eats: I had my first painkiller of the trip at the Trunk Bay Beach Bar. In Cruz Bay we grab dinner at Beach Bar, but sadly, there were no Kenny Chesney sightings.
Planning Tips: Trunk Bay Beach is the only beach on St. John that charges an admission. As of 2024, daily admission was $5 per person.
Many St. John travel guides advocate for grocery delivery so you don’t waste precious beach time grocery shopping. However, I learned this doesn’t apply to Westin guests. Long story short, we ended up having to go to the Starfish Market to pick up our order a good 24 hours after I thought it would be delivered.
With the Dolphin Market a five-minute walk from the resort, there’s no need to worry about your groceries ahead of time.
Day Three: Cruz Bay R&R
We enjoyed a full day of relaxation in the Cruz Bay area. As someone who is a very busy traveler, it took longer than I’d like to admit to adjust to island time, despite my experiences in Hawaii and Key West. Happily, a massage and some wandering through the shops at Mongoose Junction did the trick.
Day Two Waypoints: Tucked into the Cruz Bay hillside, we had hour-long massages scheduled at Mango Bliss Spa. Since this small spa can only accommodate two people at a time, those who weren’t being pampered did some shopping in the nearby Mongoose Junction shopping center. We also stopped by the Virgin Islands National Park Visitor Center.
In the afternoon, we spent some time enjoying the amenities at the Westin, including some beach lounging and paddleboarding around Great Cruz Bay.
Day Three Eats: I grabbed some kombucha from my favorite Mongoose Junction shop, Golden Hour. We made our first of many stops to the Irie Pops shop. We also had our first real good meal of the trip at The Banana Deck in Cruz Bay.
Planning tip: The best way to pay at Mango Bliss Spa is via a cash app, so make sure you have the balance to cover both your appointment and a tip!
Day Four: Reef Bay Trail and Maho Bay
After a couple days of low-key beach lounging and relaxing, it was time to get moving! We set ambitious goals to get “up and at ‘em” early this day, only to realize that we were at the mercy of island time. However, with some creative logistics, we managed to make it to the Reef Bay trailhead in the middle of the island before 8 a.m.
This was a very full day of hiking, exploring, and beaching and I loved every minute of it!
Day Four Waypoints: One of the most popular hiking trails on St. John, the Reef Bay Trail is a 5 mile round trip hike that starts on the Centerline Road in the middle of the island. Along the path, you pass plantation ruins, an old rum distillery, and can take a spur trail to petroglyphs and a small waterfall, before reach a small sand beach on the island’s south shore.
Despite being marketed as “strenuous,” we all found the hike pretty easy. However, the mile long uphill climb at the end of the hike definitely requires a little extra gas!
Due to the Reef Bay Trail’s remote location, we opted to take the Maria Hope Trail to Maho Beach. This .75 mile trail definitely isn’t as well used as the Reef Bay Trail and I did a fair amount of slipping on loose gravel. Still, this was definitely the most efficient way to reach the beach. It also allowed us to say we’d hiked from one end of the island to the other . . . albeit, at the narrowest point.
Once at Maho, we rested our weary legs and refueled before paddleboarding over to neighboring Francis Bay and spying some of the sea turtles that the bay is known for.
When we went into Cruz Bay for dinner, we stopped at the Turquoise Turtle for some sunscreen we needed for the next day’s adventure.
Day Four Eats: We were famished by the time we reached Maho Beach and happily partook of the hot chow and drinks at Maho Crossroads. I got the best painkiller of the trip at the drink stand next to Reef2Peak gear rental shop.
For the evening, we headed into Cruz Bay for happy hour at Lovagno before a traditional island meal at Hillside Terrace. Of course, we had to end the night with an Irie Pop!
Planning tip: Maho Bay Beach has great food and drink offerings, but their changing and toilet facilities are limited to two pit toilets on the far western end of the beach. Also, keep your eyes on your belongings; the beach’s resident donkey is keen to get your snacks!
Day Five: Coral Bay
We covered a lot of ground on St. John during our week-long visit. Lime Out, the floating taco bar in Coral Harbor of Coral Bay, was calling our name so we headed to the far eastern end of the island this morning. We also discovered some favorite St. John bars and did a little poolside lounging.
Day Five Waypoints: We chartered a boat through Salty Daze Charters to take us out to Lime Out Floating Taco Bar in the middle of Coral Harbor. (You can also use the dingy service offered through Lime Out, which costs a little less.) Obviously, the most fun way to reach Lime Out is with a boat of your own!
Our boat left the dock at 10:45 which put us in a perfect position when the bar opened at 11 a.m. Those lily pad floaties fill up fast!
Day Five Eats: After feasting on tacos and mixed drinks at Lime Out, our boat captain dropped us off at the dingy dock in Coral Harbor. We immediately headed over to nearby Skinny Legs Bar and Grill to try their famous painkillers. The day ended catching the sunset at The Windmill Bar’s famed westerly overlook at the Susannaberg plantation ruins outside Cruz Bay.
Planning Tip: I was definitely under the impression that Coral Bay would have as many amenities as Cruz Bay, but I was very wrong. If you’re taking a taxi to Lime Out, make sure you have a return plan. Cell service is very bad here, so schedule a round-trip taxi ride.
Day Six: Cinnamon Bay
We definitely vacillated between “lounge-y” days and very active days on St. John. This was another busy day, where we wrapped up our “must do” exploring on the North Shore. We also stopped at Mongoose Junction somewhat on a whim for a rum tasting and it ended up being one of my very favorite things we did on St. John.
Day Six Waypoints: We got dropped off at Cinnamon Bay Beach and promptly headed across the road to the Cinnamon Bay Trail. From there, we made the quick hike up American Hill. Although we got some nice views on the Reef Bay Trail, the view from the ruined estate house at the top of American Hill looking towards Maho Bay was the best of our trip.
After our hike, we spent a little time on Cinnamon Bay Beach. We really enjoyed the amenities at Cinnamon Bay and it kind of made me wish I was camping in the campground. However, the beach wasn’t as nice as others we’d visited and after a bit (and a necessary ice cream break), we grabbed a taxi to Oppenheimer Beach closer to Cruz Bay.
We absolutely loved Oppenheimer Beach and wished we’d left Cinnamon Bay even earlier so we could have spent even more time on this quiet, peaceful beach. Once in Cruz Bay, we stopped at Bajo el Sol Art Gallery for a very informative (and surprisingly delicious) rum tasting.
Day Six Eats: I don’t associate the Caribbean with Italian food, but we had one of the best meals of the trip at Café Roma in Cruz Bay.
Day Seven: Lind Point Trail
We spent most of this day tying up loose ends and trying to ensure we left the island the next day without any big regrets. After six days of absolutely gorgeous weather, the winds really picked up this day. Although the rain held off until the following morning, high seas closed some North Shore beaches. This did indeed lead to some regrets.
Day Seven Waypoints: We started our day by hiking the Lind Point Trail, which starts right next to the National Park Visitor Center in Cruz Bay and ends on Honeymoon Beach. I loved the trail’s views of Cruz Bay and nearby islands. However, Honeymoon Beach was our least favorite beach of the trip. Since it abuts a private resort, the vibes were a little “buy something or leave.”
Back in Cruz Bay we did a little shopping and picked up our last Irie Pop of the trip, then grabbed a taxi to Trunk Bay, hoping to do the snorkel trail. However, because the winds had closed Trunk Bay Beach, our taxi driver diverted us to Maho Bay.
We attempted snorkeling, but similar to my experience at Dry Tortugas the month before, the water was pretty churned up. We did spy a couple turtles and the resident donkey tried to take off with my backpack of snacks!
Day Seven Eats: For lunch, we grabbed barbeque from Uncle Joe’s Cafe. After “donkey-gate” at Maho Bay, we needed cold beers from Woody’s. This iconic saloon in Cruz Bay is a great spot for people watching and chatting.
For our final meal on the island, we hit up Lime Inn. While Lime Inn used to be one of the more upscale restaurants in Cruz Bay, it now just offers tacos like its younger sibling, Lime Out. I didn’t think the tacos were quite as good as the ones we’d had floating in Coral Bay two days earlier. More proof that everything tastes better outside!
Where To Stay on St. John USVI
We had a perfectly lovely stay at the Westin St. John Resort Villas. Our two-bedroom villa worked well for our group of four. I especially appreciated the assistance from the front desk and the activities office. The ease of being shuttled from the airport on St. Thomas right to the resort was another distinct advantage of staying here.
Because we were off the property pretty much all day every day, we really didn’t take advantage of everything the resort had to offer. While we got some quality pool lounging in one afternoon, for the most part, we were always away during prime beach time. The one time we did hang out at the beach, we only had 30 minutes before they put away paddleboards and other complimentary beach gear.
Next time I would stay at vacation rental or resort within walking distance of downtown Cruz Bay. Since we ate the majority of our dinners in Cruz Bay, this would have saved us quite a bit on taxi fares. It also would been nice to have had a more centrally located base for our daily adventures.
Conclusion: 7 Days on St. John USVI
As you can see, a week on St. John isn’t nearly enough time to take in all of the island’s highlights. There’s a reason this island seems to take a hold of visitors, prompting them to return again and again.
While I think we made a decent stab at taking in the island’s very best, next time I would spend more time exploring St. John’s east side and south shore. There were so many things like Ram Head Trail, a sunset sail, the Johnny Horn Trail, and actually doing the snorkel trail at Trunk Bay Beach that I’d do on a return visit.
Still, there’s not much I would do differently on St. John in these seven days. Between beaches, hikes, tacos, and spa appointments, this was a memorable and enjoyable first trip to the Caribbean.
Whether you’re visiting for a day, a week, or even longer, I hope this post helps you plan your time in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Let me know what your favorite parts of your St. John vacation were when you return!
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