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Published: 10/7/24
What To Do and See During Your St. John USVI Visit
If you’re headed to St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands, you want to fill your days with fun things to do and more than a little R&R.
Expensive flights and its remote location in the middle of the Caribbean Sea mean no one casually ends up on St. John. You don’t want to squander your time in tropical paradise on less than inspiring activities. But while everyone seemed keen to tell me what a beautiful, special island St. John was, I felt like I got the run around on what exactly we should do there.
Part of the problem is that the island is so small – only about 17 square miles – that many bloggers attempt to create the “definitive guide to St. John.” But a list of every possible activity isn’t as helpful as it sounds. I didn’t want to know about all St. John beaches or hikes; I wanted to know which beach or hike to go on.
During my weeklong visit to St. John USVI in January 2024, we crisscrossed the Caribbean island, spending days at the beaches, going on hikes, and, of course, enjoying our fair share of painkillers. From that experience, I’ve curated a list of the very best 10 things to do on St. John.
If you were meeting me on St. John today, here’s what we’d get up to on the smallest of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
10 Things To Do on St John USVI
1) Snorkel at Trunk Bay Beach
There are so many beaches to choose from on St. John. However, Trunk Bay is this generally considered the best beach on the island. In fact, some rank Trunk Bay as one of the best beaches in the world. Yep, right up there with Waikiki!
While the beach will likely be very busy, I still think it deserves a spot on any St. John visitor’s Top 10 list. Located on the island’s north shore, you can reach the beach in about a 15 minute drive from Cruz Bay. The beach is known for its immense white sand beach. Another major draw is its underwater snorkel trail.
If you’re new to snorkeling, Trunk Bay is a great place to try your hand at it because the underwater identification plaques help you learn what you’re likely to see while snorkeling around the U.S. Virgin Islands. We didn’t do the snorkel trail during our day at Trunk Bay and I seriously regret it.
Most of the island of St. John is part of the Virgin Islands National Park and Trunk Bay is no exception. Because this beach is managed by the National Park Service, there’s an admission fee of $5 per person. This felt like a small price to pay for changing rooms and flush toilets! You’ll also find concession stands, a full bar, gear rental, and a souvenir shop.
2) Rum tasting at Mongoose Junction
For better or worse, rum is indelibly linked with Caribbean human history. If you think rum is cheap and one-dimensional, I urge you to get yourself to Bajo el Sol Gallery, Art Bar Café & Rum Shop located in the Mongoose Junction shopping centre on the north side of Cruz Bay.
Before our rum tasting at Bajo el Sol, I thought Captain Morgan and Malibu were about as good as rum could get. But it turns out I was very, very wrong.
Even if you’re not much of a drinker, I think a rum tasting is well worth your time and money just to listen to the knowledgeable bartenders explain the history, production process, and flavors of rum. You certainly don’t need to finish all three 1 ounce pours of rum that come with the tasting; just a sip of each will give you a great idea of the variety that can be achieved with rum.
Bajo el Sol offers dozens of rums. You can either create your own flight or choose one of their recommended tasting flights.
I opted for the U.S. Territories tasting which featured Cruzan, Ron del Barrilito, and Don Q rums which are all made on St. Croix (USVI) or Puerto Rico. While our server recommended trying rums from a broader geographical region to learn the most about rum, I still walked away with a newfound appreciation for the liquor.
FYI: If you’re staying at the Westin, you can do a discounted tasting with a voucher provided in your welcome pack.
3) Eat an Irie pop
When I looked into grocery delivery before our trip, I noticed that many grocery services mentioned that they could also pick up Irie pops. Irie pops? What are those?
Turns out, they’re delicious handmade popsicles that just happen to be vegan and gluten free. (Irie is a Pafois/Rastafarian word meaning “happy, joyful, cool.”)
Sold from a storefront in Cruz Bay, Irie pops come in a wide variety of tropical flavors like strawberry limeade and pina colada. You can make your Irie pop a waffle pop by putting a waffle cone sleeve over your pop and topping that with chocolate syrup, sprinkles, or assorted other toppings.
In addition to their namesake popsicle, Irie Pops also serves vegan soft serve, cold brew coffee, boozy slushies, and more. Their staff had excellent activity recommendations, so hit them up if you’re stumped on what to do.
We made it our business to sample as many Irie pops as possible during our week on St. John and I recommend you do the same!
4) Visit Oppenheimer Beach
This gorgeous white sand beach on Hawksnest Bay feels private, but actually all St. John beaches are open to the public up to the vegetation line. Famed theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer spent his retirement here.
To access Oppenheimer Beach, you go through a metal gate personalized with Oppenheimer’s name and go down a short paved driveway. If you drive yourself, be sure not to block the gate! Although this feels like a St. John hidden gem, all taxi drivers are very familiar with this beach. They’ll be happy to give you a lift since it’s on the way to busy beaches like Trunk Bay and Maho.
While this small beach offers no amenities other than restrooms, there are also very few people. With its nice view of Peace Hill windmill and just overall calm vibes, it ended up being our favorite St. John beach we visited.
Note: The beach has a couple rental cottage and a small community center. Occasionally, the beach is closed for weddings or other events, so be respectful of any posted closures. On a typical day, the beach is open to the public from 7 a.m. – 5 p.m.
5) Hike the Reef Bay Trail
One of the most popular hikes on the island, the Reef Bay Trail is a rewarding 5-mile (round trip) hike that takes you through the island’s jungle forest and ends at a small, secluded beach on the island’s south shore.
As a northerner prone to heatstroke, I was really nervous about hiking on St. John, but happily this trail is almost completely shaded. Less happily, the trail starts at pretty much the highest point of the island. This means you hike straight downhill for the first mile. Since this is an out and back hike, what goes down, must go back up, so prepare yourself for a hill climb to close out the hike.
Along the way, you’ll pass ruins, take a spur trail to petroglyphs near a waterfall, and wander through an abandoned rum distillery. Hermit crabs were absolutely everywhere as we neared the sea.
The trailhead is located in a pretty remote part of the island, so if you take a taxi here, you’ll want to arrange a pick-up time or plan to hitchhike back to your rental. Otherwise you can do what we did and continue down a .75 mile trail on the north side of the road to reach Maho Bay Beach. There you’ll find drinks, food, gear rental, and a lot more taxis.
6) See the view at American Hill
Although not nearly as long as the Reef Bay Trail, you’ll get a nice cardio blast with the uphill climb on the Cinnamon Bay Trail to the American Hill overlook. This short hike is about .6 miles each way and is easily accessed from Cinnamon Bay Beach parking lot.
Despite its short length, the trail offers several attractions, including sugar plantation ruins at the very start of the hike, the ruins of a 19th century estate house, and stunning views of Maho and Francis Bays.
We hit the trail on a sunny morning when the butterflies were flitting about the pink St. John creeper blooms. It was truly idyllic.
7) Paddleboard at Maho Bay
I quickly discovered on St. John that I don’t “beach” well. Combine my dad’s Catholic guilt with my mom’s Protestant work ethic and you don’t exactly have a recipe for R&R.
However, when I started renting a paddleboard, I discovered my beach happy place. I loved having something to do other than beach lounging that wasn’t snorkeling. (My first attempt at snorkeling in Kauai was frustrating and things haven’t really improved since.)
I particularly enjoyed paddleboarding at Maho Bay. This large beach on the north side of St. John is known for its sea turtle population. It’s also a popular mooring place for people boating around the Caribbean, so there’s excellent people watching as boaters travel to and from their sailboats. If you get tired of tootling around Maho Bay, you can always pop around the corner to Francis Bay.
Just watch out for the resident donkey at Maho Bay. He is not shy and will hit you up for some lunch if you’re not careful! (Ask me how I know . . . .)
8) Sip a painkiller at Skinny Legs
When you say you “need a painkiller” on the U.S. Virgin Islands, you’re probably not talking about ibuprofen or Tylenol. Instead, a painkiller is a delicious rum drink made with dark rum, cream of coconut, pineapple juice, and orange juice. It’s almost always topped with a sprinkle of nutmeg. If you think it sounds a little cloying, trust me, if done right, the flavors balance each other perfectly.
It’s generally accepted that “the place” to go for painkillers on St. John is Skinny Legs, a beloved bar and grill on Coral Bay on the island’s east end. What makes the painkillers here superior is the fact that Skinny Legs bartenders use Pusser’s rum rather than Cruzan. (Personally, I’m partially to Cruzan rum, but as we’ve already learned, I’m no rum connoisseur.)
We happened to visit Skinny Legs during a fundraiser for a local teacher and the place was packed! However, the vibes were definitely spot on and the painkiller I enjoyed was one of the best of the trip.
Pro tip: If you’re not heading to the east side of the island during your visit, you can head to Woody’s Saloon in Cruz Bay for a similar chill vibe. Painkillers are on every drink menu on St. John so don’t worry about missing out on them.
9) Go to Lime Out floating taco bar
Definitely the darling of influencers, the Lime Out floating taco bar is just too fun to let the Instagram girlies suck all the joy out of it.
Run by the same folks who operated the Lime Inn in Cruz Bay, Lime Out floats in the middle of Coral Harbor in Coral Bay on the island’s east end.
You cannot swim, paddleboard, or otherwise “self propel” yourself to Lime Out; you must take a boat.
We ended up arranging for a private boat to take us out to the bar, but if you want to save a buck, just use the dinghy operated by Lime Out. Once you’re beside the bar, you swim up to the bar or grab a “table” aka a semi-circle floaty called a lily pad. You can also hang out on your own floaties. Menus, drinks, and tacos are floated out to you on foam tray.
We wisely visited Lime Out early in the day. The bar gets busy very quickly and by arriving before they officially opened, we snagged our choice of lily pads and really enjoyed ourselves. I loved watching boats of all different sizes pull up and I can’t say I’ve had fish swimming around my feet during any other dining experience.
While they could definitely have a thriving business just because of the novelty factor, I’m happy to report that the tacos and drinks were delicious. Their merch selection was also on point.
Fair warning though, the only sunburn of the entire trip was sustained on my upper thigh while sitting on the lily pad. Definitely bring your sun shirt for this outing and don’t forget to apply sunscreen to your upper legs!
10) Watch the sunset at The Windmill Bar
Another unmissable view on St. John is found at Neptune’s Lookout on the grounds of the old Susannaberg Plantation. This property features a disc golf course and a campground, but the main draw is the Windmill Bar at the top of the hill. Yes, there are the remains of a late 18th century or early 19th century windmill right next to the bar and grill.
Because of its perfect westerly view of Cruz Bay and the Caribbean Sea, this is a very popular place to come to watch the sunset. If you want to guarantee a table with a good view, you want to arrive probably a good hour before the scheduled sunset time.
We showed up just a leeetle too late to watch the sun actually set, but had no problem scoring a table since the place basically clears out once the sun is down. We did catch the sun just as it was slipping into Cruz Bay . . . as well as the tailend of Sunday bingo night.
Pro tip: This is another spot where you’ll want to make arrangements for the taxi to pick you up as it gets very quiet (not to mention dark) after sunset.
Other Fun St. John Activities
Conclusion: The Best Activities on St. John USVI
As you can see, there’s no shortage of fun things to do on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. I hope my top 10 list here gave you some great ideas for your own St. John itinerary.
While I didn’t include every single St. John favorite like the Ram’s Head hike, Waterlemon Cay, and Miss Lucy’s, I truly believe the beaches, hikes, and activities I chose to include won’t disappoint. If you only have a limited time on the island, these are truly “don’t miss” activities.
Have an amazing time on the island and if you think I overlooked any must-do St. John activities, drop me a line and let me know!
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