Virgin Islands National Park, St John, and Coral Reef National Monument – the Perfect Week!
With 52 down and 11 to go on our quest to visit all U.S. National parks, our remaining parks are hard to get to. Traveling to the Virgin Islands National Park on St John from Seattle is no exception.
After several years of delay, we're finally on our way early this November morning just as the clocks "fall back". A five-hour flight gets us to Miami, after which we spend the night close to the airport, and then take a shorter, two and a half hour, flight out to St Thomas.
Cumulus clouds form magical shapes along the way as we pass over the Florida Keys, Bahamas & Puerto Rico.
Day One – Arrival St John
Once on St Thomas, a 30-minute windy (aka scary) van ride over steep curvy hills (with panoramic views) and a 20-minute ferry ride finally gets us to Cruz Bay, St John in time for dinner. I am not sure what I pictured but the Caribbean funky and laid-back style wasn't it – but it should have been.
While everything is a short walk from our hotel, Cruz Bay is not a quiet place.
The best table in the house at LaTapa, on the water, finally kicks this trip off right with a wonderful dinner - niçoise salad for me and lamb albondigas and gazpacho for Tom with a berry laden bread pudding as the finale.
We are glad we canceled our rental car – parking is impossible, and they drive and steer on the left side! There are open air taxis, buses and Jeeps for rent to get around this small, 9 mile long and two mile wide, island.
Virgin Islands National Park Visitor Center, St John US Virgin Islands
Day Two – Historical Introduction to St John and Honeymoon Beach
First stop, as always, is the Visitor Center. This one is small but informative in a beautiful old stucco building on the water. A large, shuttered window let’s in the year-around warm island air.
We learn that the Taino People, from South America, originally inhabited the islands. Columbus named the islands in 1493 but European settlers didn’t show up until the 1720’s with the arrival of the Danes. It’s hard to image these lush green hills as sugar cane fields which were cleared and farmed by slaves until their emancipation in 1848.
The US purchased what are now the US Virgin Islands from Denmark for $25 Million during WWI to keep the Germans out. After decades of economic decline, sleepy St John, a Caribbean Paradise, became a tourist destination in the 1930’s.
In 1956 the Virgin Islands National Park was created on St John thanks to Laurance Rockefeller’s philanthropy, developer Frank Stick’s urging and Senator Julius Sprauve, Sr’s legislation. Today it occupies just over one half of the island after other landholders joined in.
In 2001 Virgin Islands Coral Reef Monument was established to protect 12,000 acres of underwater habitat. As a beach naturalist I am beyond excited to explore it!
We decide to hike Lind Trail, from the Visitor Center, out to Honeymoon Beach. The trail, albeit muddy from the recent stormy weather, enchants us with its lush tropical vegetation and unknown bird calls.
Honeymoon Beach, St John, Virgin Islands
After two miles, we arrive at Honeymoon Beach, a gorgeous white sand beach accentuated by the turquoise water and green vegetation.
Wow – we snorkel in shallow, warm clear water just as promised. We snorkel for quite a while but never get cold. Highlights are the amazing coral, small colorful tropical fish, reef squid and a spotted moray eel.
On the walk back, we visit the Lind lookout for a nice view of Cruz Bay.
Today is election day. It’s refreshing to see opposing sides dancing to music in the street together! They are voting for their Territory Legislators and Governor – they can’t vote for US President or voting Senators. We are told that water, electricity and roads are the biggest political issues on the islands.
It appears set menus are popular at restaurants before peak season, so we sit at the Lime Inn Bar right across the street for ala carte instead. I savor the delicious, seared Tuna on Couscous and Tom relishes the Lobster Risotto while we pick up some island tips from the staff and fellow diners.
Cruz Bay, St John, Virgin Islands
Day Three – Trunk Bay
Today we get our first ride in the open-air shuttle (aka taxi) right from the ferry dock, two blocks from our hotel. The taxis go back and forth on the North Shore Road where many of the beautiful beaches are. The road is steep and windy with fabulous water views overlooking tropical flora.
Trunk Bay is an iconic beach with amenities (rentals, showers, bathrooms and food)!
(The cover photo for this blog post is Trunk Bay.)
The advertised underwater trail is unfortunately damaged from the large 2017 hurricane, like many things on the island. However, snorkeling around the rocks on the left and right side of the beach and around the Cay, a little coral island, is wonderful!
The highlight of the day is a row of 14 reef squid “treading water” - they don’t move forward nor seem to care about us!
We are getting into the groove here and like it! The weather is much better than anticipated - low 80’s, sunny and on the humid side. We take cover for the occasional and short downpours but never get cold in or out of the water.
Morgan’s Mango popular since 1993 is where we dine tonight with reservations after having not gotten in last night. My wahoo fish plate is decent but too large for me. Tom is happy with his Always Morgan Ceviche and Tango Salad.
Day Four – Waterlemon Beach and Maho Bay
After our usual coffee, fruit and banana nut muffin “al fresco” on the hotel Lanai, we catch a taxi out to the end of the North Shore Road. We walk a mile on a packed gravel and shell path along the water to Watermelon Bay and Cay. The bay is lovely, but the beach is mostly rocky. Today the wind and waves have picked up.
The bay itself is seagrass habitat where I see my first huge endangered green turtle with two tarpons on its back along for a smooth ride and a free meal. On my way out to the Cay I see my first southern stingray with another tarpon along for the ride!
Once out to the Cay we marvel at the fantastic coral; purple fan, brain, staghorn and elkhorn! The tropical fish love it too.
After a challenging swim due to the conditions, we catch a taxi to Maho Bay, known for the party crowd (amenities, food and two bars). This is another bay with seagrass habitat, home to turtles of all ages and lots of stingrays!
For dinner, we go casual at High Tide right on the water in Cruz Bay. I enjoy some more tuna, this time with soba noodles and Tom orders Seafood Davioli, a spicy seafood pasta, a specialty of the house.
Cinamon Beach, St John Virgin Islands
Day Five - Cinnamon Beach
After a failed attempt to hike the Ram Head trail out to Salt Pond Bay at the southeast tip of the island, we embrace the beachier lure of this National Park and head for picturesque Cinnamon Beach.
The Centerline Road bus doesn’t operate on Veteran’s Day (or the weekends)! Rental cars are all booked, and the taxis are reluctant and pricey to go that far out.
There is a surf and rip advisory, so snorkeling is limited today. But it’s fun to just float in the saltwater, it’s so buoyant and bathwater warm (70 degrees). And this beach has amenities (food, restrooms and showers).
Megan, from the hotel told us about sunset at 0cean 362 Bar. Wow, what a tip! We got one of the 12 seats at the open-air bar facing west over Cruz Bay for the incredible cloud laced 5:44pm sunset.
Green salad with butter lettuce lightly dressed starts us out. A seared maine sea scallop in pomme mousseline and sweet pea broth, is my main course while seared ahi in lobster risotto is Tom’s. Homemade ice cream tops off our best and last meal of the trip and showcases the new Chef’s talents!
Sunset from Ocean 362 over Cruz Bay, St John, Virgin Islands
Day 6 – Hawknest Bay Beach
Today, our last day on St John, we are off to Hawknest Beach, the closest beach via taxi. It’s another fabulous white sand beach right off the road. There are pit toilets and changing rooms but that’s it. Once again, we are set with our chairs, cooler and sunscreen from our hotel along with a delicious sandwich from the North Shore Deli.
The water is much calmer today and snorkeling is fabulous right in the middle of the bay!
Lots of purple fan, brain, staghorn and elkhorn coral attract a wide variety of fish. We are mesmerized by a large school of deep blue tang. I love it when the sun shines through the water on the coral and brightly colored fish.
The purple fan coral, my fav, are waving goodbye as the reef squid seem to be saying farewell.
We take the taxi back to Cruz Bay, get our bags from the hotel and head to the ferry.
While our hotel, the Cruz Bay Boutique Hotel, was modest, David, Denise & Megan happily helped us plan our days and dinners making them extra special. The hotel is immaculately clean, breakfast works well, and the location is extraordinarily convenient. We love the lanai!
Day 7 & 8 Home via St Thomas
We take the ferry back to St Thomas and do a couple of resort type days but miss our uniquely lovely little St John. If we had to do it again, we’d stay longer on St John – so relaxing!
While this park is totally different than the 52 others we have visited, we are incredibly happy that the beauty of St John has been preserved with the National Park and Coral Reef Monument.
Three hours to Miami then another six hours to Seattle along with the four-hour time change and we land at Sea Tac at 1 am – been cold ever since!
Limetree Beach Resort, St Thomas, Virgin Islands
If You Go:
1. Hurricane Season begins in June and ends mid-November. Peak tourist season is December through March. The last major hurricane, Irma, was in September of 2017. The island was hit hard but is nearly back together.
2. We always like to stay inside National Parks. The Caneel Bay Resort hasn’t reopened after the hurricane, but the Estate Lindholm is worth checking out.
3. Other restaurants we wanted to try but ran out of time are Café Roma, The Longboard and The Terrace.
4. The weather is the same year around. Sunny, 80’s, humid with occasional downpours. And the water is always warm.
5. Everyone, with or without a car, must get to St John via a ferry (or private boat). There are three: Red Hook, Charlotte Amalie and Crown Bay – click here for more info.
6. Although St John is a US Territory, it feels somewhat like a foreign country because of left lane driving and the local culture. But you don’t need a passport unless you take a boat trip in the waters of the British Virgin Islands.
Click here to see what inspires our goal of visiting all 63 National Parks and to check our progress!
And check out the National Park Gallery!
