About St John Image

About St. John If you are looking for an authentic Caribbean getaway, then St. John is the place to go. St. John is the least commercialized and smallest of the three US Virgin Islands. The majority of the shops and restaurants are local, so you can only find them here on St. John.

With two-thirds of the island being part of the US Virgin Islands Park, the natural beauty of St. John cannot be found anywhere else in the Caribbean. There are numerous hiking trails to be explored; the National Park office offers guided hikes of the popular Reef Bay trail. The USVI National Park protection even extends to the beaches and surrounding water that fall within its territory, which has created some of the best snorkeling in the Caribbean.

There are two towns on St. John, Cruz Bay and Coral Bay. Cruz Bay is the bigger of the two and offers a variety of shopping and restaurants. Coral Bay is on the eastern side of St. John and while smaller than Cruz Bay, still offers great dining options and a few shops.

If you want to explore more of the island and try out different beaches, it is easy to get around St. John by taxi. You can also rent a car and explore the island on your own time. Just remember, here in the USVI we drive on the left side of the road.

There is no airport on St. John, in fact the only way on and off island is by boat. The nearest airport is on St. Thomas (STT), and it is about a 40 minute trip from the St. Thomas airport to St. John by taxi and ferry. The public ferry between St. Thomas and St. John runs hourly to and from Red Hook on St. Thomas and goes right to Cruz Bay.

No passport is required for US Citizens when traveling to and from the US Virgin Islands. However, if you plan on island hopping over to the British Virgin Islands you will need a passport as you are leaving US territory.

The US Virgin Islands are on Atlantic Standard Time, which is 1 hour ahead of Eastern Standard Time. We do not observe Daylight Savings Time here in the USVI, so when everyone else is observing Daylight Savings Time we are on the same time as Eastern Daylight Time. Although the only thing you really need to go by when on St. John is “Island Time” – slow down, relax and enjoy doing nothing for a little while!