We’ve returned from our USVI and BVI vacation and I have been grappling with how to organize my thoughts about each. Enough of that, though. I’m just going to start writing and I’ll start you off by detailing our four night stay in St. John (aka Love City). The origin of the “Love City” nickname is apparently unknown, but after hiking to a gorgeous, white sandy beach in a national park, where I could then go snorkeling in absurdly beautiful waters, I too felt the Love.
It’s a landscape that marries two things that I’ve always loved: Steep hillsides covered in summery green foliage that dive into that shade of ocean turquoise that I’ve only experienced in the Caribbean. We caught our first glimpse of St. John after catching the 20-minute Inter Island Ferry ride from St. Thomas, and arrived in Cruz Bay with the Virgin Islands National Park building on our left and live music emanating out of beach side restaurants on our right. It was evening by then, leaving just enough time to grab dinner and watch a local band, Real Housewives of St. John, rock it out at The Beach Bar where we just so happened to sit across the bar from a well-known musician who lives on the island. And, as I can already see that I’m going to be too wordy here, I’m going to bust this down into bullet points….
Getting Around: Jeep Wrangler rental — everyone else will be doing it, too. You’re going to find many bumps, hills and sharp-AF turns on St. John, so it made sense. In Cruz Bay, we had a 10-minute walk to town for dinner and drinks in the evening.
Beaches: SO MANY, and most are postcard-worthy. Our favorites included Cinnamon Bay, Trunk Bay, Honeymoon Beach and Salt Pond Bay. The first two have a super convenient walk from the parking lot and offer food and bevvies for sale as well (that Painkiller at Trunk Bay, yum!!!). The last two you’ll be hiking a bit too, though neither is especially difficult except a bit of a downhill scramble to Honeymoon from the main trail.
Restaurants/Bars: The Beach Bar (great live music, vibes, drinks and limited bar food menu); La Tapa (upscale; we had great mussels and an amazing piece of tuna); Longboard (great cocktails & tacos); Skinny Legs (a famous watering hole on the Coral Bay end w/a solid burger); Lime Out Taco (boat to/swim-up floating taco bar – we went via catamaran tour); Windmill Bar (VIEWS FOR DAYS and great live music – go); Provisions (breakfast/lunch/coffee). We missed out on a lot of great spots, but there’s always next time. Side note: We did make a stop at the famous Quiet Mon Pub during its last week before closing 😦
Hiking/Snorkeling: Ram Head Trail (highly recommended out-and-back that takes you across Salt Pond Bay Beach and then climbs up to Ram Head for incredible views, and, on our day, whipping “Christmas Winds.” We saw several turtles while snorkeling at Salt Pond as well!) Lind Point Trail (level-ish trail that takes you to both Salomon and Honeymoon beaches. Pro Tip: there’s great snorkeling by the point right in between these two beaches. We swam out from the western end of Honeymoon). Peace Hill Trail (a very short uphill hike to the remains of the Peace Hill Windmill – fantastic views up here with a side trail down to Denis Bay Beach). We left some boxes unchecked with hikes as the island is covered in them.
Challenges, General Thoughts & Lessons Learned:
- Bug bites. OMG. Noseeums everywhere, plus mosquitos. We were eaten up. I read with not enough time left to order it that Avon Skin So Soft is the best defense.
- I’m converting to Sun Bum Sunscreen. Not sure how it took me so long to figure that out..
- Packing for combined hiking/snorkeling excursions is a little complicated. We carried a backpack with our gear and water and took turns carrying it.
- After a long travel day, take it easy on your first full day. With such an active itinerary, we found ourselves fairly worn out the entire stay in St. John. Next time keep the foot off the gas on Day 1.
- This was a very helpful beach planning guide: https://stjohn-beachguide.com/
- I was pleasantly surprised by the live music scene.
It seemed it would be hard for to go wrong by spending a few days on St. John, and that prediction was validated. The island combines tropical weather, a national park, perfect beaches and spectacular beauty, then throws in great vibes, music and people. Next time, we”ll just need to slow it down a touch to better appreciate Love City (and also bring better bug spray).
Travel Notch 