Virgin Islands 2024

Saint John, USVI
Virgin Islands National Park
12/24/24 - 1/2/25

We stayed at an AirBnB in Cruz Bay for 3 nights and then rented a car and moved to Cinnamon Bay Campground for 6 nights. This is not really a trip report, but just some of the photos I managed to get while we were there. 

Looking down on Cruz Bay, I hiked up by myself to try to get some sunset photos.

Another day, my wife took the kids to a swim up taco bar. I'm basically allergic to tourist stuff like that so I had her drop me at a trailhead along the way. I hiked down the Reef Bay Trail, taking a side path to check out the petroglyphs.

There were a couple groups of people there, but they did not linger and I had the area to myself for about 30 minutes. 

Nice waterfall

The petroglyphs are carved in the rock right at the waterline on the right hand rock in the above photo, but a little more to the right so you can't see them in the above photo.

Then down the trail to check out the Reef Bay Great House

And then the remains of the Sugar Mill which was crawling with hermit crabs

The beach at Reef Bay. There were a couple groups of people here and a couple boats, but it did not feel crowded.

Stars over Cinnamon Bay, no Milky Way so kind of boring. The British Virgin Islands are in the distance.

Another day we went to check out the Annaberg Historic District after dinner, unfortunately the bugs were terrible and we did not linger long. 

I think this is Trunk Bay

Rainbow over Cinnamon Bay, a very good way to start the day.

One day we got up early to get a spot in the small parking area for Salt Pond Bay. I brought my camera and a waterproof case to try to get some underwater photos. 

My oldest two and I did a hike up to Ram Head to check out the view while my wife and youngest swam some more. The trail was lined with these weird cacti

Looking down at Salt Pond Bay

Tent part of the campground map for future reference. 

St John is beautiful, but expensive, but totally worth visiting. 

The hardest part of the island is there is not a lot of parking at many of the beaches, so you need to get there early. This is not difficult, but it means bouncing from one beach to another is not very feasible. The other problem is specific to Cinnamon Bay Campground. Even though we were staying there, there is only one parking lot for campers and day trippers to share. This means if you want to leave early for a sunrise or just to go to the beach, there is no where to park unless you come back after 3ish. So you need to plan to be out all day. 

None of this is a deal breaker, but it definitely affects your ability to explore the way I had wanted to.