Five Amazing Nights in St. John, Solo and Car-Free
The second I stepped off the plane and took my first breath of Virgin Islands air, I knew the trip was going to be worth it. After being awake over 24 hours and a redeye flight, I was finally in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. At the airport, I was greeted by a free shot of rum (!) and quickly found a shared taxi to the Redhook ferry. Fortune was on my side as I quickly bought a ticket and walked onto the ferry that was about to depart. The hot tropical sun, the uniquely beautiful blues of the Caribbean Sea, and the comforting breeze welcomed me to St. John. Only the ubiquitous sargassum drifting in lines between the islands reminded me that even paradise isn’t perfect.
Cruz Bay is an amazing base for a car-free trip and islanders have a refreshing focus on sustainability, which is both a result of necessity and intention as the Virgin Islands are relatively small islands with limited water and electrical infrastructure. Most water comes from cisterns and both hotels where I stayed, the St. John Inn and Coconut Coast Villas had air-conditioning but were also set up so that they could mostly be cooled by the ocean breezes. Both places also had a collection of toiletries and food left by previous travelers that anyone could use, such as sunscreen, insect repellent, and the ingredients for peanut butter sandwiches—this is something I hadn’t seen before and thought was a great touch of both convenience and waste reduction.
Walking to the center of the 2,700 person town of Cruz Bay to catch a shared taxi to the iconic Trunk Bay Beach was wonderfully simple. After waiting for the open-air bus to fill up, we were off on the winding roads through Virgin Islands National Park, stopping at each beach to drop off passengers. Trunk Bay is where I learned that instead of plastic solo cups and straws, all the beaches in the national park serve drinks in recyclable aluminum cups with aluminum straws. The beach was pristine, the snorkeling crystal clear, and I saw a small octopus and was followed around by a friendly manta ray.
Another day at Maho Beach, I bought a reusable Silipint which is now my go-to pool cocktail cup. Maho Beach was slightly disappointing because it was windy, visibility was compromised, and I “only” saw one sea turtle in this spot that is famous for sea turtles grazing in the sea grass. I had to settle for the warm water, white sand beach, and delicious cocktails in my fancy new cup.
My third beach day in the national park was at Cinnamon Bay, and it is a tough competition but I believe Cinnamon Bay edged out all the other beaches. I arrived around 9:30am and the long, wide beach was deserted. After walking back and forth and looking at the beautiful turquoise water and the jungle backdrop, I picked my spot and headed out to snorkel. Yet another beautiful day at the beach.
Cinnamon Bay has a campground with tent sites, eco-tents, and cottages that may be the most amazing national park campground in the United States. And, that is saying a lot, because I love (and will write about!) some other campgrounds. There is a store, a restaurant (however, it was closed the day I was there), and a food and drink truck. It is definitely one of my new life goals to stay at this campground and spend more time at this beach.
On my day on the island I didn’t rely on the shared taxis, I took a boat tour with Stormy Pirates to the British Virgin Islands, with stops at The Baths National Park on Virgin Gorda and the infamous White Bay on Jost Van Dyke (birthplace of the painkiller cocktail). The Stormy Pirates crew kept the soft drinks and hard drinks flowing, refilling the reusable insulated cups on board and delivering them to us before we had time to realize we wanted another one. Providing a detailed narrative of the islands and their owners, they also led us on the hike through the otherworldly batholith rock structures.
We also learned that a slimy looking green line on these rare rock structures is believed to be caused by chemical sunscreens, underlining that reef-safe sunscreens protect more than coral reefs and are legally required for good reasons. The locals uniform of a rashguard sunshirt with a hood, a baseball cap, and sunglasses started to look like an even better solution after learning this information. So good, in fact, that I bought a souvenir hooded rashguard at the park that is now a part of my beach and pool packing list for every trip (see picture above!).
After The Baths, we were off to Jost Van Dyke to visit the birthplace of the painkiller, The Soggy Dollar. This beach was the only beach on my trip that was affected by sargassum, which is expected to be at record levels this year. Fortunately, there was no new sargassum washing ashore, so swimming in the azure waters was a joy, but the presence on the beach was a reminder that these sea plants not only look and smell bad, but also destroy coral reefs and affect other ocean life. Sargassum management is an increasingly difficult problem for Caribbean countries as sea temperatures warm and agricultural practices and runoff increase the nutrients available for the noxious plants to grow.
My five nights on St. John were relaxing and rejuvenating. I cannot wait to go back and see more beaches, do more snorkeling, and get more delicious rum punch cocktails in my fancy reusable cup.
