Three islands, one ferry ride apart.
Which catamaran actually finds the turtles. What a taxi tour to Magens Bay runs to. Whether the pizza boat is worth the crossing. Every bookable trip in the US Virgin Islands, reviewed.
St Thomas, St John and St Croix are three different holidays.
St Thomas has the cruise dock, the airport and almost all of the boat trade. St John is two thirds national park and a twenty minute ferry from Red Hook. St Croix sits forty miles south with its own airport and a much quieter book.
St Croix keeps a short list on purpose. Six trips we have written up beats a padded page.
A day on Virgin Islands water, by price.
Boat prices here split three ways: shared seats, the per-person day sail, and a whole hull to yourself. Every trip on the site, sorted by what it actually costs.
Coral World entry, a scenic taxi run over the ridge, a mangrove paddle at sunset.
- 1Shop, See, & Splashfrom $40
- 2Coral World Ocean Park General Admission Ticketfrom $29
- 3Sights, Scenes, & Shopping Spreefrom $40
The everyday shape of a Virgin Islands day: snorkel sails, sunset cruises, night kayaks, island tours with a beach stop.
Full day catamarans, private charters and the boat you book for the whole group.
The days people fly to the Virgin Islands for.
Turtles at Buck Island, a catamaran with the sails up, the pizza boat anchored in Christmas Cove, a taxi over the ridge to Magens Bay. The handful of days most trips are built from.
Three Virgin Islands days that exist nowhere else.
Reef snorkelling you can find across the Caribbean. A wood-fired pizza boat at anchor, a helmet walk on the sea floor and a lit kayak fleet after dark belong to these islands.
The Pizza Boat
Pizza Pi is a converted fishing vessel moored in Christmas Cove off Great St James, and it bakes to order for whatever ties up alongside. You cannot walk to it. Most people arrive on a snorkel sail that plans lunch around the mooring, radios the order ahead and swims the pies back to the boat.
- 1Turtles, Pizza Pi & Sunset trip★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 410 reviews
- 2St. John Full-Day Lime Out Snorkel Taco Lunch & Open Bar – Westin★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 289 reviews
- 3St. John Days End Sunset Sail Open Bar & Hors D’oeuvres – Westin★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 281 reviews
The Helmet Walk
Sea Trek puts a weighted helmet on your head and walks you along the sea floor at Coral World, air piped down from the surface, hair and glasses dry the whole way. It suits people who want the reef without a mask on their face. The Mangrove Lagoon next door is the other half of that day: a paddle through root tunnels where the young fish shelter.
- 1Sea Trek Helmet Dive at Coral World Ocean Park★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 992 reviews
- 2St Thomas Mangrove Lagoon Kayak and Snorkel Tour in the US Virgin Islands★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 658 reviews
- 3Coral World Ocean Park General Admission Ticket★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 442 reviews
The Lit Kayak Fleet
The night paddles out of Frenchman’s Reef and the Westin run LED-lit hulls, so the boats glow and the fish below them show up clearly. It is the highest-reviewed trip on either island for a reason: two hours, no experience needed, and the harbour lights of Charlotte Amalie on the way back in.
- 1Night Kayak Tour St. Thomas – Westin Frenchman’s Reef★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,813 reviews
- 2Night Kayak Tour St. John – Westin Resort★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,011 reviews
- 3Cas Cay – Kayak Hike and Snorkel Adventure★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 870 reviews
The Virgin Islands trips that fill first.
Every review →More travellers take these than anything else across the three islands, and each one earns its slot for a different reason.
1
Turtle Cove Catamaran Snorkel and Sail at Little Buck Island STT
Review of St Thomas’ Turtle Cove catamaran tour, with snorkeling, sea turtles, open bar, practical tips, itinerary, price, and booking advice.
From · $119
Read our review →2
Snorkel St. John Tour from Sapphire and Margaritaville
from $180
3
Night Kayak Tour St. Thomas – Westin Frenchman’s Reef
from $69
4
Tree Limin’ Extreme Zipline
from $155
5
Parasail Experience in St Thomas
from $146
6
Sunset & Harbor Lights Dinner Sail from the Marriott’s Frenchman’s Cove
from $119
7
Night Kayak Tour St. John – Westin Resort
from $69
8
Sea Trek Helmet Dive at Coral World Ocean Park
from $119
Charter a hull and the Virgin Islands change shape.
Split between six or twelve people, a private catamaran often lands close to a shared seat, and the day stops being a schedule. You pick the cays, the swim stops and how long lunch takes. Half days run the St James cut and Christmas Cove; full days reach the far side of St John.
All charters and catamarans →
The Virgin Islands trade wind drops at sunset.
The afternoon chop flattens off about an hour before the sun goes, which is exactly when the sunset fleet leaves Frenchman’s Cove, Sapphire and the Charlotte Amalie waterfront. Open bar, flat water, harbour lights on the way home.
Book these before you fly to the Virgin Islands.
Most of a Virgin Islands week can be sorted from the hotel the night before. These cannot. They run on small boats, single departures and a mooring that only holds so many.
- 01Turtles, Pizza Pi & Sunset tripOne galley, one mooring in Christmas Cove. The sails that plan lunch around it take a fixed number of guests and go early.
- 02Night Kayak Tour St. Thomas – Westin Frenchman’s ReefTwo departures a night at most, and the highest review count on the site. Weekends fill weeks out.
- 0350′ Luxury Yacht. Private Full or Half Day Catamaran Snorkel, & Beach ExperienceOne group per hull per day. There is no second sailing if the boat is taken.
- 04Turtle Cove Catamaran Snorkel and Sail at Little Buck Island STTBoat numbers on the reef moorings are capped, so the popular morning slot is the one that goes first.
A Virgin Islands squall lasts twenty minutes. Plan around it, not for it.
Rain here arrives as a fast band off the Atlantic and is usually gone before the deck dries. What genuinely reshuffles a day is wind: a stiff Christmas winds week turns the north-shore swell up and the crews move to the lee. These are the days that hold either way.
By island
St Thomas115 trips
St John18 trips
St Croix19 trips
Beach hopping in St Thomas6 trips
Beach hopping in St John4 trips- Every trip on the site →
The Virgin Islands week that works on ferries.
The St James cutThe newest Virgin Islands reviews.
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