Things To Do in St. John, USVI

The best way to see St. John quickly, especially if you're on a cruise-ship layover, is to take a 2-hour taxi tour. The cost is $25 per person. Almost any taxi at Cruz Bay will take you on these tours, or you can call the St. John Taxi Association (tel. 340/693-7530).

Many visitors spend time at Cruz Bay, where the ferry docks. This village has interesting bars, restaurants, boutiques, and pastel-painted houses. It's a bit sleepy, but relaxing after the fast pace of St. Thomas.

Much of the island is taken up with the Virgin Islands National Park (tel. 340/776-6201), with the lushest concentration of flora and fauna in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The park totals 12,624 acres, including submerged lands and water adjacent to St. John, and has more than 20 miles of hiking trails to explore. From pelicans to sandpipers, from mahogany to bay trees, the park abounds in beauty, including a burst of tropical flowers such as the tamarind and the flamboyant. The mongoose also calls it home. Park guides lead nature walks through this park that often take you past ruins of former plantations.

Other major sights on the island include Trunk Bay, one of the world's most beautiful beaches, and Fort Berg (also called Fortsberg), at Coral Bay, which served as the base for the soldiers who brutally crushed the 1733 slave revolt. Finally, try to make time for the Annaberg Sugar Plantation Ruins on Leinster Bay Road, where the Danes maintained a thriving plantation and sugar mill after 1718. It's located off Northshore Road, east of Trunk Bay. Admission is free. On certain days of the week (dates vary), guided walks of the area are given by park rangers.

Compared to St. Thomas, St. John’s shopping isn’t much, but what’s here is interesting. The boutiques and shops of Cruz Bay are individualized and quite special. Most of the shops are clustered at Mongoose Junction (North Shore Rd., Cruz Bay), in a woodsy area beside the roadway, about a 5-minute walk from the ferry dock. Also in Cruz Bay, Wharfside Village (40/693-8210; www.wharfsidevillage.com), just a few steps from the ferry departure point, is a low-rise complex of courtyards, alleys, and seaside cafes with some unique boutiques. The Marketplace of St. John (340/776-6455; http://stjohnmarketplace.com) has St. John’s biggest grocery store (Starfish Market), a pharmacy (Chelsea Drug Store), a hardware store (St. John Hardware), and a sprinkling of retail shops and cafes.

Bajo El Sol, Mongoose Junction (340/693-7070), is a cooperative gallery begun by a group of St. John artists in 1993. It’s a wonderful place with lots of interesting pieces in a range of mediums, from paintings to glass and metal sculpture to jewelry, photography, and wood turning. This is the place to find a genuine St. John collectible.

Bamboula, Mongoose Junction (340/693-8699; www.bamboulastjohn.com), is full of color and artisanal flavor, offering art (paintings from Haiti), unique homewares (hand-crafted wood bowls), world music, and African instruments. It also sells clothing, from flirty, sparkly skirts to jaunty straw hats.

Coconut Coast Studios, Frank Bay (800/887-3798 or 340/776-6944; www.coconutcoaststudios.com), is the studio of artist Elaine Estern, who paints colorful Caribbean landscapes, seascapes, and beneath-the-sea-scapes. Her seaside studio is a 5-minute walk along the waterfron from Cruz Bay. Every Wednesday evening from November through April the artist hosts a Sunset Cocktail Party from 5:30 to 7pm.

Donald Schnell Studio, next to the Texaco gas station, Cruz Bay (340/776-6420; www.donaldschnell.com), is the working studio and gallery of Mr. Schnell, who fashions beautiful hand-crafted ceramics: planters, tableware, even fountains. The studio also sells the works of other artisans.

R&I PATTON Goldsmithing, Mongoose Junction (340/776-6548; http://pattongold.com), is the shop of “designer goldsmiths” Rudy and Irene Patton, who have been making and selling jewelry here since 1973. The island provides the jewelers with a wellspring of inspiration; their gold and sterling-silver petroglyph pieces are based on a petroglyph carved on a rock in Reef Bay. They also make molds of sea shells and sealife found on the beach to make earrings, pendants, and charms.

St. John Spice, Cruz Bay (877/693-7046; http://stjohnspice.com), is located right at the ferry dock and up a set of brick stairs. It’s the place to come for all things saucy and spicy, with a fantastic and comprehensive selection of locally made Virgin Islands hot sauces—from Blind Betty’s to Anna’s to Jerome’s—as well as barbecue rubs, signature-blend spices, and Caribbean-made. It’s a great place to stock up on hot sauce gifts to carry back home with you.

Bring a good book or two. When it comes to nightlife, St. John is no St. Thomas, and everybody here seems to want to keep it that way. Although you can hear live music most any night of the week at venues around the island, many people are content to have a leisurely dinner and call it a day. But check out the “Live Music Scene” section on the See St. John website (www.seestjohn.com) for an updated schedule of live music offerings around the island.

Cruz Bay

The Taproom, the sunny brewpub of new microbrewery St. John Brewers (340/715-7775; www.stjohnbrewers.com), is the brainchild of a couple of University of Vermont grads. Located in Mongoose Junction in Cruz Bay, the Taproom will have you sitting elbow-to-elbow with locals and visitors sampling from the Caribbean-pub menu and swigging the brewpub’s craft beers and homemade sodas. We very much like their Virgin Islands Summer Ale. It’s open Monday to Saturday 11am to midnight and Sunday noon to midnight.

Just 150 feet from the ferry dock in Cruz Bay, Woody’s Seafood Saloon (340/779-4625; www.woodysseafood.com) has a happening happy hour scene from 3pm to 6pm when drinks are dirt-cheap ($1 beers) and the crowd spills out onto the street.

St. John’s one and only Irish pub, the Quiet Mon, is adjacent to Woody’s and located in a West Indian cottage with walls crammed with photos, memorabilia, and shamrock-themed tchotchkes. Four large-screen TVs are on hand for your sporting-event viewing pleasure.

Coral Bay

Skinny Legs, Emmaus, Coral Bay, beyond the fire station (340/779-4982; http://skinnylegs.com) is little more than a laidback island shack made of tin and wood. It’s also the place to bring the kids for the island’s best burgers. Skinny Legs has live music on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights during high season when it stays open until 10pm or later.

Another laid-back spot in Coral Bay, Shipwreck Landing (340/693-5640; www.shipwrecklandingstjohn.com, which has live music on Wednesday evenings and weekend nights, with no cover.