US VIRGIN ISLANDS · CARIBBEAN
Catamarans, coral, and three islands of blue.
Day-sails to St John, snorkel trips out to Buck Island, sunset cruises off St Thomas and glow-water paddles after dark. St Thomas, St John, St Croix and the cays in between.
Only out here
The reef trail, the park island, and the glow.
Boat trips and beach days turn up in every Caribbean port. These three belong to the US Virgin Islands: a snorkel trail marked on the seabed, an island that is mostly national park, and a lagoon that lights up after dark.
Under the surface
Reef trails you actually follow
Buck Island, off St Croix, is a US national monument with a marked underwater trail — signs planted on the seabed guide you over the coral. Trunk Bay on St John has its own underwater snorkel trail. Hardly anywhere else in the world labels a path along the reef floor and lets you swim it.
- 1 National Park Snorkeling Excursion
- 2 Snorkeling Adventure in St Thomas
- 3 SeaFari FastCat – Sun, Fun, Swimming, Snorkeling & Boat Party
Across on St John
An island that is mostly national park
Two-thirds of St John is Virgin Islands National Park, protected from the tideline up. Its best beaches — Trunk, Cinnamon, Maho, Honeymoon — are reached by a short trail or straight off a boat, and the trails climb past old Danish sugar-mill ruins. A US national park dropped into the Caribbean.
- 1 Snorkel St. John Tour from Sapphire and Margaritaville
- 2 Afternoon Snorkel, Pizza & Sunset Tour departing from St. Thomas & St. John
- 3 Night Kayak Tour St. John – Westin Resort
After dark
Paddling water that glows
Slide a clear or LED kayak into the mangrove lagoons off St Thomas after sunset and the water lights up wherever the paddle breaks it. The glow is bioluminescent plankton, and only a handful of bays on earth hold enough of it to see by.
- 1 Night Kayak Tour St. Thomas – Westin Frenchman’s Reef
- 2 Cas Cay – Kayak Hike and Snorkel Adventure
- 3 St Thomas Mangrove Lagoon Kayak and Snorkel Tour in the US Virgin Islands
Start here
Three islands, three completely different trips.
They share a flag, a currency and a time zone, and almost nothing else. The first thing to settle is which island — or in what order. Here is the short version of who each one is for.
Best for first-timers & cruisers
The busy one. Cruise ships, the duty-free streets of Charlotte Amalie, Magens Bay, and the widest pick of day-sails, snorkel boats and night paddles. Most trips start here.
See St Thomas tours 204 →Best for beaches & the national park
A short ferry from St Thomas and two-thirds national park. Trunk Bay, Cinnamon and Maho, the underwater snorkel trail and trails to old sugar-mill ruins. The quiet, green island.
See St John tours 33 →Best for rum, reefs & room to breathe
The big island to the south, on its own reef. Cruzan rum, the Buck Island underwater trail, the Danish waterfronts of Christiansted and Frederiksted, and far fewer crowds.
See St Croix tours 18 →The day on the water
Start with the sail everyone books.
If you only get one day on the water out here, make it this one.
The classics
The Islands' Most Popular Tours
Buck Island, Trunk Bay, the St John day-sail, the Magens Bay snorkel. The trips most travellers come for.
By place
Pick your patch of the islands.
St Thomas for the harbour and the action. St John for the national-park beaches. St Croix for rum and reefs. Cruz Bay for the boats, Buck Island for what's under the water.
By tour type
Or pick how you get out on the water.
Catamaran if you want range and an open bar. Kayak if you want the mangroves after dark. Snorkel trips for the reef, sunset cruises for the light, scuba for what's deeper, and the rest.
The all-day sail
A catamaran, a cooler, and a chain of cays.
Steady trades, short crossings, calm water in the lee of the islands. Snorkel two or three stops, lunch aboard, open bar on the way home. If we were booking one boat day, it would be one of these three.
When the light goes gold
The islands after the sun drops.
Rum punch as the sky turns over Charlotte Amalie harbour, a quiet sail out of the wind, glow paddles for anyone still going after dark. Our three picks for the last hours of the day.
Days you don't need a boat
Rum, ruins, and the old Danish towns.
The islands were Danish until 1917, and it still shows in the street names and the waterfronts. Tour a rum distillery, walk Christiansted's boardwalk, work the duty-free shops in town. Three picks for a day on dry land.
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