Top 12 St. John Family Activities
If the thought of sand and salt water gets your family excited, grab your beach towels and head to St. John! Parents hoping to find an endless roster of child-friendly activities are in luck. We’ve created a list of our favorites guaranteed to keep everyone happy during your most memorable tropical vacation.
1. Become a Junior Ranger
Make your first stop the National Park’s Visitor Center to see big, colorful exhibits including a 3-D map of the island. Ask a Ranger how to become a Junior Ranger and get a cool activity book of nature games. When finished, show your workbook to the Ranger and get your official Junior Ranger badge and certificate. Before you arrive, go online to the Park’s For Kids page and get your virtual feet wet with an online snorkel tour. You can even hike virtual trails and become a certified WebRanger!
2. Cowboy Up
Explore the scenic hills of the island on horseback at the Carolina Corral. All skill levels are accommodated with the option of adding a grooming and tack up lesson prior to your ride. If you’d rather sit back and relax, schedule a native donkey-drawn wagon tour around Coral Bay. Don’t forget to meet the rest of the farm family of goats, dogs and cats while you’re there.
3. Go Snorkeling
Even if you’re a beginner, snorkeling the crystal clear waters of St. John is very simple. Bring or rent a mask and snorkel and head to Maho Bay, a family favorite known for calm, shallow water. The National Park Underwater Trail located at Trunk Bay follows a reef labeled with underwater signage identifying what you see. Trunk is also equipped with a snack bar, restrooms and lifeguards.
4. Plan a Day at Cinnamon Bay
No other place offers more activities in one place than the mile-long stretch of Cinnamon Beach. Here you can rent snorkel gear, surfboards, paddleboards, floats, kayaks and take snorkeling or scuba lessons. After a fun game of volleyball, let someone else make your lunch at the T’ree Lizards restaurant. You will also find an archeology lab and a self-guided, half-mile hike through an old sugar and bay rum factory. You can easily spend the entire day at Cinnamon.
5. Picnic at Hawksnest Beach
Build sandcastles while Dad barbecues on the grill at Hawksnest. Grills are provided, as are tables, changing rooms and covered pavilions. Ample parking and easy access make this beach the perfect destination for a family picnic.
6. Observe Marine Life
View coral reefs, tropical fish, stingrays and turtles that live in the Virgin Island waters while remaining completely dry on the air conditioned Discovery Undersea Glass Bottom Boat Tour.
7. Catch Your Dinner
The Virgin Islands is home to some of the best blue water Big Game fishing in the Caribbean. Charter an experienced guide for anything from light tackle inshore fishing to offshore big game catch. Whether the kids are experienced or novice fishermen, you’re guaranteed to have a great day on the water with a local expert who knows where the fish are biting.
8. Explore by Kayak
Calm waters around St. John are perfect for beginner and young kayakers. Follow a professional guide into the mangroves on the East End, on a snorkeling/kayak combo, or on a bird watching tour of the island and its neighboring cays. Several companies offer one or two-seated kayak rentals.
9. Put Your Hiking Shoes On
Choose from 20 trails within the National Park ranging from a 15-minute to a 3-hour jaunt. Peace Hill is an ideal short hike to ruins of an old stone windmill with a panoramic view. If you’d rather spend a few hours delving deep into the tropical forest, the Reef Bay Trail is your best bet. Hiking maps are located at the Visitors Center.
10. Step Back In Time
St. John’s rich history of plantation days can be found among the ruins all over the island. Take a self-guided tour through the Annaberg Sugar Mill Ruins which has a breathtaking view down the Sir Francis Drake Channel. Another easily accessible site is the Catherineberg plantation, home to the ruins of an old sugar and boiling house.
11. Create Your Own Souvenir
What could be more fun than creating an original St. John souvenir? Bring the whole family and choose a mosaic project at Tiny Tiles Mosiac studio or try your hand at pottery at Maho Bay Clay Works.
12. Play Island I Spy
Give the kids a list of things they are likely to encounter and watch them go! Here’s a list to get you started: iguanas, lizards, gongolo millipedes, donkeys, goats, sheep, deer, mongoose, chickens, roosters, cows, bananaquits, hummingbirds, hermit crabs, termite trails, pelicans, pigs (you may get lucky and see local resident Ziggy the Piggy on his morning walks), fish, sea urchin, doves, Frangipani caterpillar, white heron, bats (hint: look in the ruins), seashells, coral and cactus.
When Mom and Dad need a break, you can always call Kids Night In Babysitting Service and Leslie, a pediatric physical therapist who lives on St. John, will come to your villa and have some fun with the kids. She’s known for her mad baking skills so if you’re lucky, she’ll get the kids in the kitchen and you’ll have a tasty treat waiting when you return!
