Trunk Bay Beach on St. John, USVI has been named the best beach in the world for 2024 by The World’s 50 Best Beaches. Out of over 25 beaches on the island of St. John, Trunk Bay is a Caribbean paradise certainly a must see when visiting the island.
After deciding to take a Babymoon to the beautiful island of St. John I spent countless hours researching where we wanted to spend our time. Although St. John is the smallest of the US Virgin Islands its sights and beauty provide the most spectacular beaches and landscape I have ever seen.
After a day of travel from a plane to St. Thomas then to a taxi, to a ferry to Cruz Bay and lastly to a rental car we finally made it to our beautiful destination. We visited the island at the end of a July which was hot! Locals told us it was actually unseasonably warm but it made every day perfect for the beach.
Renting a Jeep allowed us to travel around most of the island during our week long vacation, babymoon and 40th early birthday celebration. We absolutely loved the northern beaches the best, every beach had something unique to offer and we will write more about each of them!
After driving past Trunk Bay a couple days at different times we realized we had to get there early to find a parking spot. The parking lot was even a sight to see, tons of tall palm trees nestled in amongst the parking where you would see jeep after jeep of all colors parked.
Lush green surrounds the beach as the perfect backdrop. There is no development on the National Park Land where Trunk Bay Beach is located.
One of many nice benefits of this beach is it’s accessibility with paths and ramps and some picnic tables along the main walkway.
Trunk Bay Beach has the most unbelievable, crystal clear water I have ever seen and the .3 mile Long Beach has soft white powder sand. The water was not only so warm it was like bath water in the shallower areas. The visibility in the water was unmatched as the sun shone through and glistened on the beautiful white sand below.
One of the unique features of this beach is the one of a kind underwater snorkeling trail! We brought our own snorkeling equipment since this was a priority on our trip we didn’t want to rent. Swimming and snorkeling around the entire Trunk Cay was a fun accomplishment, it was far and can get a bit choppy around the far side. We saw so many beautiful fish, squids, starfish and closer to the shore there was a huge Sting Ray that kept swimming around close to shore.
There was not much shade and with the hot July sun constantly on the move you had to find an area on the beach in the shrubs to get any sort of sun relief.
Areas were marked where volunteer groups from Friends of Virgin Islands National Park were working on restoration projects and areas where sea turtles were nesting. It is important to be aware and not disturb these areas.
We chose to spend our time in the water as much as possible to keep cool! When we were not snorkeling, I was kicking back with my floating raft and relaxing.
Trunk Bay Beach is the one National Park Beaches that has an entrance fee. They have more amenities than most: washrooms, showers and tucked in palm trees there is a very cool beach bar and lunch area where you can also purchase items needed.
We spent an entire day at Trunk Bay Beach National Park enjoying the sun, sand, water and amenities. We ate lunch, I enjoyed Virgin Daiquiris while Colin had the alcoholic versions.
As the crowds cleared out we stayed to watch the sunset on this beautiful beach. Trunk Bay Beach is one of the more popular beaches so it gets crowded. We suggest getting their early to get a spot and enjoy the day there!
Below are some must haves and amazon affiliate links for things that made our St. John trip easier.
National Geographic Park Map: This was super helpful when we were off adventuring on our ow looking for other beaches around the island. There is not a place to obtain a map and google does not have the best maps. I highly suggest purchasing one of these for your trip!
Floating Raft: Easy to pack great for floating and relaxing.
Snorkel: Brought our own so we could have at all beaches during our entire trip.
Selfie Stick / iPhone Stand: My favorite thing because we set this up and use the remote to snap pictures and do not bother other beach goers with our photo shoots.
Liquid IV: Being in the sun all day and myself being pregnant I had to make sure we were hydrated, brought these packets with so we could easily add to water.