#8 of 38 sights in Virgin Islands
Beach · Virgin Islands National Park
Clear-water snorkeling rewards the uneven hike to this shaded beach.
Overview
Honeymoon Beach is a white-sand beach on St. John’s north shore, inside Virgin Islands National Park. Palm and seagrape trees shade much of the sand, and clear shallows meet a reef that makes swimming and snorkeling the main draw. It’s a proper beach stop, with a walk in from Cruz Bay or a boat ride to the shore.
Parkwolf’s verdictA beach worth making time forMap
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Virgin Islands Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Virgin Islands National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this place
Lind Point, Honeymoon and Salomon Beaches“The Lind Point trails to Honeymoon and Salomon beaches are coming up. Choose the lower route for a less hilly walk, or the upper route for the view across Cruz Bay and Pillsbury Sound.”
Plays as you drive up to Honeymoon Beach in the Parkwolf Virgin Islands Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
A common approach follows Lind Point Trail from the Cruz Bay Visitor Center area. Allow about 20 to 40 minutes each way; the path is narrow, rocky and rooty in places, with some uneven climbing. Shoes with grip help, and a light beach bag is easier to carry. Bring drinking water. You can also arrive by boat. Pets are not allowed on park beaches; dogs on trails must stay leashed.
Honeymoon and nearby Salomon are separate beaches. The reef continues east toward Caneel Bay, and the rocky point between the beaches has brain, lettuce leaf, elkhorn, mustard hill and pillar corals. Fish shelter around the reef, making this the part to explore with a mask when the water is clear. Visibility changes with conditions.
The palms and seagrapes make it easier to linger between swims, and picnic tables are available. The beach club at the Caneel end offers a restaurant, snacks, drinks and rentals, but visitors report uneven service and facility availability. Bring water and a backup snack instead of counting on every amenity being open.
For a beach photo, get low near the rocky edge and leave a patch of reef in the foreground, with the anchored boats and green hills beyond. That gives the clear water some scale and captures more of the bay than a sky-heavy shot.
Wildlife
151 sightingsWhite-tailed DeerMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
115 sightingsGreen IguanaMost seen around 9 AMSighting map
62 sightingsBrown PelicanMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
35 sightingsGreen Sea TurtleMost seen around noonSighting map
32 sightingsAmerican FlamingoMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
26 sightingsNurse SharkMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Virgin Islands. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ChallengingCaneel Hill Trail4.3 mi · 3.2 hr · 0.5 mi awayTwo steep hills trade a hard climb for views across both coasts.
ModerateWater Catchment Trail0.7 mi · 30 min · 0.9 mi awayA steep one-way drop to Caneel Bay’s old water basin
EasyPeace Hill Trail0.2 mi · 15 min · 1.2 mi awayA windmill ruin and wide bay views from a fifteen-minute climb.
ModerateL'Esperance Trail5.2 mi · 5.5 hr · 2.1 mi awayA rugged old road through estate ruins down to the south shore.
ModerateAmerica Hill Trail1.2 mi · 1.3 hr · 2.6 mi awayShort climb to a ruined Great House and east-facing island views.
ChallengingCinnamon Bay Trail2 mi · 1.8 hr · 2.6 mi awayA steep old road, shaded forest, and a single bay lookout
ChallengingPetroglyph Trail3.4 mi · 3 hr · 3.2 mi awayA shaded descent to ancient carvings, with a steep climb back out.
ModerateMaria Hope Trail0.8 mi · 45 min · 3.2 mi awayA shaded historic road drops through forest to a Maho Bay overlook.
Beach · 0.2 mi awaySalomon BeachA quiet hike-in beach with reef nearby.
Beach · 0.2 mi awayCaneel BeachA paved walk passes a historic sugar mill before the beach.Sight · 0.4 mi awayCaneel Hill Observation DeckA steep climb opens a wide view of St. John’s bays.
Sight · 0.6 mi awayLind Point OverlookCruz Bay and green cays from a bench above the harbor.
Visitor center · 0.6 mi awayCruz Bay Visitor CenterStart with the island model before choosing your first hike.
Beach · 0.9 mi awayHawksnest BeachTree shade and three Elkhorn reef fingers make this a worthwhile stop.
Beach · 1 mi awayGibney and Oppenheimer BeachA quieter Hawksnest shore for shade, swimming and reef-edge snorkeling.
Sight · 1.2 mi awayPeace Hill Windmill RuinsA short climb to the stone sugar mill and north-shore views.Parkwolf’s Virgin Islands ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
