Honeymoon beach is an idyllic white sand beach inside of Virgin Islands National Park on St. John, USVI. It’s less populated than the very popular nearby Trunk Bay and it has comparably clear water. Snorkeling is actually much better at Honeymoon than Trunk, despite Trunk having a marked underwater snorkeling trail. Honeymoon has beautiful fringing reefs on both the left and right sides of the beach that are set in shallow water and perfect for snorkeling.

On Day 5 of our 2017 USVI Trip, we took the ferry from St. Thomas to St. John to visit Honeymoon Beach for a Day. The condo where we stayed in St. Thomas happened to be owned by the same woman who owns Virgin Island Eco Tours. As part of renting her place she included one free tour (we chose the Mangrove Lagoon Tour on St. Thomas) and Water Sports Day Passes for the whole family on Honeymoon Beach. While the beach itself is public and free to access, VI Eco Tours’ Watersports Pass gets you access to a bunch of “beach toys” located right on the edge of the beach including kayaks, paddle boards, rafts, snorkeling gear, life vests, etc.

Related: Full US Virgin Islands Itinerary for One Week on St. Thomas and St. John

Accessing Honeymoon Beach: There are three ways to get to Honeymoon Beach. We hiked the lower Lind Point Trail about 1.5 miles from the VI National Park Visitor Center. It’s a fun hike and not difficult at all, but we did get attacked by no-see-ums and learned that bug spray is essential when hiking in St. John, even in broad daylight. The second way to access Honeymoon is via Caneel Bay. The owner of VI Eco Tours has a golf cart that runs folks on an old dirt road between the parking lot at Caneel Bay and Honeymoon Beach proper. And the final way is by boat. You can see all the sailboats anchored in the bay.

Unfortunately, there is no immediate access to Honeymoon via car, as there is no parking lot near the beach.

Our Experience at Honeymoon

Honeymoon Beach was among our favorite stops on our whole USVI trip. Like every beach we visited in the Virgin Islands, we were struck with just how much Honeymoon captured the whole “paradise on earth” theme. All five of the kids really enjoyed having access to all the beach toys and gear that VI Eco Tours provides. The kayaks and snorkeling gear were especially big hits given the beautiful reef on the left side of the beach. We saw hundreds of fish, rays, eels, flounder, and more. Here’s our day in pictures with a little bit of storytelling along the way.

Hiking the Lind Point Trail

We got an early ferry from the Red Hook Port on St. Thomas and landed on St. John around 9:00am. We wanted to get started on the kids’ VI National Park Junior Ranger packets, so we walked briefly to the National Park Visitor Center to complete some of the junior ranger activities before heading out to the Lind Point trail which departs up a staircase just behind the visitor center itself. (The NPS Visitor Center is just a short walk from where the ferry lets off – no need for a taxi).

The Lind Point Trail divides into an upper and lower section about 1/4 of the way in. We followed the lower trail down to Honeymoon.

After about 1.5 miles, the trail drops you directly onto the left side of Honeymoon Beach. We spotted a sand castle left over from the day before, and J found a giant piece of coral washed up on the shore!

Getting Our Kayak On w/ VI Eco Tours

We made our way to the right side of the beach where VI Eco Tours’ water sports stand is located, got checked in, and got the kids started on playing! The kayaks and snorkels were definitely the big hits of the day – though Kim and a few of the kids also liked trying paddle boards for the first time. (I could not get the hang of it, so I stuck with kayaking and snorkeling.)

 

Breaking for a Quick Lunch at Caneel Bay Resort

Caneel Bay is the next bay over from Honeymoon Beach and is home to the very popular Caneel Bay Resort. We decided to head up to Caneel Bay for lunch. The trail itself is more of a dirt road but has some great picture taking spots. The second pic below shows a small bit of the resort’s grounds which are stunning. Caneel Bay’s atmosphere and food is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. Totally worth stopping at Caneel for lunch if you’re visiting Honeymoon or just anytime you’re visiting St. John.

Back at Honeymoon Beach

After lunch at Caneel Bay, I had to run back into town to pick up keys I had left in the British Virgin Islands the day before (seriously–when I lose my stuff I lose it right). The tour company picked them up on another swing around the BVI. But within about an hour I came back to Honeymoon and the kids were still having a blast.

We finished up the day with some more kayaking, playing in the sand, and snorkeling the reef on the left side of the beach. This reef gave us the best underwater pics of the trip.

Our underwater camera really doesn’t do justice to the beauty of this reef, but here’s a few shots we did get…

Packing up and Heading Back to St. Thomas

At the end of the day, we packed up our things, hiked the Lind Point Trail back to the NPS Visitor Center, and then hopped on the ferry to head back to St. Thomas for dinner.

The National Park Service has a commercial that tells folks to “Find Your Park.” Well, we’ve found ours… It’s in the USVI.

Because we hit Caneel Bay for lunch that day, we didn’t hit a restaurant for dinner. We ate dinner in our unit and then hit the sack. Day 5 of our trip ended up being one of the most relaxing and enjoyable days we spent of the entire USVI vacation!

Final Thoughts on Honeymoon Beach

We are really glad we made a day out of Honeymoon Beach and Caneel Bay. The kids enjoyed having all the water sports toys to play with – it made the day a real joy and very memorable! The day pass retails at $49 for adults and $10 for kids ten and under. Here’s the link for the Day Passes: VI Eco Tours Honeymoon Beach Watersports Day Pass

If you’re going to get the Day Pass, we highly recommend staying at Honeymoon for the full day and breaking for lunch at Caneel Bay. That way you get 6-8 hours to enjoy everything Honeymoon has to offer including all of the “toys”.  And if you enjoy snorkeling, make sure to snorkel the left side of the beach — the reef is fabulous!

Related: 10 Things to Do on St. Thomas and St. John