Two flags, one archipelago. Nearly all of it is reached by boat.
Which snorkel boat actually anchors at Buck Island. What a charter across to Jost Van Dyke costs. Whether The Baths are worth a passport and a ferry. Reviews of every tour you can book across the US and British Virgin Islands.
Four bookings a first week in the islands hangs off.
A snorkel boat, a night on the water, a circuit of St John and the crossing into British waters. What each costs and what the people who went say.
01The boat dayTurtle Cove Catamaran Snorkel and Sail at Little Buck Island STTSail out to Little Buck Island, drop the ladder and swim over the turtle grass. The trip the whole week gets planned around.
02After darkNight Kayak Tour St. Thomas – Westin Frenchman’s ReefClear kayaks lit from underneath, out of Frenchman’s Reef. Tarpon come up through the light and everyone stops paddling.
03The St John loopCircle the Island of St. John | Lunch stop at Lime Out (Taco Boat)Round the island by boat with a stop at the taco barge floating off Coral Bay. Long lunch, short swim, no ferry queue.
04Into British waterThe Baths and White BayGranite boulders at The Baths in the morning, White Bay in the afternoon. Bring the passport, it is a different country.
Snorkel boat, sailing day or your own hull. Pick the deck first.
The reefs, the cays and the other islands all sit offshore, so the day is chosen by what you board. Four kinds of trip, what it costs to get on each one, and where it puts you.
Four islands, two flags, twenty minutes of water between most of them.
A busy cruise harbour with the best boat choice, a national park island where two thirds is protected, a quieter big island with Danish towns, and the British capital that most charters leave from.
The trips more travellers take than anything else in the islands.
Every review on the site →Boats out of St Thomas dominate, which tells you where the demand is. What each one costs and how long it holds you.
1
Turtle Cove Catamaran Snorkel and Sail at Little Buck Island STT
Sail The VI Cat from Marriott Frenchman’s Cove to Little Buck Island with Captain Serena, Tim, Anders, Isaac, Nick, or Porscha guiding the day. You get snorkel gear, about an hour in the water, sea turtles, reef fish, snacks, and drinks after swimming. The 1 p.m. departure can feel calmer than cruise-ship morning trips.
From · $119
Read our review →
2
Snorkel St. John Tour from Sapphire and Margaritaville
from $180
3
Night Kayak Tour St. Thomas – Westin Frenchman’s Reef
from $69
4
Parasail Experience in St Thomas
from $146
5
Sunset & Harbor Lights Dinner Sail from the Marriott’s Frenchman’s Cove
from $119
6
Night Kayak Tour St. John – Westin Resort
from $69
7
Sea Trek Helmet Dive at Coral World Ocean Park
from $119
8
Cas Cay – Kayak Hike and Snorkel Adventure
from $99
St Thomas: a harbour day, a water day, and one after dark.
Everything on St Thomas →
Nearly every trip in these islands leaves from here, so the question is never what to do, it is which of the three kinds of day to give up. Take the boat first, the island circuit on a ship day, and the lagoon after dark.
Which snorkel boat to get on
Big catamarans run to Turtle Cove and Little Buck Island with lunch and an open bar. Six-guest boats cost more per head and reach the same water without the crowd on deck.
Mountain Top, Magens Bay, Drake’s Seat
Up the spine of the island in an open truck for the view over Magens Bay, then down to the beach itself. The version with shopping time built in is the one cruise passengers take.
Clear kayaks lit from underneath
LED boards under the hull light the water for a couple of metres down, and fish come to it. Groups are small and the trips only run after sunset, so there are few seats in a week.
The British Virgin Islands are a day trip, and a different country.
Sir Francis Drake Channel is an hour of flat water from St Thomas. On the other side are the granite boulders at The Baths, a beach bar on Jost Van Dyke that built its reputation on one drink, and the charter fleet at Road Town. Everyone on board needs a passport.
What a day out in the Virgin Islands actually costs.
Every tour on the site, grouped by price. The gap between a shared catamaran and your own boat is wider here than almost anywhere, so it is worth knowing where you sit.
Park entry, the ferry hops, harbour cruises and the shopping and beach runs off a ship.
- 1Shop, See, & Splashfrom $40
- 2Coral World Ocean Park General Admission Ticketfrom $29
- 3Sights, Scenes, & Shopping Spreefrom $40
The everyday standards: shared snorkel catamarans, night kayaks, island circuits and sunset sails.
Private charters, certified dive mornings and the full-day crossings into British waters.
- 1Snorkel St. John Tour from Sapphire and Margaritavillefrom $180
- 2Tree Limin’ Extreme Ziplinefrom $155
- 3Snorkel Cat All Inclusive Adventurefrom $175
Three days out you cannot have anywhere else in the Caribbean.
Reefs and rum exist across the region. A pile of prehistoric granite standing in the sea, a beach bar reached only by boat, and a lagoon you paddle after dark do not.
The Baths, Virgin Gorda
House-sized granite boulders sit in the shallows at the south end of Virgin Gorda, left by volcanic rock that cooled underground and was later stripped bare. You get through them by scrambling, ducking and wading a trail to Devil’s Bay, part of it on ladders and rope. Boats moor offshore and swim guests in, so the trail is quietest before the first ferry arrives.
- 1The Baths and White Bay★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 595 reviews
- 2Discover The Baths of Virgin Gorda Full Day Adventure – Westin St. John★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 86 reviews
- 3Discover The Baths of Virgin Gorda Full Day Adventure – Ritz Carlton St. Thomas★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 81 reviews
White Bay, Jost Van Dyke
Jost Van Dyke holds a few hundred people and no cruise pier, and the beach at White Bay has no road down to it worth the name. Boats anchor off and you wade in, which is how the Soggy Dollar got its name and how the painkiller got famous. Come on a weekday if you want the sand to yourself.
- 1The Baths and White Bay★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 595 reviews
- 2St. John Jost Van Dyke & Soggy Dollar Snorkel Sail with Breakfast – Westin★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 176 reviews
- 3Jost Van Dyke Funday & Willy T (Foxy’s, Soggy Dollar, Willy-T)★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 173 reviews
Lit kayaks on the lagoon
The kayaks carry LED panels in the hull, so the water lights up a couple of metres down and the reef reads like an aquarium from above. Tarpon follow the light and turn up under the boats. Trips launch after sunset from the resort docks on the south coast and take small groups, which is the whole reason it works.
- 1Night Kayak Tour St. Thomas – Westin Frenchman’s Reef★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,813 reviews
- 2Night Kayak Tour St. John – Westin Resort★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,011 reviews
- 3Glow Boats LED Night Kayak, Marriott Frenchman’s Cove Dock, USVI★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 456 reviews
Four Virgin Islands bookings that will not wait for you to land.
Most of this place can be arranged over breakfast. These four run on ferry timetables, moon phases, dive-boat departures and a single daily sailing that fills weeks out.
- 01The Baths and White BayThe British Virgin Islands are a separate country with its own entry formalities. The boat runs to a timetable and every passenger needs a passport.
- 02Night Kayak Tour St. Thomas – Westin Frenchman’s ReefTrips only run after sunset and the boats take small groups, so a whole week holds very few seats.
- 03Two-Tank Morning Dive Trip for Certified DiversCertified dive boats leave once, in the morning, and they do not wait. Bring the card as well as the booking.
- 04Turtle Cove Catamaran Snorkel and Sail at Little Buck Island STTOne sailing a day with a fixed guest count, and it is the most booked trip on the island.
St John is two thirds national park, and the good bits have no road.
Trunk Bay gets the photograph and an underwater trail to go with it, but the north shore keeps going past it to bays you reach by boat or on foot. The ferry from Red Hook takes twenty minutes and runs all day, so a day trip works.
Every St John day out →
Tortola is where the charter fleet lives, and it shows.
Road Town fills with bareboats on changeover day and empties again by lunchtime. Beyond it the island runs to a surf beach on the north shore, a lagoon on Beef Island you paddle through mangroves, and the sheltered water everybody else sails away into.
- 1Magic Mangrove Paddle in Beef Island Lagoonfrom $105
- 2Tortola Beach Tripfrom $45
- 3Private Pottery Experience at British Virgin Islandsfrom $120
The land days: Magens Bay, Mountain Top and the safari trucks.
Not every day has to start at a dock. The island circuits climb to the ridge for the view down onto Magens Bay, the beach runs cover the sand that has chairs and a bar, and the open-air trucks make the hills part of the point.
When four ships are in, Magens Bay is full by ten.
St Thomas is one of the busiest cruise ports in the Caribbean, and on a heavy day the beach runs, the shops and the safari trucks all move at once. The answer is to be on water the ships cannot reach: the mangrove lagoon, the far side of St John, or a boat that leaves early.
By island — American and British
By kind of day — deck, reef, ridge or road
St Thomas, St John, then across to British water: the week most people do first.
The newest Virgin Islands tour reviews.
The rest of the new ones →
Naturally Tasty by RotiMan Taste/Learn Experience in Tortola, BVI
Read our review →
Private Art & Culture Tour in Tortola Virgin Islands
Read our review →
Taste Of The British Virgin Islands in 3-Hour Food Tour
Read our review →
Visit Secret beaches and enjoy private guided Snorkel tour
Read our review →
Mount Alma Hike And Beach Excursion (cruise ship friendly )
Read our review →
Soggy Dollar & Sandy Spit Sailing Tour in the BVI
Read our review →