Saint John is two-thirds national park and entirely without a commercial airport, which preserves a quality of light and quiet that larger Caribbean destinations have surrendered to development. A motor yacht charter here uses the island as a base for the finest snorkelling and beach access in the USVI, reaching Cruz Bay for provisioning and Coral Bay for a quieter anchorage on the east end, while the British Virgin Islands sit 10 miles across Pillsbury Sound and within easy reach for a day trip.
The motor charter fleet available in the USVI and assignable to a Saint John itinerary runs to around 162 published yachts. Motor yachts have particular advantages in these waters: they reach the Trunk Bay national park beach before the ferry boats, position off Cinnamon Bay’s reef in minutes, and cross to the BVI for a day at the Baths and back before dinner. A well-appointed motor yacht here becomes a floating base camp for the entire national park.
Weekly motor charter rates in the USVI start at approximately 50,000 euros for a comfortable 25-metre vessel and reach 215,000 euros for flagship 60-metre yachts with full beach club and helicopter access. The advance provisioning allowance of 30 percent covers fuel, marina fees at Cruz Bay and provisioning from the well-stocked USVI chandleries. The December-to-April peak season aligns with the calmest conditions and clearest underwater visibility.
From Saint John’s Coral Bay anchorage a motor yacht can press east through Pillsbury Sound to Tortola’s Road Town for a lunch stop, or position at Waterlemon Cay for the island’s finest snorkelling, where hawksbill turtles, eagle rays and a resident population of eagle rays visit the reef daily. The Rams Head hiking trail, reachable by tender, provides a land-based morning before an afternoon on the swim platform.
