St. John, a Nature Paradise
The ferry that departs from Red Hook in St.Thomas will take you, in less than twenty minutes, through Pillsbury straight to Cruz Bay in St. John. Multimillionaire Lawrence Rockefeller in the l950’s bought this charming little island, just a bit bigger than a key. Later, he donated two thirds of his 70 square km to the National Park. There are no hotels of many floors, and the best way of transportation is a four by four vehicle. If you come here for a day, there are cabs to take you on a two-hour visit around the island.

Cruz Bay is the most important city in St. John. A small town where people go to welcome a friend arriving in the ferry, to pick up their mail or shopping before going back home into the island. Just in front of the ferry station, is a square where you can see a kind of sacred mound, which many people believe was made by the Arawak Indians. There are cabs, shirt shops, motorcycle rentals, food stands, bars and restaurants. To the right is Wharfside Village, a commercial center next to the coast, where you can find a factory dedicated to elaboration of species. If you follow the highway down the left, in a few minutes, you’ll arrive to Mongoose Junction, another small commercial center, and also to the National Park Information Center. In fact, everything is near in Cruz Bay.

The beautiful Highway in the North Coast
In St. John, everybody knows exactly why they are here. It’s a perfect place to relax and have fun; businessmen enjoy sailing, university youngsters look for hidden beaches of white sands to tan (though nudism is illegal, at Salomon Bay beach it is usual). The highway of the north coast (Northshore Road) goes through the exuberant green coast, passing next to a series of subtle white sandy beaches. A few minutes later, you’ll find Cancel Bay, a beach where the rich and famous people go to enjoy some days of simple life, far from the usual glamour.

Rockefeller built this hotel in 1956, trying not to damage the ecological balance of the island. Next harbor is Hawknest Beach, another dream beach, very popular among natives as well as famous movie directors. In Trunk Bay Beach, you can practice snorkeling, at a properly signaled location, through the 200 m. of the Underwater National Park.

Paths in The Park and the Sugar Cane Factory’s Ruins
The National Park has 22 routes where trekking can be practiced. Most of them starting at the north coast highway. In Leinster, passing the Maho Harbor, begins an trek through the Annaberg Historic Sugar Mill Ruins, which takes around thirty minutes. This walk passes next to the ruins of ancient slave towns. The mortar used to join the stone blocks of these buildings was prepared with flour, molasses and seashells.

Next to the road that leads back to the parking place, there are small plants, like ferns, that natives call “greeche greeche”, though they shrink fast at the slightest contact with human hands.

Tours through the park, guided by forest rangers, give the opportunity of watching 800 kinds of different plants that represent the native flora (some of them used for medicine), and 160 kinds of birds that live in this park. In the park’s information center, you can make your reservation for the Reef Bay Trail, a trek of 3 km. passing next to the ruins of an ancient sugar mill, where you can see petroglifos (prehistoric stones with symbolic prints). From Reef Bay you can go back to Cruz Bay by ship.