Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
49.8km²
Area
88km
Coastline
121m
Highest point
3,881
People
29°C
Warmest sea
September
844km
To the mainland
When to go to Saint John
Best for the beach from January to May.
The sea is warmest in September (29 °C) and coolest in February (26 °C). You can swim comfortably all year (21 °C or more).
Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.
One of the main islands of the United States Virgin Islands
Saint John is an island in United States. It belongs to Lesser Antilles. It covers 49.8 km², with 88 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 121 m. About 3,881 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 844 km away.
Getting there
- Cyril E. King Airport (STT)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 24 km in a straight lineCar hire at STX airport (Christiansted)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- FerriesRed Hook, Saint Thomas - Cruz Bay, Saint John, Red Hook, Saint Thomas - Enighed Pond, Saint John, Charlotte Amalie, Saint Thomas - Cruz Bay, Saint John, Cruz Bay, Saint John - Great Harbour, Jost Van Dyke
- 844 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From January to Maybest months to go (from 30 years of averages)
Plan the trip
Ferries, stays and things to do
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
On the island
What you find on Saint John.
- 79beachesAnnaberg Beach, Blue Cobblestone Beach, Brown Bay Beach and 76 more
- 7viewpointsTrunk Bay Outlook, Maho Bay Outlook and 5 more
- 3ferry terminalsLoredon L. Boynes Senior Dock, Victor William Sewer Marine Facility, Theovald Eric Moorehead Dock and Terminal
- 24named peaksBordeaux Mountain, Bordeaux North Hill, Mamey Peak and 21 more
- 1castles and fortsFortsberg Ruins
- 12ruins and archaeological sitesTaino Petroglyphs, Lameshur Plantation, Catherineburg Sugar Mill Ruins and 9 more
- 2dive centresLow Key Watersports, Crabby's
- 1campsitesCinnamon Bay Campground
- 18hotels, guesthouses and apartments
- 34restaurants, cafés and bars
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, inside the island's outline. A low number may only mean nobody has mapped it yet.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Saint John in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Saint John, each with its own numbers.
21beaches and covesCoastya
Beach with the warmest sea
28.9°C
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
21 beaches
on Coastya, the beach atlas
- Gibney Beach28.9°C
- Ditleff Beach28.9°C
- Trunk Beach28.9°C
- Cocoloba Beach28.9°C
- Hawknest Beach28.9°C
- Little Reef Bay Beach28.9°C
- Oppenheimer Beach28.9°C
- Salomon Beach28.9°C
13 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 112 m above the sea. 80 % of it is below 200 m.
- 35 %0–50 m
- 45 %50–200 m
- 20 %200–500 m
Share of the island's area in each altitude band, from the Copernicus DEM (30 m, read at 30–240 m on large islands).
Size, for real
Next to islands you may know.
10 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Towns on the island
- Cruz Bay2,743 people
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 26 | 26 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 27 |
| Night low (°C) | 26 | 25 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 26 |
| Sea (°C) | 26 | 26 | 26 | 27 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 27 |
| Rain (mm) | 40 | 29 | 38 | 54 | 99 | 73 | 88 | 113 | 146 | 142 | 122 | 59 |
| Wet days | 15 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 21 | 20 | 22 | 25 | 25 | 24 | 21 | 18 |
| Sun h/day | 8.1 | 8.8 | 9.2 | 9.4 | 8.7 | 8.8 | 8.9 | 8.9 | 8.5 | 7.7 | 7.3 | 7.6 |
| Wind (km/h) | 24 | 24 | 22 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 25 | 23 | 19 | 19 | 21 | 24 |
Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.
Recent years
Warmer and cooler years at sea.
Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | +0.8 | +0.8 | +0.6 | +0.8 | +0.6 | +0.6 | +0.8 | +0.4 | +0.7 | +0.3 | +0.1 | +0.4 |
| 2021 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.3 | +0.1 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | +0.2 | +0.1 | +0.6 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.6 |
| 2022 | +0.5 | +0.3 | +0.3 | −0.1 | ±0.0 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.3 | +0.2 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | +0.1 |
| 2023 | +0.3 | +0.1 | +0.3 | +0.3 | +0.7 | +0.8 | +0.9 | +0.9 | +1.1 | +0.9 | +0.7 | +0.6 |
| 2024 | +0.7 | +0.9 | +1.1 | +1.1 | +1.5 | +1.5 | +1.2 | +0.9 | +1.2 | +1.6 | +1.1 | +1.2 |
| 2025 | +1.1 | +0.9 | +1.1 | +0.6 | +0.5 | +0.1 | +0.4 | +0.6 | +0.7 | +0.6 | +0.6 | +0.8 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.




Nearby
More islands nearby.
Saint Thomas
Tortola
Jost Van Dyke
Virgin Gorda
Saint Croix
Culebra
Vieques
AnegadaAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q849441) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Outline | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Sea temperature | NOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020 |
| Climate | NASA POWER · 1991–2020 |
| Relief, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Towns | GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfalls | Coastya — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.