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United States United StatesLesser AntillesIsland

Saint John

49.8 km² of land in the Caribbean Sea.

When to go

Saint John seen from space, cut out from the sea (Sentinel-2)
Cruz Bay
N 2 km

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).

Sea temperature (the water level) Air: night low to afternoon high Wet days Best months

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.

Read more on Wikipedia

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

    Gibney Beach

    sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya

21 beaches

on Coastya, the beach atlas

  1. Gibney Beach28.9°C
  2. Ditleff Beach28.9°C
  3. Trunk Beach28.9°C
  4. Cocoloba Beach28.9°C
  5. Hawknest Beach28.9°C
  6. Little Reef Bay Beach28.9°C
  7. Oppenheimer Beach28.9°C
  8. 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.

Saint John50 km²
Santorini76 km²
Manhattan54 km²

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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon high (°C)262626272828292929292827
Night low (°C)262525262728282828282726
Sea (°C)262626272728282929292827
Rain (mm)4029385499738811314614212259
Wet days151213142120222525242118
Sun h/day8.18.89.29.48.78.88.98.98.57.77.37.6
Wind (km/h)242422212223252319192124

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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
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.

Virgin Islands National Park Reef Bay
Galen S. Swint · CC BY 2.0
St. Thomas-St. John, USVI
Farragutful · CC BY-SA 3.0
StJohnTrunkBay
Ben Whitney · Public domain
USVI - St. John - Coral Bay
en:User:Bonus Onus · CC BY-SA 3.0

About these numbers

Names, area, populationWikidata (Q849441) · CC0
Outline© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Sea temperatureNOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020
ClimateNASA POWER · 1991–2020
Relief, 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
TownsGeoNames · CC BY 4.0
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfallsCoastya — 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.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.You are here
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit