This May Be the Most Beautiful Beach in the US Virgin Islands

You hike down the hillside trail and catch your first glimpse. It’s not the photographs. It’s better than the photographs. The white sand arcs around a bay so blue it looks hand-painted.

And just offshore, a tiny green cay rises like an emerald crown. This is Trunk Bay.

You feel it before your feet touch the beach — the calm, the hush, the way everything slows down here. Trunk Bay is not just a beach. It’s a moment. A memory. A National Park treasure that feels like a secret.

Most people come for the postcard — and yes, it delivers. But Trunk Bay is more than its looks. It’s the sensation of swimming in crystalline water with coral reefs beneath you.

The soft pull of the current as you follow the Virgin Islands National Park’s famous Underwater Snorkel Trail — the plaques beneath the sea teaching you about the reef as you glide over parrotfish and sea fans.

You notice something else: no beach bars, no jet skis, no music pumping through the trees. Just the rustle of sea grape leaves and the sound of the waves.

That’s the gift of being part of a national park — the protection of beauty, the preservation of peace. It’s why I love this beach, why I loved it the first time I saw it, and why I keep going.

Early in the morning or late in the day, Trunk Bay turns golden. The crowds thin, the light changes, and suddenly you’re not just at a beach — you’re part of something eternal. This place has been here forever, and for a little while, it’s yours.

There are other beaches on St John. Beautiful ones. But Trunk Bay is different. It’s not just the most photographed beach in the Virgin Islands. It’s the one you’ll never forget.

The only way to reach St John is by boat, either your own, a charter or one of the regular ferries that run out of St Thomas.