Trunk Bay
Interesting facts
- Snorkellers in Trunk Bay swim over elkhorn coral, the first coral ever proposed for protection as threatened under the US Endangered Species Act, now recovering naturally here.
- The underwater trail around Trunk Cay is often described as the first marked snorkelling trail in the world, with seabed plaques naming what swimmers see.
- In 1927 the Boulon family bought about 100 acres of St. John, Trunk Bay included, for 5,000 dollars.
- Before the national park existed, the Boulons ran a small guest house of eight to ten rooms on the bay.
- In 1956 the family sold some 59 acres behind the beach to Laurance Rockefeller, and the beachfront itself went to the Park Service a year later.
- The Boulons kept just three acres for themselves, on a small headland known as Windswept.
- Where today's beach car park lies, there was a dense grove of fruit trees until the mid-1950s.
- Virgin Islands National Park, which frames the bay, covers more than half of the island of St. John.
Why it is worth it
Trunk Bay curves along the north shore of St. John in the US Virgin Islands, a crescent of white coral sand facing a small rocky islet. That islet, Trunk Cay, rises only about 15 metres above the sea some 60 metres off the beach, with low cliffs, a fringe of sand and a few palms of its own. It is the composition that makes the bay so photographed: the green headlands of St. John, the pale arc of sand, the cay set like a full stop in the turquoise water in the middle of the view.
The bay takes its name from the leatherback turtle, which islanders have long called a "trunk". Today it lies within Virgin Islands National Park, created on 2 August 1956 when land assembled by Laurance Rockefeller's Jackson Hole Preserve was donated to the National Park Service on condition that it never be developed. That gift is why the north shore still looks the way it does, without hotels on the sand; the surrounding reefs gained further protection with the Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument in 2001.
What sets Trunk Bay apart from other perfect Caribbean beaches is under the water. Since 1962 the park has maintained an underwater snorkelling trail around Trunk Cay, roughly 200 metres long, with submerged markers that name the corals and fish along the way. Swimmers follow it like a nature walk over the reef, and sea turtles and rays are often seen along the way. Burgesman Cove at the western end of the bay is quieter. The beach is regularly named among the finest in the world, and in 2024 it topped the list compiled by The World's 50 Best Beaches.
Getting there
St. John has no airport. The nearest is Cyril E. King Airport (STT) on St. Thomas, about 22 km away; Charlotte Amalie, the territorial capital, is about 17 km away. Ferries cross to Cruz Bay, the gateway town of St. John, from Red Hook roughly every hour and a few times a day from Charlotte Amalie. From Cruz Bay, Trunk Bay is about 4 km (2.5 miles) east along the North Shore Road, by taxi or rental car.
On these lists
From the encyclopaedia
Trunk Bay is a body of water and a beach on St. John in the United States Virgin Islands. Trunk Bay is part of the Virgin Islands National Park. Trunk Bay is named for the Leatherback turtle, which is endemic to the USVI and are locally known as trunks. The beach area is divided into two halves, the main Trunk Bay beach and swim area and Burgesman Cove which is located on the west end of Trunk Bay near Jumby Bay. Its amenities include a snack bar, showers and restrooms, a lifeguard, and an underwater trail for snorkeling its coral reef. Trunk Bay has consistently been voted one of the top beaches in the world.
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