Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Entertainment
20
Fred's Bar Disco & Restaurant
B2
Shopping
Bamboula
(see 22)
Bougainvillea
(see 22)
Friends of the Park Store
(see 22)
21
Marketplace
D4
22
Mongoose Junction
D1
Papaya Cafe
(see 21)
St John Spice Company
(see 23)
Starfish Market
(see 21)
23
Wharfside Village
B2
Sights
Virgin Islands National Park
PARK
(
www.nps.gov/viis
)
The park is the most popular single attraction in all of the Virgin Is-
lands, offering miles of shoreline, pristine reefs and 20 hiking trails (
Click here
for details).
In the early 1950s, US millionaire Laurance Rockefeller discovered and fell in love with
St John, which was nearly abandoned at the time. He purchased large tracts of the land,
built the Caneel Bay resort, and then donated more than 5000 acres to the US government.
The land became a national park in 1956, and over the years the government added a couple
of thousand more acres. Today Virgin Islands National Park covers two-thirds of the island,
plus 5650 acres underwater.
Among the attractions are the Cinnamon Bay Campground and the underwater snorkel-
ing trail at Trunk Bay. Beaches, including Francis Bay, Hawksnest Bay and Salt Pond Bay,
are prime for lounging, swimming and sea turtle encounters. The Annaberg Sugar Mill
Ruins and Reef Bay petroglyphs are also intriguing draws.
Park Visitors Center
( 340-776-6201;
www.nps.gov/viis/parkmgmt/index.htm
; 8am-4:30pm)
The park
visitors center sits on the dock across from the Mongoose Junction shopping arcade in Cruz
Bay. It's an essential first stop to obtain free guides on hiking trails, snorkeling spots, bird-
watching lists and schedules of daily ranger-led activities, such as the Reef Bay Hike.
