1) The Marketplace Center - There you'll find Marina Market, a full service grocery, upscale liquor and cheese shop, coffee shop, several restaurants, Baked in Da Sun bakery, the Mail Center, bank and ATM, Gym in Paradise- This is where we get most of our groceries, and the bakery is great!

3) Mongoose Junction is a very quaint shopping center, and one of my favorite haunts. It has a couple of art galleries, a Big Planet, a jewelry store, some nice shops and two of our favorite places to eat. The Sun Dog café is an AWESOME place for lunch. You’d be surprised at the great stuff that comes out of that little kitchen. There is also the Deli Grotto which we enjoy for breakfast. They’ll make up some sandwiches, etc. for you to take to the beach for a lunchtime picnic, too. The Tap Room is also there, and will give you a free sample of the local Virgin Islands Pale Ale.
4) Asolare at Estate Lindholm- An upscale restaurant with sunset and Cruz Bay town views. We've eaten there twice and enjoyed each time.
5) Other than the Westin, Caneel Bay is the only true resort on the island. Casually upscale ambiance (extremely expensive price tag for a room) with 7 fabulous beaches, and great gazpacho soup for lunch. We’ve never had dinner here, since they require men to wear collared shirts, and we are too casual to worry about collared shirts when we’re on St. John. I hear the food and service is great for those wanting a dress-up kind of evening.
6) Hawksnest Bay- Great beach- a local favorite due to its proximity to town. Picnic tables and grills. We often get food at the Grotto Deli at Mongoose, and take it to the covered picnic tables for lunch with a view. It has restrooms, too.
7) Jumbie Beach- A little known and secluded beach that is not formally marked. You’ll know you’re there when you see an area to your right that is big enough to park 4-5 cars followed by a wooden staircase on your left which leads to the beach which is about 15-20 steps down.
8) Trunk Bay- This is the National Park’s gem, famous for its snorkeling trail which, in my humble opinion, has been way over snorkeled! Still, it is stunningly beautiful there, and the only beach to which the National Park charges a small fee. Full facilities- Small shop, grill, drinks, showers, restrooms. It is sometimes crowded when a cruise ship is in port in St. Thomas, but you can pretty much have it to yourself if you go early morning or late afternoon.
9) Cinnamon Bay- One of our favorites. Showers, restaurant, convenience store, beach toy rentals.
10) Maho Bay- Another great beach and the closest one to Apito. (You can basically coast all the way down hill to Maho from Apito- takes less than 5 minutes.) Park practically right on the beach…no facilities, but known for its calm water. Great for kids as it is shallow for a long way out. If the kids need to learn how to snorkel, this is the place.
11) Francis Bay- Another gorgeous beach. Good snorkeling on northern edge of beach (to the right). Restrooms only.
12) Annaberg Sugar Plantation Ruins and parking for Waterlemon Cay. Park here, explore the ruins, then take a very flat hike (close to a mile?) along the trail just off the beach all the way to Waterlemon Cay (12A). No facilities, but Waterlemon Cay is THE BEST shore snorkeling on the island. We usually snorkel completely around the small Cay, and usually see starfish and turtles there. Lots of healthy coral and fish. You may also see a local donkey or two.
13) Columbos- Ben and Jerry’s ice cream and rum concoctions served from an old Fritolay truck which has been painted in Caribbean colors.
14) APITO!!!- 8G- Estate Carolina, Mamey Peak Road- Great place, tell all your friends!
15) Coral Bay town. World famous Skinny Legs restaurant and bar (which, for whatever reason, I don’t seem to like as much as other people do…) The Donkey Diner is also here- Good breakfast Place. They also have pizza nights and other weekly happenings, so check with them for the schedule. Here you’ll also find the K2 Video Rental Store, and a few little shops, the elementary school, baseball field and fire station. MANY local people who need a ride to Cruz Bay sit on the corner waiting to hitch a ride to town- mostly waiters, bartenders and the like, who live in cheaper Coral Bay, but work in busier Cruz Bay. Hitch hiking is an accepted custom on St. John, and has always been that way. Don’t feel obligated to pick anyone up, of course, but don’t let it surprise you either. Coral Bay also has a population of goats, and you’ll often see donkeys here too.
16) Love City Minimart- Convenience store favored among locals. You’d be surprised at what they pack into that little place!
17) Cocolobos- Home of Lily’s grocery store, Big Belly Deli, Dinghy rentals, a nice restaurant- Aqua Bistro, the police station, and a few small shops. A nice little area. Sometimes on the beach side of the street, you’ll see a guy with a big white cooler who is a local fisherman hoping to sell you some fresh fish. If you’re a fish eater, it’s worth stopping to size up the day’s catch.
18) Sweet Plantains restaurant. THE best food on the island, and not cheap, either. Family owned, and only open seasonally, 4 days per week. Reservations a must! It’s the kind of place where the servers can recommend a great wine for your dinner and even have a clue about what they’re talking about!
19) Shipwreck Landing- Nice, casual restaurant and a few little shops. Great blackened Mahi Mahi.
20) Miss Lucy’s- Home of the famous Sunday 10:00 brunch! Get there by 9 for waterfront seating. Good mamosas!
21) Salt Pond Bay- Home of one of our favorite hikes - Ramhead. The hike is fairly easy but not a cake walk as it is uphill in several spots. 1 mile to get to Ramhead (21A), where your reward is a fabulous view of the Sir Francis Drake Channel and nearly all of the British Virgin Islands. Go early and bring water, as it is not well forested right there because it is on the windward side of the island. There is a restroom and small snack shack near the parking area.
22) Lamsure and Little Lamsure Bays. Beautiful with good snorkeling, but I always seem to get a thorn in my foot when I walk on these beaches because of the trees that line them. These are great beaches, however, if the north shore beaches are too choppy from a distant storm or something.
23) Vie's Snack Shack- pretty much at the end of the road. Her family owns the land which leads to the beach, and she charges a tiny fee for entering, but is is a nice place to hang out and even has lounge chairs. She serves Conch fritters, chicken and hot dogs. Closed on Sunday and Monday (I think) or maybe it’s Monday and Tuesday….in any event, you can still go to the beach if she’s closed….there’s a little box, and she relies on the honor system for the beach fee.
24) Small shopping area good mostly for it’s fantastic view!!!!
25) Reef Bay Trailhead. GREAT hike- all downhill. Sign up for a guided hike at the National Park Visitor Center in Cruz Bay. For a small cost, they’ll drive you up to the trailhead, and give you a guided hike all the way down to the beach and the best preserved sugar plantation ruins on the island. Great history and flora/fauna lesson. You’ll also pass the mysterious petroglyphs at the waterfall where they stop for lunch (which you bring yourself). At the end, a boat picks you up and takes you back to Cruz Bay which is a nice way to see the island from the water. Not bad for 15-20 bucks per person!.
26) Tony’s snack truck. VERY cold soft drinks, beer, and a few West Indian dishes are served here,
as well.
27) Great Cruz Bay- Home of the Westin Resort.
28) Car ferry dock.

2) Cruz Bay town- The center of it all. Ferry dock and National Park Visitor Center. Wharfside Village, right there on the beach, contains several shops and good restaurants , Low Key Watersports, Ocean Runner power boat rentals, the famous Beach Bar, etc. Just a short walk from there, is Zozo’s at Gallows Point, one of the best restaurants on the island….a casual place, with great sunset views. Sunset happens at about 6:30 year round, so make reservations for 6:00 and ask to be seated “at the rail” for the best experience. Rhumblines restaurant is also in town. It is kid friendly (all of them are, really, since STJ is a family oriented island), and happens to be where Kenny Chesney and Renee Zelweiger had their rehearsal dinner. It offers a Pan Asian kind of cuisine. Town also has a pizza place (Tony’s?), and a great Italian place…NOT Café Roma, but De Livios. There’s also the Fish Trap restaurant which happens to also carry fresh fish you can grill at home. Also, there’s Uncle Joes Barbeque- great food, great value, Tom’s favorite place to eat, but it is VERY slow so you have to be patient. It is the yellow and purplish pink place on the corner sort of across from the Post Office. There is also an ATM at First Bank.