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St. John Virgin Islands Beaches: Maho Bay

Maho Bay St John USVI

Why Maho Bay? Maho is the only beach on St. John's north shore that you can drive right up to. It's the very informality of this beautiful and often-photographed beach that makes it so special. It's right there by the side of the road, no parking lots or signs, just the beach. Stately groves of coconut palms line both sides of the road. Just pull over under a maho tree and there you are!

In addition to its convenience, Maho Bay is calm and shallow, making it a great place to bring the kids, get them used to the water or teach them how to swim.

See Video of kids playing at Maho Bay

Getting There
Maho Bay is located about 1.25 miles past Cinnamon Bay or 5.2 miles past Mongoose Junction going east on Route 20. Park off the side of the road.

Maho Bay

Facilities
There is a Virgin Islands National Park pavilion on the extreme western portion of the beach. A permit must be obtained from the park in order to use this facility. This permit will also entitle you to use the bathrooms to the west of the pavilion, which are otherwise locked and not available to the general public. The park will explain the rules and conditions pertaining to the use of the pavilion. (Call the National Park at 776-6201.)

At the eastern part of the beach there is a trail, called the Goat Trail, which leads to the Maho Bay Campground at Little Maho Bay.

Maho Bay Morning

Beach Maho Flower

About Maho Bay
Maho Bay was named after the Hibiscus tilaceus or beach maho, a tree commonly found on the St. John shoreline and throughout the tropics. The beach Maho has a distinctive heart-shaped leaf and produces attractive yellow flowers that later turn purple. The small green fruit of the maho is not edible, but a bush tea can be made from the leaf.

Interestingly, Maho Bay, now a relatively narrow beach, was once one of the widest beaches in St. John. The "horse kids" of St. John took advantage of this characteristic, as well as the great length of the beach, to have horse races on the sand. The narrowing of the beach came as a result of the removal of sand by the government to construct Cruz Bay roads and the Julius Sprauve School. This was done at a time when the dynamics of sand production and sand loss were not yet understood.

In the summer, the genip tree by the side of the road produces some of the sweetest genips on St. John.

Snorkeling Maho Bay
The waters off Maho Bay are calm and shallow. The bay is well sheltered and is a popular anchorage for yachts from the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, especially on long weekends. The sea bottom is a mixture of soft sand and seagrass, although there has been a proliferation of algae lately. In the past, Maho Bay was a great source of conch and sea turtles. The stresses of sand removal, anchor damage and over-fishing have all but eliminated the conch population, but sea turtles, now protected by law, can still often be found here.

The shoreline on the southern coast of the bay provides an interesting area to explore, as is the rocky shoreline and fringing reef on the north going out towards the Campground at Little Maho Bay, especially around the point that separates the two bays.

Recent Developments
The 438-acre estate Maho Bay, belonged to Harvey Monroe Marsh, who passed it on to 11 of his heirs, each owning an equal share. The Virgin Islands National Park purchased three of these shares in the 1970s and in 2003, the Trust for Public Land, a not-for-profit conservationist organization bought one share.

From the Trust for Public Land Website
"The Trust for Public Land (TPL) signed a contract in September 2006 to purchase the majority of the 419-acre property, which was owned by 11 heirs of Harvey Monroe Marsh. The acquisition became final in 2007, giving TPL 6/11 interest in the property. While the property has not yet been subdivided, TPL now owns a total of seven interests, with the National Park Service owning an additional three. The 11th is being retained by one of the heirs. As part of the agreement, the heirs are also each retaining a six-acre lot, with the ability to build up to two homes.

TPL will retain 18 acres of the property, located away from the beach, and will sell the property for limited development unless funds can be raised privately to help repay a loan covering the cost of the purchase."