Renting and captaining our own dinghy along St. John’s North Shore ended up being one of the most fun and unique adventures of our week. Instead of following a guided boat tour, we could choose our own route, pull our dinghy directly onto secluded beaches and spend as much or as little time at each stop as we wanted. We prioritized harder-to-reach Scott Beach and Gibney/Oppenheimer Beach, where we found abandoned resort buildings hidden behind the palms, explored Oppenheimer’s historic beachfront property and even met a beach cat we promptly named Oppenheimer. We finished at Maho Bay, where we immediately saw a sea turtle swimming near the dinghy landing. Between the beach hopping, snorkeling, history, wildlife and adventure of navigating our own little boat, the dinghy gave us a completely different way to experience St. John.

🗓️ Itinerary: Dinghy North Shore Beach Hopping

This plan came from our September 14, 2026 exploration.

• 🚙 9:15 AM – Drive to Wharfside Watersports in Cruz Bay
• 🧊 9:45 AM – Sign waivers and complete dinghy orientation at Wharfside Watersports
• 🚤 10:00 AM –  Pick up dinghy near Karma Beach Club and begin full-day rental (🎟️ BOOK)
• 🚤 Cruise the North Shore toward Scott Beach
• 🏝️ Scott Beach – Snorkel and explore one of the most secluded beaches of our trip
• 🧺 Oppenheimer Beach – Snorkel, explore the historic property and eat picnic lunch
• 🐢 Maho – Snorkel near the dinghy landing and immediately spot a sea turtle
• 👀 Honeymoon & Salomon Beaches – Pass by on our return to Cruz Bay
• 🚤 4:30 PM – Return dinghy

💡 Tips: Dinghy Do’s & Don’ts

• 🚤 Book Ahead: Dinghies are limited, so reserve in advance if this is a priority. We rented ours for a full day through Wharfside Watersports.
• 🚙 Give Yourself Extra Time for Parking: Parking near Wharfside is very limited. The nearby option we found was $50 for the day, so we parked near the tennis courts and walked about 8 minutes.
• 🏖️ Know Where You’re Going: The waiver and orientation are at the Wharfside shop, but dinghies depart and return from the beach beside Karma Beach Club, a short walk away.
• 🗺️ Pay Attention to the Map & Orientation: Wharfside provided a map covering the permitted boating area, beach approaches and navigation. We were instructed to stay within the yellow lines marked by the red and green buoys.
• 💪 Be Ready to Handle the Boat: No previous boating experience is required, but someone needs to be comfortable driving, lifting the motor for beach landings and pulling the dinghy onto and off the sand.
• 🏝️ Prioritize Hard-to-Reach Beaches: Use your dinghy time for beaches where parking or land access is difficult. Scott and Oppenheimer Beach were our priorities, while easier-to-reach beaches like Maho could be revisited later by Jeep.
• 🐢 Don’t Skip Maho Completely: Even though Maho is easy to reach by land, the area near the dinghy landing was fantastic for turtles. Three of the four turtles we saw at Maho during the trip were right around this area.
• 🥪 Pack a Picnic & Plenty of Water: Bringing lunch let us eat on Oppenheimer Beach instead of returning to Cruz Bay.
• 🤿 Bring Your Snorkel Gear: Having our gear with us meant we could jump in whenever a beach looked promising.
• 🌊 Let Conditions Shape Your Route: Weather, waves and currents can change what’s practical, so follow the guidance from your orientation.
• ⏰ Watch the Clock: A full-day rental sounds like plenty of time, but beach hopping goes quickly. Leave enough time to navigate back to Cruz Bay and return the dinghy.

🚤 What’s a Dinghy – And How Does It Work?

Our rental was a small inflatable motorboat that we captained ourselves, giving us the freedom to explore St. John’s North Shore without joining a guided tour. We started at the Wharfside Watersports shop in Cruz Bay, where we completed the waiver, received a North Shore map and went through an orientation covering boat operation, navigation, permitted areas and beach landings, then walked to the beach beside Karma Beach Club to pick up the dinghy. When approaching beaches, we were instructed to stay within the designated yellow channel lines between the red and green buoys to keep boats separated from swimmers. Some of the red buoys were faded and surprisingly difficult to spot from a distance, so we found it helpful to slow down and cut the engine as we got close enough to identify the proper approach. Depending on the beach, you can also secure the boat to a designated dinghy tether. Beach hopping was surprisingly hands-on – Scott and Justin handled the driving and most of the physical work, including lifting the outboard motor before reaching the sand, pulling the dinghy completely onto the beach and getting us back into the water afterward.

🎥 Dinghy Day: TikTok, Reel, Short
🎥 Beach Hopping: TikTok, Reel, Short

🏝️ Scott Beach: Seclusion With a Very Appropriate Name

Scott Beach was one of our highest-priority stops because you can only get there by water – and Scott was already a fan because the beach had excellent taste in names. 😄 Beyond the secluded sand and palms, we could see the damaged and abandoned buildings of the former Caneel Bay Resort, which has remained closed since Hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated the property in 2017. Seeing the deteriorating buildings being reclaimed by vegetation just behind such a beautiful beach made Scott Beach feel like a forgotten corner of St. John.

🔄 360 Photo: Click and drag to look around

Drag to look around. Use the mouse wheel or the plus and minus buttons to zoom. Use arrow keys when the viewer has focus.

🏚️ Oppenheimer Beach: From Atomic History to Island Escape

Our other priority was Gibney/Oppenheimer Beach, where extremely limited parking makes arriving from land tricky. We pulled onto the quiet beach for a picnic lunch, snorkeling and some exploring. Justin found a crab among the rocks, while we made friends with a beach cat that we naturally named Oppenheimer. The beach sits along Hawksnest Bay, with views across the water toward Hawksnest, and the beautiful, secluded setting made it easy to understand why physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer chose this spot as an escape. He purchased property here from the Gibney family in the 1950s and built his vacation cottage; his daughter Toni later left the property to the people of St. John for public recreation. The original wooden cottage was eventually destroyed by hurricanes, and today’s yellow recreation building stands on its foundation. We explored around the building and peeked through its barred open-air sections – which admittedly made it look a little more like a tropical prison than a community center! Between the secluded beach, wildlife and unexpected history, this was one of our favorite dinghy stops.

🔄 360 Photo: Click and drag to look around

Drag to look around. Use the mouse wheel or the plus and minus buttons to zoom. Use arrow keys when the viewer has focus.

🐢 Maho Bay: Turtle Time From the Water

Maho Bay is easy to reach by Jeep, but it was still worth a dinghy stop. We immediately spotted a sea turtle near the landing, and Maho ultimately became our favorite place on St. John for turtles – across two visits, we saw four turtles and a massive ray, with three of those turtles swimming near the dinghy landing. Since we knew we could return by land, we kept this stop relatively short.

👀 Honeymoon & Salomon Beaches: The Ones We Passed By

We passed Honeymoon and Salomon Beaches but ultimately decided to spend our limited dinghy time elsewhere. Katie and Justin had already visited these and Honeymoon is a popular stop for boat excursions from St. Thomas, so we prioritized harder-to-reach beaches instead. Salomon is generally quieter and would still be high on our list for a future visit.

🗺️ Other North Shore Stops We Considered

We also considered Hawksnest, Trunk Bay, Cinnamon Bay and Waterlemon/Leinster Bay, but intentionally saved them for other days. Trunk and Cinnamon were easy to reach with our Jeep, while we already had a separate hiking and snorkeling day planned for Leinster Bay and Waterlemon Cay. Rather than checking off every beach, we used our limited boat time where arriving by water added the most to the experience.

📞 Dinghy Rental Info

• 🚤 Wharfside Watersports: We rented our dinghy from Wharfside Village in Cruz Bay for a full day from 10:00 AM–5:00 PM.
  • The full-day rate as of 2026 was $295 + $25 fuel for up to four people, with a half-day option also available.
  • No previous boating experience is required for the dinghy, and Wharfside provides an orientation before departure.
  • You captain the dinghy yourself along St. John’s North Shore between Cruz Bay and Waterlemon Cay.
  • We recommend reserving ahead, especially if a dinghy day is a priority for your trip. We were able to book it the day before during the off-season.