I hate writing the parking story. But after what I’ve seen on the North Shore this past week, I feel that maybe a little parking refresher is in order. I saw countless parking tickets on the North Shore over the past several days, in addition to watching several vehicles get towed. No parking truly means no parking, especially when visiting the beaches.
Nothing ruins a vacation more than leaving the beach and finding a yellow parking ticket to the tune of $125 on your windshield. And you know what is even worse? Leaving the beach and finding that your vehicle has been towed. Well, that has happened to countless visitors over the past week, so here are the parking rules straight from the Virgin Islands National Park.
According to the VI National Park, when parking along the roadway, all tires and mirrors need to be completely off the road and behind the white line (when there is a white line). Also, never park in front of a gate or an entrance, and never push a stone with your vehicle that is being used to make a boundary. When parking along the road, do not push back any trees or break any branches when trying to find a parking spot.
There are numerous “no parking” signs near the beaches. Please be mindful to the arrows on those signs as well. Some are no parking to the right, some to the left, and so forth.
Tickets
Parking tickets start at $125. They can be higher depending on the violation, a ranger told me last year. The ranger also stated that some car rental companies often charge the renter double the fine, especially when a vehicle is towed.
Tips for Specific Beaches
Soloman/Honeymoon
There is no parking at either of the beaches. You can either walk in via the Lind Point Trail, or take the $6 shuttle provided by the Caneel Bay Beach Club. This shuttle is accessed from Caneel Bay. If you park behind the National Park Visitor Center, you need to get a handwritten pass from the Visitor Center (if they are open). They will ask that you back into the designated spot for permit holders and display your parking permit on your dashboard. You can also park at the top of the hill near the Virgin Islands National Park sign and walk down the Lind Point Trail. You do not need a permit to park there.
Caneel Beach
This is an easy one. You can park in Lot C at Caneel Bay. Just tell the attendant at the gate where you are going, and they will direct you to the appropriate parking lot.
Hawksnest
There is a decent amount of parking at Hawksnest. You can park before and after the parking area on the beach side, as long as your tires and mirrors are completely off the road. It is not suggested that you park anywhere across the street as you may damage the trees, a ranger told me earlier this year.
Oppenheimer/Gibney
There are only three parking spots, so this is a beach to get to early. You can park on the left side when facing the gate. The Oppenheimer house is available for rent. What that occurs, the gate will be open. This does not mean it is open for the public to drive down to the beach. Only guests to the Oppenheimer house that day are allowed to park down the driveway. Whoever rents the house typically puts a sign on the gate to let people know it is rented. This does not mean the beach is closed, but it’s nice to allow whoever spent the money to rent the house to have the majority of the beach for their event.
Denis Bay
You can park in the small lot for Peace Hill to access Denis Bay.
Jumbie
There is a small parking area across the street from the trailhead. It is not recommended that you park on the beach side, as there is a driveway there and you can also damage trees, a ranger previously told me.
Trunk Bay
This is definitely one of the busier beaches, so you want to get to Trunk Bay early. When parking in the main lot, be sure not to take a spot designated for the taxis. They park along the back of the lot, beside the entry booth, facing the street. There is a small patch of grass to the right of where the taxis park (if your back is to the road.) Do not park on this grassy patch unless you’d like to leave with a ticket or possibly get towed, the ranger said.
You are allowed to park across the street near the plantation building as long as your tires and mirrors are off the road. You will see there are no parking and no parking beyond this point signs in that area. I have seen numerous vehicles ticketed here for ignoring those signs, so keep an eye out and look for arrows. This is where I saw a vehicle being towed yesterday.
Also, there isn’t any parking along the roadway on the beach side before of after the Trunk Bay parking lot. I see people create spots, and those vehicles routinely get ticketed too. There are a few no parking signs up the switchbacks too. Trunk is pretty well marked when it comes to where you can and where you cannot park. If you do not want to deal with Trunk’s notorious parking issues, you can always take a taxi.
Cinnamon Bay
There are two large parking lots, so this is an easier place to find a spot. You can also park along the roadway a bit, but again, all tires and mirrors off the road, and please do not park in a way that you can damage a tree. There are a handful of spots where you can park along the road inside of Cinnamon Bay (near the parking areas) too.
Maho Bay
Maho is also extremely busy, and parking is tricky. On the Maho Crossroads side of the beach (closer to Cruz Bay), there are several designated parking spots along the beach. Once you pass the final shade structure, you can no longer park on the beach side. This is a sea turtle nesting beach, and there are also small plantings along the beach that cannot be harmed.
There are also some parking spots across the street in between large boulders along the roadway. Then there is a decent-sized lot at the turtle side of the beach (the opposite side from where the tiki bar is). You can also park along the roadway near the parking lot as long as your tires and mirrors are off the road. This is tricky because there isn’t a ton of space, so there is only room for a handful of cars to do this. There is also a sign that indicates you can no longer park on the side of the road, so please be mindful to that.
I understand that it’s frustrating that there are more people visiting than spaces at the beach. Luckily we have an abundance of taxis who drive between Cruz Bay and Maho and everywhere in between all day, every day. There is also the new park and ride option at Caneel Bay. Click here to read about that. Take a taxi if you can. It’s a lot less stressful in my opinion.
That’s it for today, folks. Have a wonderful day!
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