Admittedly, this was more of a lazy resorty-beachy vacation for me than National Parks exploration, but when considering islands in the Caribbean to spend some time relaxing by the beach/pool, of course I picked St. John in the US Virgin Islands, 2/3 of which is Virgin Islands National Park.
St. John is the smallest of the 3 US Virgin Islands, which also include St. Thomas and St. Croix. While St. Thomas is the major cruise stop and shopping location, St. John is where you will find the sites of Virgin Islands NP and Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument offshore (which I didn’t get to see since I think it requires a boat and/or diving capabilities). St. Croix also has NPS sites associated with the island’s history but is only accessible from within the Virgin 
Islands by plane from St. Thomas. St. John is just a short ferry ride from St. Thomas, although it’s not without its challenges if you opt to drive – they drive American-style cars but on the left side of the road, and the car ferries only load/unload from one end, making it necessary to back onto the boat for loading! I still found it worthwhile to have my own wheels as opposed to relying on the island’s “taxis” (imagine the front half of a pickup truck with the back half of an amusement park tram – probably quite convenient if you aren’t prone to motion sickness on windy mountain roads, but not for me)
Virgin Islands NP has a number of relatively short hiking trails, but most were not short enough for me in the near 90F tropical sun. We did take the 0.5-mi nature trail at Cinnamon Bay, which starts at the ruins of an old sugar plantation and is a shaded walk through the trees with interpretive signs. Even on that short walk, we managed to find some interesting fauna, including the native anole (plus numerous smaller lizards scattering every time I stepped it seemed), millipedes, termites’ nests, a crab, a mother and baby deer, and birds such as the pearly-eyed thrasher.
Of course one of the biggest highlights of the park is the gorgeous beaches. The one day we managed to get out of the hotel early enough to avoid the crowds and heat, we spent a couple hours at Trunk Bay, which has facilities including rental equipment as an underwater snorkel trail. From the clear, turquoise water to the white sands, it really was a beautiful beach. I had fun watching a pelican dive amongst the swimmers accompanied by an opportunistic laughing gull. In the water, we could see several types of fish and the occasional ray. As I was wading, I even got face-to-face with a group of fish hopping in and out of the water around me.
There was definitely more to explore, but we also enjoyed some time napping, in the pool, and seeking out brunch on the other side of the island, where some of the quirkier home-spun bars and restaurants can be found. Guess we’ll just have to return sometime!
