Lots of beautiful, quiet harbors and beaches on St John. Checkout the interactive National Park Service marine guide:
https://www.nps.gov/viis/planyourvisit/virgin-islands-marine-visitor-use-information.htmOn the north shore we love the Francis Bay & Maho Bay area. It's well protected, virtually no wake from the passing BVI ferries, plenty of mooring balls, expansive beaches, shallow entry beach with little surge, good snorkeling, nice sundown views. Nearby Leinster Bay is also very scenic with very good snorkeling though a very small beach, and easy land access to the nearby Annaberg plantation ruins.
On the south shore, we gravitate to the snug anchorage at Salt Pond Bay, though there are only 5 moorings which fill up fast in high season. If full we head to nearby Little Lameshur Bay or Great Lameshur Bay. You also have Genti/Reef Bay with one public day mooring that gives you easy access to the short trail to the rum distillery ruins and the petroglyphs. Here's an excellent article on the petroglyphs.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...cE7BxjM6LZZ0l6ACruz Bay is worth at the very least a one-time visit. Take a mooring ball at Lind Point then dinghy in. Tie up either near the ferry boats on the south channel or by National Park Service dock on the north channel. Stop at The Landings restaurant for a bushwacker and excellent food overlooking the town square. Stroll over to nearby Mongoose Junction to pick up some higher quality souvenirs. A few hundred yards up the hill is Dolphin Market with excellent selection if you need to top off on provisions - probably twice the size and 3X the selection of Harbour Market in Sopers Hole, for comparison.
