Gibney Beach

Gibney beach is on the North Shore of St. John within the Virgin Islands National Park. It is one of many beaches within Hawksnest Bay including Oppenheimer Beach, which is directly adjacent to Gibney. The reason these are two different beaches is for historical reasons as the Gibney family once owned the entire beach, but then they sold the eastern portion to the Oppenheimer family. So now we have two beaches for the price of one! You get to Gibney beach the same way as Oppenheimer: by either parking in the small lot at the gate or by taking a safari from Cruz Bay.

The beach has awesome soft white sand that is common to the north shore of St. John. With it's position in Hawksnest Bay the water here is ofter very calm. This makes the beach the perfect place for relaxing and floating with a drink in hand. Within the bay you'll find plenty of turtles and wish to wonder in amazement at. From Gibney you can snorkel around the point on the west end of the beach to get to Hawksnest beach. Along the way you'll find a lot of great coral structure and fish.

If you want to go on a little adventure you can walk up the road towards the east. On the way you'll pass by a huge boulder standing precariously on the hill to the left. This boulder overlooks the bay and is called Easter Rock. Legend has it that every Easter the rock sneaks down to the water to have a drink - that's why it always seems to be wet! Continueing past Easter Rock you'll find a trailhead to Peace Hill. Taking the trail about half a mile will give you great views of the entire Bay!