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Looking Back: Flying Directly Into St. John

A seaplane lands in Cruz Bay. Image credit: Tom Anusewicz of antillesairboats.com

Ok folks, so I love a good story about St. John’s history. And I know a lot of you do too. Did you know that you used to be able to fly right into Cruz Bay? Seriously, it’s true!

Getting to St. John isn’t easy, as we all know. (Click here to read our previous post: How to Get Here.) We have to fly into the airport on St. Thomas, and then we have to take a taxi and a ferry in order to arrive on St. John. Well for about 25 years or so, you could actually fly directly into St. John. Can you imagine watching planes land in Cruz Bay? That must have been a sight to see!

Antilles Air Boats launched in 1963, and provided air service between the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Tortola over the years. The first flights began out of St. John in 1967. From St. John, you could fly directly to both St. Thomas and St. Croix. Antilles Air Boats was founded by Charles F. Blair, Jr., the first person to fly solo over the North Pole.

Virgin Islands Shuttle Service launched in 1982.
A seaplane lands in Cruz Bay. Image credit: antillesairboats.com

The seaplane ramp was located in Cruz Bay on the land to the far right if you’re looking at the water from the beach. It was located at the end of the road that takes you to the Lind Point trailhead. In the early days, you actually had to take a small boat out to the seaplane in order to board it. Check out the picture below:

In the early days, you had to board the seaplane by boat. Image credit: antillesairboats.com
The seaplane ramp was located at the end of the road that takes you to the Lind Point trailhead in Cruz Bay.

Antilles Air Boats soon became the world’s largest seaplane airline. It’s estimated that Antilles Air Boats completed about 40,000 flights a year.

Flight schedules from 1978

Sadly Charles F. Blair, Jr. died in a plane accident near St. Thomas in 1978 along with three other passengers. At that time, his wife, movie star Maureen O’Hara, took over operations. She sold Antilles Air Boats to Resorts International the following year. Resorts International closed Antilles Air Boats in 1981. (Random fact: Donald Trump then acquired Resorts International in 1987. He sold it to Merv Griffin Enterprises the following year.)

Virgin Islands Seaplane Shuttle began service in 1982 and continued until Hurricane Hugo destroyed most of its fleet in 1989. The Virgin Islands Port Authority permanently closed the seaplane ramps in St. Thomas and St. Croix following Hurricane Marilyn in 1995. The Virgin Islands National Park closed the seaplane ramp on St. John soon thereafter. (The ramp was leased through the VINP.)

image credit: antillesairboats.com

A businessman tried to launch a new seaplane service called St. John Air Taxi in 2004. The Federal Aviation Administration approved two routes at the time – one run between Frank Bay and Stevens Cay, and the other from Moorhead Point (beside Frank Bay) on an angle out toward Great Cruz Bay. This new service never came to fruition.

A seaplane landed in St. John several times in early 2021 – in Frank Bay and also in Round Bay on the East End. It caused quite the stir on social media and has not visited since to my knowledge.

A seaplane landed in Frank Bay in February 2021. The plane was bringing guests over from the Dorado Beach Ritz Carlton in Puerto Rico.

So what do you think… Should seaplanes return to St. John? Please vote in the poll below.

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Tag: Is there an airport in St John

15 Comments

  1. Elaine Estern

    Hi Jenn, My husband was a pilot for Antilles Airboats. I used to commute from St. Croix to St.John until they stopped flying. Would love to host a new company in Frank Bay. They would have no hassle from me! No photos…thanks to Hurricane Hugo…..

    • Cathy O'Gara

      Hi Elaine! Hope all is good with you. Let’s get back in touch. My email address is still the same. Merry Christmas. Cathy O’Gara

    • Mark Phillips

      Hi Elaine- I didn’t know your husband flew for Antilles Airboats. On my first visit to St. John back in the ’70’s they were still flying and I watched one taxi up the ramp in Cruz Bay. It must have made an impression on me because I became a seaplane pilot myself. Maybe I could hear a few stories next time we’re on island. Take care.

  2. Joe

    A close friend of mine in New York worked for the guy who owned the VI Seaplane Shuttle. She would get us free tickets all the time. Best was taking off from the runway at San Juan airport in the turbine-equipped Grumman Mallard and landing in the water at Cruz Bay.

  3. Patricia

    I remember picking up friends at the ramp in St John, must have been 1987 or 1988, before Hugo. In May, we took the seaplane from STX to Charlotte Amalie – and then ferried over to STJ. Since we now have a place on STX, would be great to be able to seaplane to STJ!

  4. Paula Witten

    I was lucky to fly on the seaplane a couple of times. It was very adventurous for me, my husband and son. The last time we did it we only could fly in, they went out of business for the return flight.

  5. Diane Gehringer

    We were in St. Croix Sept. 11 to the 16th, 1989 for our honeymoon. We scheduled a sea plane to take us to St. John for an add’l. 3 days after our 7 day in St. Croix, by Thurs. night the 14th we saw Hugo was going to change all that. We had to make arrangements to get out. I think we were one of the last planes out of there. Was the scariest thing I ever saw. Would love if they would bring back the sea planes.

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