In 1952, American philanthropist Laurance Rockefeller docked on the shores of St. John and was instantly taken by the island’s lush beauty—a tangle of tropical forest, dense mangroves, and turquoise bays, with nary a car or road in sight. Convinced it was one of the most beautiful places he’d ever seen, Rockefeller purchased 5,000 acres of the 12,500-acre island, later donating the land to the U.S. government for the creation of what would become the nation’s 29th national park.

Since then, St. John—the smallest of the three major U.S. Virgin Islands—has been shorthand for hushed exclusivity and barefoot glamour, luring the likes of Taylor Swift, Harrison Ford, and Michael Bloomberg. And it’s only trending upward: the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection drops anchor here as of this year, and

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