Virgin Islands National Park
Virgin Islands National Park follows the eight-or-fewer exemption; permitted shoots pay a $50 application fee with about ten business days of processing.
Guidance, not legal advice
Drone Authority
Check the flight side
Rules answer the ground-photo side. Drone Authority handles the NPS flight ban, airspace, and legal flying nearby.
Permit
Conditional
Issuer: Virgin Islands National Park special use permits office
Cost: Nonrefundable $50 application fee for special use permits; monitoring and other cost recovery fees may be billed
Processing: About 10 business days once the completed application and fee are received; longer for large or complex projects
Groups of 8 or fewer meeting the EXPLORE Act conditions (no exclusive use, no adverse impact on resources, values, or visitors) need no permit or fee; more than eight individuals requires a permit with cost recovery and location fees. Review does not start until the $50 fee is paid. Photography workshops, guided photo tours, and other paid services in the park require a commercial use authorization through the NPS online CUA system.
Drone / airspace
Effectively banned: launching, landing, or operating a drone within park boundaries is prohibited
NPS Policy Memorandum 14-05 directs each superintendent to close the park to drone use under 36 CFR 1.5. For airspace, Part 107, and legal flying nearby, see Drone Authority.
Street / public space
Yes for personal and editorial photography throughout the park
Standard visitor photography is welcome on beaches, trails, and at the plantation ruins.
Practical notes
- The park covers about two thirds of St. John; Trunk Bay (with its underwater snorkel trail), Maho Bay, and the Annaberg sugar plantation ruins are the standard subject list.
- Trunk Bay charges a day-use fee and fills by mid-morning in season; for empty-beach frames arrive at opening or shoot the overlook on Northshore Road instead.
- Underwater photography needs no permit for personal work, but any paid instruction or guiding around it falls under the CUA requirement.
- December through April is dry season and peak crowds; hurricane season (June through November) brings dramatic skies and genuine weather risk.
Sources
Keep shooting
Knowing the rules is half the job. The craft side: