USVI fails to make the cut.

Might just be the continental US.

If you check the entire ranking, St John is 2nd best island in the world after an island in Belize. I think I first saw it in USA Today or the Washington Post.

If it is true, I would not wonder since our roadsides are less than picturesque with the amount of garbage and trash they contain.
Many other destinations are cleaner, just as pretty and less pricy. No doubt many have concerns about safety as well.

Might just be the continental US.

Then Hawaii would not be included. Maybe only 50 states, but this was not stated.

Just click where it says world, and you will see St John as #2.

So they don't consider the USVI to be part of the United States.

Does anyone know how the homicide rate on St John compares to St Croix and St Thomas?

St. Croix # 6 in the Caribbean. Yaaaay St. Croix! :@)

Sorry Rotor, I did mean the 50 states.

Does anyone know how the homicide rate on St John compares to St Croix and St Thomas?

By my rough calculations, STJ's murder rate is about 12.5 per 100,000 per year, and STX and STT are each about 50 per 100,000 per year.

I don't have the data at hand, but I think STJ has an average of about 1 murder every 2 years. For a population of about 4000, that's a long-term average for STJ of about 12.5 murders per 100,000 per year. The average for the entire USVI is about 50 per 100,000, with STX and STT being about equal in murders and population. STX and STT have the vast majority of murders and population, which makes the murder rate on those two islands also about 50 per 100,000.

Looks like St John made the cut!

BOOM! STX and STJ rocking it out. Seriously, we have awesome beaches for sure. I've been to HI and the waters colder and never as clear as I've seen it here. Better underwater wildlife too IMO. Maybe I'm bias but we ruled out HI to move here instead and soooooo glad we did! <3 the VI. 🙂

Several drownings off STJ lately. Very sad and probably preventable. I wonder why The NPS doesn't provide lifeguard services (aside from Trunk)?

NPS here is barely getting by with the staff level they have; they can't even afford to hire enough rangers for adequate enforcement, let alone have lifeguards on every beach.

The drownings that happen around here often are heart attacks (or other serious health problems that happen to occur in the water) in disguise. If you snorkel, use a buddy system and make sure you know where your snorkel buddy is at all times. And learn CPR -- it takes a lot of work to perform CPR on a person and it is very tiring, so the more people who know it the better (so they can relieve you when your arms are ready to fall off and you're still waiting on that ambulance).

fdr, I have to diagree with you. (which is different because I normally share your opinion on most matters).
First off the NPS would not need life gurards on every beach. A "patrol schedule" would do the trick. One boat and one truck is more then adiquate. (a Jet-ski with sled would be nice too) Both equiped with rescue boards / cans for up to four trained open water life guards. We'd need at least one full time trained open water guard and a posse of volunteers.
We also need signs posted at top hot spots about spotting currents and esacaping currents. Warning printed on the maps handed out by the rental companies would be nice.
I am excellent swimmer/expereinced surfer/ avid athlete and have found myself in unexpected dicey situations . Thankfully I knew what to do or was just plain old lucky.

St John keeps its crime from print. For true!