Can you visit Epstein Island? The law, the boat tours and the 2026 cases

A private island with a public beach

Little St. James has belonged to a company of the investor Stephen Deckoff since 2023. There is no public dock, caretakers and maintenance workers are on the island, and the owner takes intruders to court ¹.

At the same time the territory has a rule that surprises many visitors. Beaches in the U.S. Virgin Islands are public. The coastal zone management program states plainly that beaches cannot be fenced off and that the public has the right to be on them and use them for recreation ⁵. The 1978 coastal law describes this as a right the public already holds ⁵.

How far that right reaches is set out in the coastal zone regulations. The shoreline runs from the seaward line of low tide inland fifty feet, or to the extreme seaward boundary of continuous natural vegetation, or to a natural barrier, whichever distance is shortest ¹¹.

That line matters here. The strip at the water is not the same as the compound behind it. A spokesperson for the property drew the line in public: going beyond the beach, entering or tampering with any structure, is treated as a violation of law without exception ¹.

There is also no easy way in. The island has no runway; boat or helicopter are the only options, and no ferry serves it ¹⁰.

Good to knowThe beach is public, the route across someone else's land is not. On a private island that leaves the approach by water.

What a boat trip actually offers

Charter and day boats out of St. Thomas run past Little St. James regularly, and the island is clearly visible from the water ⁸. The usual stop is next door: Christmas Cove off Great St. James is a well known anchorage and snorkelling spot ⁸.

Those waters carry their own rules. The area around Great St. James is a marine reserve and wildlife sanctuary, one of three reserves on the east end of St. Thomas, and fishing there is limited and permit bound ⁶.

So a tour is a pass-by, not a landing. Operators in the region also told reporters in the summer of 2025 that they saw no construction work on either island ⁸.

What happened in 2026 to people who tried anyway

Since the island became a backdrop for internet videos, incidents have piled up. NBC News reported in March 2026 that video makers seek the island out to produce clips for social platforms ².

On 1 March 2026 that escalated. According to police, the island's property manager is alleged to have chased two filming brothers by boat, pointed a replica firearm at one of them, brought him to the island bound, and thrown drone memory cards into the sea. She was charged with false imprisonment, kidnapping, third degree assault and destruction of property ³.

In late April 2026 a man was arrested after photographing the property. He later told reporters he had been bound with duct tape and held in a hot room until police arrived ^3,4.

In May 2026 the owning side went to the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands and sued alleged intruders for damages. The complaint describes a growing scene of urban explorers, influencers and video makers trying to profit from the island's notoriety ¹.

Both halves of that story matter for anyone planning a trip: entry is prosecuted, and the situation on site can get out of hand for everyone involved.

One caveat runs through all of it: these are charges, not verdicts. The property manager has pleaded not guilty, with jury selection scheduled for 4 January 2027 ¹². Against a third person involved, an employee of the police department, charges of simple assault and disturbance of the peace were dismissed on 10 August 2026 after he completed an anger management course ¹².

Drones: legal airspace, private ground

Drone flights in the U.S. Virgin Islands follow federal aviation rules. The Virgin Islands Port Authority states that neither it nor its airport towers can issue drone approvals, and that commercial operators need airspace authorization from the federal aviation regulator ⁷.

Airspace is federal, the ground is not. Flying over a private island is not by itself a trespass, but landing, entering the grounds or confronting people on site falls back under territorial law ^7,1.

The March 2026 case shows how thin that line is in practice: the drone flew, the reaction on the water escalated, and criminal charges followed ³.

What is visible from the water today

Not much has changed since 2019. A comparison of satellite imagery from 2019 to 2025 found only small differences: the main house, the pools, the guest villas and the helipad unchanged, plus one small structure on the beach and an extension towards the dock ⁸.

The striped building on the high point has been painted over and boarded up, while white statues still stand around the grounds ².

A boat trip therefore shows a maintained but idle compound, not a hotel. The announced resort has not been built, and in February 2026 the coastal authority held a single incomplete application for a warehouse ⁹.