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.

The older statute behind it is the Open Shorelines Act, title 12, sections 401 to 407 of the Virgin Islands Code. It gives the public the right to use and enjoy any shoreline, and section 402 fixes the strip with the same arithmetic; agencies still quote it so, most recently in the beach vendor rules of February 2026 ^15,14.

Three things are missing from it, and the coastal agency says so itself: no provision on how access is secured, no penalty for blocking it, no authority designated to investigate ¹⁵. A right at the waterline is no right of way across private land, so on an island without a public dock the only lawful approach is by sea ¹⁵.

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.

Who decides: DPNR, CZM and the limits of enforcement

Two acronyms run through every file here. DPNR is the Department of Planning and Natural Resources, CZM its Division of Coastal Zone Management; they decide on building at the water, on shore access and on the marine reserves ^5,16.

Their instrument is the permit. In major projects the reviewing committee may require a public path from the nearest road to the shoreline, weighing among other things whether it would invite trespass on the private property ¹¹. Commercial building on the shoreline clears only once an access easement is secured ⁵.

Its own assessment for 2023 to 2025 calls the rules on shoreline access insufficient, says they have tied the division's hands, and notes two failed attempts to amend them ¹⁵.

For the islands the file is short. Since December 2025 one application is on record, a warehouse of 8,800 square feet, incomplete in February 2026 ⁹. Applications from before the 2023 sale lapsed automatically, the agency head said, and no transfer to the buyer was requested ²². Its work on the neighbouring island is covered under Great St. James.

What trespass costs under 14 V.I.C.

Entry on another's land sits in title 14, chapter 87 of the Virgin Islands Code. Section 1741 is the basic offence: entering the land of another without consent carries up to 50 dollars, up to 30 days in jail, or both ¹³.

Section 1747 is the harder one: force used to enter or hold land, or entry into another's domicile, up to 200 dollars, up to one year, or both ¹³. Section 1742 covers entry to remove or deface property ¹³.

Those sums date from another era. The expensive route is civil: the May 2026 complaint pleads civil conspiracy, trespass and private nuisance and seeks damages plus disgorgement of revenue earned from the recordings ¹⁹. Criminal and civil tracks run side by side ^3,19.

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 on the east end of St. Thomas, and fishing there is limited and permit bound ⁶.

The three are known together as STEER, the St. Thomas East End Reserves, covering 9.6 square kilometres of mangroves, salt ponds, lagoons and reefs ⁶. A protected areas database puts the Great St. James portion at roughly seven square kilometres and rates its protection heavily restrictive ¹⁷.

The detail sits in the territorial rules on wildlife and marine sanctuaries, current through April 2021. Inside the St. James reserve it is unlawful to remove marine or other wildlife without authorization; with a permit three things are allowed: scientific collecting, castnet fishing for baitfish with a quarter inch mesh within fifty feet of the shore except at Cow and Calf rocks, and hook and line ¹⁶.

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 on either island ⁸.

Rules for boaters off Little St. James

Three bodies of law overlap here: the water, the reserve, and the ground from the shoreline inland ^16,1.

• Cruising past and filming from the water is allowed ⁸.
• Anchor at Christmas Cove off Great St. James ⁸.
• Take no marine life inside the St. James reserve; hook and line needs a permit ¹⁶.
• Castnets only with a permit, only for baitfish, within fifty feet of shore, never at Cow and Calf rocks ¹⁶.
• The public strip ends fifty feet above the low tide line, at continuous vegetation or at a natural barrier ^11,14.
• Past that line the compound begins, and the owner pursues every entry ¹.
• Dinghy, jet ski or swimming change nothing; those were the 2026 routes ^3,19.

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 it 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 said 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 fame ¹.

Two events shortly before are named as the trigger: the late April arrest of a man who had rented a dinghy on St. John, and a landing on 28 April 2026 by creators filming themselves ashore ¹⁹.

One complaint was not the end of it. A report of August 2026 on a Business Insider investigation counts nine video makers sued over both islands ²⁰.

Both halves 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 set for 4 January 2027 ¹². Against an employee of the police department, charges of simple assault and disturbance of the peace were dismissed on 10 August 2026 after 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.

The regulator sets out what that involves: a remote pilot certificate under part 107, and in controlled airspace an authorization through the automated LAANC system or a separate request ¹⁸.

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. An airspace authorization is not an entry permit; taking off or landing on private ground falls under the same sections as any step past the shore ¹³.

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. Which structure stands where is sorted out in the piece on the map and buildings.

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 one incomplete warehouse application ⁹.

Why the island draws visitors despite the ban

The pull comes from scarcity. No hotel, no tour, no official access, very few pictures: that is what gives first-hand footage its market value ².

By March 2026 NBC News counted more than 15 videos of people sneaking onto the island, nine of them posted in 2026, reached by jet ski, drone or swimming ².

Then there is the story attached to the place. Claims about tunnels and about the striped building have circulated for years without official confirmation ². What holds up is sorted in the piece on the myths, the official record in the one on the files.

The third reason is money, and the other side has noticed: the complaint targets the revenue earned from the recordings ¹⁹.

The cost is visible. CBS News gathered accounts of several intruders in May 2026 and described the island's security regime ⁴. A spokesperson spoke of an alarming increase in intruders and said any step beyond the beach would be prosecuted ¹.