At the beginning of the 20th century, about 100 people worked and lived in the salt industry on Salt Island. Every year around April, the salt ponds evaporated and the salt could be collected by hacking off chunks and bagging them up. The salt was used to preserve and season food on the other Virgin Islands, but since the arrival of electricity and refrigeration the salt business has dwindled to a minimum.

Nowadays only a handful of people live on the tiny, wishbone-shaped island and most visitors only come there to go wreck diving at the site of the RMS Rhone. The ship sank during a hurricane in 1867. The crew was buried nearby and the gravesite is marked by a circle of white stones.

Salt Island is 7.6 km (4.7 mi) southeast of Road Town.