How to get from port in St. Thomas to St John.

[pinemountaingirl]

I know there is a ferry that goes from Charlotte Amalie St. Thomas to Cruz Bay St John, but how do I find out the times and do's and dont's. I dont want to take the excursions from Carnival. Want to do it on my own and know what I am doing so my husband will know that I have done my work...Thanks..Pinemountaingirl

[Marie51]

I know there is a ferry that goes from Charlotte Amalie St. Thomas to Cruz Bay St John, but how do I find out the times and do's and dont's. I dont want to take the excursions from Carnival. Want to do it on my own and know what I am doing so my husband will know that I have done my work...Thanks..Pinemountaingirl

 

Take a cab from your ship to Red Hook where you catch the ferry to Cruz Bay. The ferry only leaves on the hour so plan wisely. So if you arrive there at 1010am you will have to wait 50 minutes til the next ferry. Once you arrive in Cruz Bay take a cab to the beach. To come back just do the opposite keeping in mind that the ferry only runs once an hour.

[lakeguy]

You have two options that the ferry from Charlote Amalie or Red Hook

catch a taxi from the pier to the water taxi of your choice

1st water taxi from Charlotte Amolie leaves about 9 am and Red Hook leaves either every hour or every half hour.

when you arrive in Cruise Bay pay attention to the ferry schedule for the return trip then catch a taxi to the beach of your choice but remember that some times it is dificult to find a ride back from isolated beaches. make arrangement with taxi driver.

If you are going to Trunk Bay there will be a small entrance fee other beaches have none. If trunk bay is busy the day you are there go to either end of the beach for less crowded snorkeling or the back side of the island can be good also.

Back in Charlotte Amalie the traffic can be bad in the afternoon so allow yourself plenty of time to get back to your ship.

ENJOY, St Johns is one of our favorite places, Lou

[Fourseventeen]

yup as the above poster has said. there is 2 ferries. one from CA is a 45 min ride across the waters...and can get rough or there is a 20 min ferry ride from red hook...which is about a 40 min cab ride from the cruise terminal. There is also a thread here with nothing but St John talk including all the options to get there and what to do there.

[sofaman61]

We went to St John last week off the Carnival Dream. Missed the ferry from Red Hook by 5 mins so had to wait another hour. Got to Cruz Bay, hit 4 car rentals before we found 1 that had something to rent. Could have done the cab thing but wanted rental. FYI the cabs there are pick up trucks with benches in back with top. Hang on! We were there years ago & we still love that island. Stopped at trunk bay but snorkel shop closed at 330 so we just swam instead...still a lot of fun. Drove over to coral bay & back to show our boys where we honeymooned 17 yrs ago, of course donkeys still walking around in the roads.

Plan accordingly to get to the ferry. The cabs at the cruise terminal do not leave until they fill up, they are vans & they wnat to take as many to red hook as they can. We waited 5 or so mins & then its a 20- 25 min ride to red hook. The ferry ride from red hook to cruz bay is only 10-15 mins and leaves every hour on the hour until 11pm. The ferry from charlotte amalie to cruz bay is only 5 or 6 times a day & takes 45 mins.

Time saving tip: at red hook, go ahead & buy round trip. that will save time coming back. aslo there is a nice little bar/resturant right beside the cruz bay ferry dock to sit at while waiting on your departure from paradise.

It was a little hectic at first , but once we got our jeep & driving over the hills...all was well.

[pinemountaingirl]

Thanks so much for the information. I also found out that we get into port and can get off at 10am. The ferry leaves at 10am so if we leave from there we would have to wait till 1pm for the next ferry.BUT,, if we take a taxi to Red we could leave on the hour..IS it alot of hassel? Can we take the ferry from St John that leaves at 3:45 and go back to CA, St. Thomas instead of the ferry to Red?

I wanted to go to St John so hubby could snorkle and me shop and look.

Have only been to St Thomas 1 time before and went shopping and on a island tour with Sunny Liston which was awesome...Just wanted to do something different this time..

If we go to St John, should we just do the taxi or rent a car there?

Thanks so much for the info..Pinemountaingirl..

[Fourseventeen]

yeah you can take the ferry from cruz bay to CA at 345 as long as your ship is leaving after 5pm and a cab gets you moving quickly. Its a 5 min cab ride from CA ferry dock to the cruise terminal. Taxi in st john is cheap...personally we do the taxi thing. less hassle and less expensive then renting a car. with time your ship arrives in port (10am) your best bet is to get a taxi to red hook to take the ferry over to st john. The ferry to CA is longer and more expensive (12 bucks each way if i recall) as opposed to the red hook ferry is 6.00 each way. It pretty much equals out with the cab ride to red hook though so either way you will spend about the same.

[sofaman61]

it is easy getting the cab to red hook and even easier getting from red hook to charl am. Plenty of taxis waiting on the ferry to come back, they know when to be there. I would do the taxi thing over rental on st john. we rented on st john for a reason...we wanted to show the boys our honeymoon island. when we go back we will do the taxi. if you 2 are mainly snorkling...take the taxi to trunk bay & then back to cruz bay.