St.John USVI

[Gabcruiser]

We will be stopping in St. Thomas but would like to go to St. john. Any suggestions for snorkeling areas that provide beach chairs and food?

[Putterdude]

Trunk Bay is the big snorkel beach, it is in the National Park and I don't recall if loungers were available. I will tell you this, if the wind and waves are up don't bother going as it involves taking a taxi to Red Hook, catching the ferry to St. John, taking a taxi to Trunk Bay and then the reverse coming back plus National Park entry fees...total cost for two .... north of $125. If the waves are up the white coral sand beach and bottom get stirred up and the snorkeling is very average at best.

 

If you have never been to Coki beach on St. Thomas, its well worth the trip, if you get there early the snorkeling is as good as anywhere in the Caribbean and its about a $12 pp taxi fare. They do have lounge rentals there as well as food and beverage. Its a locals beach and it can get crowded in the late morning if there are a lot of ships in port.

[cb at sea]

This is the one place I'd recommend a ship's excursion...too many forms of transportation needed. Let them do the work and get you there and back. St. John is fabulous!

Edited October 24, 2015 by cb at sea

[OCruisers]

This is the one place I'd recommend a ship's excursion...too many forms of transportation needed. Let them do the work and get you there and back. St. John is fabulous!

 

Have to agree that is so much easier to take an excursion with the ship. :)

 

To answer another question: Yes, there are chairs for rent at Trunk Bay.

 

LuLu

[Arzeena]

This is what we paid :

 

Shared taxi/van $6 pp and $3 pp return to and from downtown.

Fast Ferry $7 pp

Safari van taxi from Cruz Bay to Trunk bay $6 pp one way.

Trunk Bay entrance fee ...have the $12 annual pass (otherwise it is $4 pp)

Chair at Trunk Bay $8 ($25 deposit which is given back when you take the chair back)

 

I like the cruise ship excursion for peace of mind, but the time on the beach is 1.5 hour only. I would suggest to do it via the cruise ship the first time and then when you get your bearings you can easily do it on your own. I prefer to go on our own if the ship is in port for a longer time.

[SadieN]

Last time in St Thomas we booked thru the ship. Good thing we did as the weather caused Trunk Bay to close. If we weren't on the ship's tour we wouldn't have known it was closed until we got there.

Ended up going to one of the beaches on St Thomas.

Edited October 25, 2015 by SadieN

[hubofhockey]

This is what we paid :

 

Shared taxi/van $6 pp and $3 pp return to and from downtown.

Fast Ferry $7 pp

Safari van taxi from Cruz Bay to Trunk bay $6 pp one way.

Trunk Bay entrance fee ...have the $12 annual pass (otherwise it is $4 pp)

Chair at Trunk Bay $8 ($25 deposit which is given back when you take the chair back)

 

I like the cruise ship excursion for peace of mind, but the time on the beach is 1.5 hour only. I would suggest to do it via the cruise ship the first time and then when you get your bearings you can easily do it on your own. I prefer to go on our own if the ship is in port for a longer time.

 

It's not worth it saving a few dollars to do on your own. We've done both, but only on our own when ship didn't have an "on your own" excursion at a reasonable price. Royal Caribbean does the "on your own" excursion and it made the day easy and worry free.

 

Agree on getting to Trunk Bay for snorkeling. You don't need an excursion. Just jump in the water and swim and you'll find great stuff out there.

[Host Anne]

We been to St. John many times and provide family & friends the following info if they want to go to St. John from a ship (we've also vacationed on St. John for the past six years). It's a beautiful place to spend the day.

 

 

Getting There & Cost

• Roundtrip taxi from ship to Red Hook ferry: $20

• Roundtrip ferry from Red Hook to Cruz Bay: $14

TOTAL $34 per person

 

• Disembark the ship at as soon as they allow you to get off

• Jump in a taxi and head to the Red Hook Ferry ($10 per person) - can vary slightly depending upon whether you are at Havensight or Crown Bay.

• Take the ferry from Red Hook to St. John – note that the ferry departs every hour on the hour.

• If you are on one of the new high speed ferries, it’s only about a 15 minute crossing now from St. Thomas to Cruz Bay. The older ferries are 20 – 25 minutes.

 

The Island

There are only two towns on St. John. Cruz Bay on the west end of the island where the ferry will drop you off and Coral Bay on the east end. Cruz Bay is far bigger (lots of shops, restaurants, grocery stores, car rental agencies, hotels, etc). Coral Bay is barely a town but it’s a great place.

 

Beaches

The best beaches are along the north shore of the island. North shore beaches are easily reached from both Cruz Bay. Hawksnest, Trunk Bay, Cinnamon Bay, Maho and Leistner are among our favorite north shore beaches. Trunk and Cinnamon have snack bars and facilities to rent snorkel gear, beach chairs, and lockers. Maho is the best place for snorkeling and seeing turtles but there are no facilities there and you need to make arrangements for a taxi to pick you up to return to the ferry as taxis don't wait at Maho.

 

If you want to hike, I’m recommending Honeymoon & Solomon Beaches. You have to hike to get there and you can do it without taking a taxi.

 

Here’s how to hike:

When you get off the ferry, walk to the end of the dock and turn left. You’ll see all the taxi’s parked here asking if you need a taxi. You do not. Walk past all the taxis, and when you can, get on the left side walk and start walking. In a few blocks you’ll come to the National Park Visitors Center and the Lind Point Trail begins just beyond this.

 

Use this link and print out the info on the Lind Point Trail and Solomon and Honeymoon beaches (you can visit both).

 

Lind Point Trail: http://www.stjohnbeachguide.com/Lind%20Point%20Trail.htm

Honeymoon Beach: http://www.stjohnbeachguide.com/Honeymoon.htm

Solomon Bay: http://www.stjohnbeachguide.com/Salomon%20Bay.htm

 

Keep in mind there are no facilities here other than some portable potties. I’d recommend bringing a sandwich from the deli in Mongoose Junction (you pass this shopping area on the way to the trail). Bring some bottled water, too.

 

Taxi to Beaches

If you want to do Hawksnest, Trunk or Cinnamon, you’ll need to take a taxi when you disembark the ferry in Cruz Bay. They are plentiful both here and at each of the respective beaches mentioned here. It’s a short taxi ride to any of these beaches.

 

Shopping & Restaurants

For a small island, St. John has a lot of great restaurants and some fun shopping. Mongoose Junction in Cruz Bay is a pretty high end outdoor shopping area with great shops, restaurants and a fun atmosphere. There is also a fun area to the right when you get off the ferry. It’s called Wharfside Village and there are bunches of great bars that line the beach here. High Tide (the first bar next to the ferry dock) and the Beach Bar (a short walk down the beach) are two good ones to grab a bite to eat and enjoy a blender drink!

 

Return to St. Thomas

We typically take the ferry two or three hours before our ship is scheduled to depart St. Thomas. It depends how many other ships are in port with us. Fewer ships means less traffic on St. Thomas. If there are more than 3 ships in with us, we leave Cruz Bay 3 hours before sailing. If there are only one or two other ships, we’ll leave 2 hours before sailing. This is provided our ship is docked at Havensight. If we are docked at Crown Bay, we always leave Cruz Bay 3 hours before sailing. There will be bunches of taxis waiting outside the Red Hook ferry terminal to take you back to the ship.

 

I have taken the Royal Caribbean excursion from the ship to St. John (especially when docked in Crown Bay) and it's fine. It's just a little less time on island than if you do it yourself and can get off the ship early.

 

ENJOY your day whatever you do.

Edited October 25, 2015 by Host Anne

[BeagleOne]

There used to be a ferry from the Charlotte Amalie waterfront to St. John. Saves the cab fare to and from Red Hook.

[George C]

Trunk bay is a pain to get to, but it is such a great beach, its worth the trip

[Host Anne]

There used to be a ferry from the Charlotte Amalie waterfront to St. John. Saves the cab fare to and from Red Hook.

 

I highly discourage cruise passengers from considering the Charlotte Amalie ferry for a number of reasons:

 

1) The schedule is not dependable. Sometimes they go; sometimes they don't.

 

2) It is nearly always a very bumpy ride from Charlotte Amalie to St. John. You are in the open waters versus being in a protected channel like you are from Red Hook to Cruz Bay.

 

3) If you port at Havensight (and most ships to) you are backtracking (going further away) from St. John.

 

Just my observations. I always recommend those going from a cruise ship to St. John to take the Red Hook ferry and know you'll have a ferry and a smoother ride.

[BeagleOne]

That's interesting info, HostAnne. I've taken the Charlotte Amalie ferry to and from St. John several times and never had a problem. Never have tried the Red Hook route.

[Host Anne]

Beagle ~ I've done the Charlotte Amalie (CA) several times and it's definitely a rougher ride than Red Hook so if folks are bothered by a rougher ride, I'd recommend the Red Hook ferry.

 

The CA ferry doesn't always run as scheduled. Honest. :) When it comes to dependable ferries, I'd trust Red Hook for the dependabilit factor. Plus the CA ferry costs more so what you save in taxi fare to Red Hook you're paying most of it in extra ferry costs. It's $14 roundtrip on the Red Hook ferry and $26 roundtrip on the CA ferry.

 

One more thing I forgot, the CA ferry is only scheduled three times each day (to and from) so you really only have one choice coming back in the afternoon.

 

Current CA to Cruz Bay schedule:

 

Charlotte Amalie → Cruz Bay

10:00 am

1:00 pm

5:30 pm

Cruz Bay → Charlotte Amalie

8:45 am

11:15 am

3:45 pm

 

Just like to provide as much detail as possible so folks can make the best decision for them. If my ship docks at 7 or 8 AM, I don't want to wait until the 10:00 AM CA ferry.

[geoherb]

We did it once on our own and had a great day at Cinnamon Bay. It was a lot less crowded than Trunk Bay. (But please don't tell everyone that.)

 

The only time I'd consider going back is if we had plenty of time to do it. In my opinion, it's not worth the hassle and worry if your ship isn't in St. Thomas at least nine hours. And it seems like more and more cruise lines are cutting their times in port.

[Gabcruiser]

Those are all great suggestions for St. John.

What about a great snorkeling beach on St. Thomas?

[Host Anne]

Sorry Gab, I've never snorkeled on any of the St. Thomas beaches. If you do a SEARCH for St. Thomas Snorkeling, it does bring up some threads on the subject. Maybe someone else will chime in!