On Your Own From St. Thomas to St. John

[ginger123snaps]

Just came back from St. Thomas. With gas prices it averages out to $50/person/roundtrip from the port to Red Hook Bay to the Ferry to Trunk Bay and back. We were mislead by the info posted on some of the rates. We originally thought it would be $50 for both of us roundtrip...we took cash off the boat accordingly...so please don't make our same mistake.

[texancruzer]

Just out of curiousity, did you take a taxi on St. John just to the beach and another back. Or - did you hire a taxi for a set amount of time to see other sites as well (say 2 hours)?

 

Have been told it is better to get a taxi and keep it for a "tour". We are two couples who will split cost and our plan is to go to Annaburg Ruins first, then to Maho, Cinnamon and Trunk Bays (will snorkle here) before heading back to Cruz Bay for lunch.

 

Was told this way it would run about $35.00 per couple (2 hrs) $ 70.00 total, just for taxi time on St John. Of course I know I need to add in taxi cost to and from pier to Red Hook.

 

Thoughts ??? thanks

[ginger123snaps]

We took a cab from the port to Red Hook (where the ferry leaves) this was $10/person/oneway.

 

We took the Ferry to St John...this was $4/person/oneway.

 

We took a cab from the Ferry stop in St. John to Trunk Bay and this was $7/person/oneway.

 

Hope these prices help you plan better

[beachchick]

Gosh, I'm sorry that you had gotten bad info on this. The prices have gone up (not surprisingly considering the price of gas), but in comparison, it's not a whole lot more than we paid a year ago. For us, the taxi one-way was $15 for 2; Red Hook ferry was $3 p/p one-way; taxi (or that is shuttle vehicle thing that works like a taxi) was $6 p/p one-way. We took the Charlotte Amalie ferry for the return and it was $7 p/p one way. So, our total with tips was about $65. Had we done the Red Hook ferry and then taxi for the return it would have been a good $10 more. We have the Golden Access pass and do not pay for entry into National Parks, so we saved the $4 p/p for Trunk Bay, but if you don't have one of the cards, you need to plan for that cost as well. It was actually pretty close to what we expected, based on what we learned here and confirmed on a couple of USVI websites.

 

Truly, I am sorry that you had incorrect information and thank you for posting current costs. It sure helps with planning. Normally, we don't take a whole lot of excess cash (maybe $20 more than we expect to spend on transportation, food, drinks, etc.) with us off the ship or from a hotel (even though we use a small water safe), but from now on I think we'll plan on at least an extra $60 just in case.

 

As for hiring a taxi to tour on St. John, I have heard that many people do this. We did not take a private taxi though, so I have no idea about how that works or the costs involved. We just hopped on the closest jitney, I guess you could call it, and stayed on until the Trunk Bay stop.

 

St. John is lovely and well worth the cost and effort to get there. The underwater "trail" at Trunk Bay is fun and very easy for novice snorkelers, but it won't be boring for more experienced snorkelers (or I should say we didn't find it boring, just a relaxing easy snorkel).

 

beachchick