Buses on St. John? Walk from Crown Bay Dock to ferry in CA?

[MsCool]

I have spent a great deal of time reading about how to "do" St. John / Trunk Bay / Cinnamon Bay on our own. Everyone offers the options for bus, ferry, and taxi transportation on St. Thomas, but the only option offered on St. John is a taxi from Cruz Bay. Are there no buses on St. John? No open-aired safari buses?

 

If I understand all I have read, the taxi rates average $5-$10 per person, each way, from Cruz Bay to Trunk Bay or Cinnamon Bay, a 10 minute ride. That seems a bit expensive to me. Am I understanding correctly, and is this the only option?

 

And I will ask one more time -- walking from Crown Bay port to ferry stop in Charlotte Amalie. Is this do-able? I have read the distance is anywhere from 1 mile to 5 miles (that's a big difference!). With the reports of horrendous traffic jams with 5 ships in port, it might be faster to walk! We are active folk who normally walk an hour a day at home for exercise, so a mile is not a long walk to us, but 5 miles before or after a day in the water might be a bit a much!

 

Thank you for your honest replies and assistance.

[caribbean dreams]

Yes there are open air safari jeep looking buses that will be at the dock waiting to take you to Trunk, cinnamon ect.., our last trip on the open air bus was $6 per person, one way and it took about 10 minutes to trunk.

taxi/bus is your lowest option.

 

Yes, it is 4 to 5 miles from Crown Bay to the ferry.

 

you may also want to check out water island, it's basically trails & beaches, makes a nice quiet day. the ferry to go to Water Island is right at the Crown Bay Marina.

[Ms411]

MsCool,

 

Most of the taxis in the VI are open-air safaris operated by licensed taxi drivers. Some drivers prefer to service the tourist market, while some prefer to drive the $1/$2 route. Some drivers do both depending on the number of ships in town.

 

St John's population is too small to support a $1/$2 safari service, and there aren't that many places for the locals to go, either, to warrant such a service.

 

There is a public VITRAN bus, however, that leaves from the ferry dock, but it doesn't go to Trunk or Cinnamon Bay. It goes in the opposite direction to Coral Bay, and is a nice scenic drive, but the bus breaks down frequently so it's generally not recommended for cruiseship passengers on a tight schedule.

 

Yes, you can walk to the Charlotte Amalie ferry in St Thomas from Crown Bay, and it's about a mile. However, the ferry from town to St John is $10 pp each way, and the schedule is less frequent than the Red Hook. It mostly services hotel and villa guests.

 

You can walk to other beaches in St John from the Lind Point Trail. Here's the info:

 

Lind Point Trail (1.1 miles, 1 hour)The trail connects the US Virgin Islands National Park Visitor Center at Cruz Bay with Honeymoon Beach and Caneel Bay. The hike climbs 0.4 miles to the scenic Lind Point overlook. A side-trail leads to Solomon Beach. The trail will take you through semi-dry forest and cactus scrubs.

 

Hope this clarifies your options.

[The Islander]

Hello,

 

There are public buses on St. John, however as MS411 mentioned they don't go along the northshore. There are no dollar rides on St. John (like you have read about on St. Thomas).

 

Taxis on St. John do operate using safari bus vechicles and they are readily available at the ferry dock in Cruz Bay. A taxi from Cruz Bay to Trunk Bay is $6 pp, ow in shared taxi. That is the set rate.

 

I recently clocked Crown Bay to CA ferry while driving, it was 1.7 miles.

 

--Islander

http://www.*****

[MsCool]

Thank you all for your assistance -- we leave on the cruise tomorrow. Can't wait!

[Sheffie]

Thank you all for your assistance -- we leave on the cruise tomorrow. Can't wait!

 

Have a fabulous cruise! You will LOVE St. John!

[serene56]

WHen you say you are getting reports of the ferry being anywhere from 1 to 5 miles.. there are two ferries-- one in Charlotte Amalie and another in Red Hook-- that may be the difference.

 

Please be warned that the ferry in Charlotte Amalie does not run as often as the one in red hook and it also takes longer to arrive at St Johns using that Ferry,

 

Here is the schedule.

http://www.*****/general_usvi/interisland_ferry/#St.%20John%20Passenger%20Ferry:%20%20Red%20Hook%20to%20Cruz%20Bay

[fdwt994]

If we don't want to walk from Crown bay to Charlotte Amalie, are there taxis or buses for that? How much would it cost?

 

Thanks

[Andee]

Last week the taxi from Crown bay to Charlotte Amalie was $4pp each way.