How to get to St. John's

[legalgirl]

Have been to St. Thomas before and would prefer to go to St. John's on this visit. Will be there in Oct. on the Granduer arriving at 7 a.m. and departing at 5 p.m. Can I get to St. John's safely on my own and is there a great beach on the island?

[qaperson]

We were there several years ago and very easily took a ferry on our own to St. John and then a taxi to Trunk Bay. You have plenty of time, you can snorkel from the beach, relax in the sand and still get back with time to shop in St. Thomas if you want to. I found all info about how to do it in these boards...I'll bet if you search you can find it again.

[MiniMom57]

Taxi from the ship to Red Hook = $10/person each way

 

Ferry from Red Hook to Cruz Bay, St. John = $5/person each way (1st one leaves Red Hook at 9am)

 

Taxi from Cruz Bay to Trunk Bay = $6/person each way

 

Admission to Trunk Bay = $4/person (snorkel equip = $4/person; chair = $8 each)

 

Trunk Bay is a gorgeous, quiet beach.....no water sports, only snorkeling and swimming. Cinnamon Bay is the next bay over and is reported to be a great beach as well.

[bUU]

We were generally unhappy with the "do it yourself" thing doing taxi to Red Hook. They made us wait too long (about ten minutes) to fill the taxi :mad: and we missed the ferry by two minutes. I almost feel like the ferry from Charlotte Amelie direct to Cruz Bay would be better... more reliable.

[addicted to cruising]

We were generally unhappy with the "do it yourself" thing doing taxi to Red Hook. They made us wait too long (about ten minutes) to fill the taxi :mad: and we missed the ferry by two minutes. I almost feel like the ferry from Charlotte Amelie direct to Cruz Bay would be better... more reliable.

 

Only problem with this is the first one leaves at 9am. If you get off the boat shortly after arriving and grab a taxi to red hook you will arrive much sooner. the ferry ride from Red hook is about 1/2 that of CA. Either way is resonable. We have done it both ways, we often return back to CA for some shopping. Check the departure time from Red Hook..in past first ferry left at about 7am and every 30mins there after til like midnight. Trunk Bay is awesome...opens at 8am. Great snorkeling there, pristine. There is also some shopping in Cruz Bay near the ferry if you like. Its pretty easy to do this and well worth it. If there are 2 of you doing in on your own will be cheaper if more than that, say a family of 4, it is almost cheaper with the ship.

[bUU]

That's exactly what we did... we were waiting on Deck 1 and disembarked with the first people off the ship. We still missed the first ferry from Red Hook, due to the way they run the taxis there at the CA dock.

[beachchick]

We were generally unhappy with the "do it yourself" thing doing taxi to Red Hook. They made us wait too long (about ten minutes) to fill the taxi :mad: and we missed the ferry by two minutes. I almost feel like the ferry from Charlotte Amelie direct to Cruz Bay would be better... more reliable.

 

This is why we decided to go with a private taxi to Red Hook. It was only DH and me, and it cost about $20+tip (the driver was fabulous; helpful and interesting). We didn't care that it cost somewhat more. We had 1 day in port and decided not to quibble over taxi costs. Well worth it because we didn't have to wait for the taxi to be filled, we got to Red Hook promptly, and the driver gave us a ton of interesting island history AND, when we asked about an afternoon pickup at Red Hook to go back to the ship, he was honest enough to tell us that late afternoon traffic across the island can get fierce. He suggested that we consider taking the CA ferry for the return. Both because we would be closer to the pier (short taxi or 45 minute walk) and because it's a gorgeous ride along the island coast. That's what we did, and we were not sorry.

 

For anyone who wants to save money, the safari buses/taxis and other "group" transportation are a good option. I'm not saying people shouldn't use them, especially if they're staying on St. Thomas and just need to get around there. I am saying that everyone needs to decide what is the most important when going to St. John. Private taxi is our pick for expediency, but the other options are less expensive.

 

beachchick

[bUU]

Do private taxis need to be arranged in advance, or are they waiting there (somewhere we didn't see, I suppose) by the ship when it docks?

[beachchick]

bicker: I'm not sure. We walked out to one of the main roads to flag down a private taxi. We had gone up to Paradise Point and didn't go back to the pier area. I do have a recollection of DH being told that we would have to walk out to the main road to get a private taxi. Don't hold me to that though.

 

beachchick

[lovemylab]

We also plan to get a private taxi to the Red Hook ferry. The only way we will be taking one of the open air taxi's is if there happens to be a group of people wanting to go.

 

When we went to Magen's Bay I remember waiting over 20 minutes as the open air taxi didn't want to leave until her taxi was full. Finally she got one of her friends who has a private taxi to take us.

 

Another option would be to take public transportation which costs $2. A few other CC members have used this with success.