St. John ... on your own

[jmcarol]

Has anyone ever done this before? Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

 

[IrishCowboy]

We've done it a few times. The first time, we used taxi/cabs to take us to the ferry and beaches. The 2nd and 3rd times, we rented a a car. I prefer to rent a car over taking taxi/cabs.

Most of the time, the taxi/cab drivers will wait until they have a full load of passengers before they travel to Red Hook Ferry or beaches. I hate to wait.

Depending upon the size of your party, it is usually cheaper to rent your own vehicle.

We pack a picnic lunch for the beach. It is much easier to leave the cooler in your rental car/jeep. On some of the beaches, you can park right at the edge of the beach, just 10-15 yards from shore.

Also, if you have your own vehicle on St John, you will get to see much more of the island and visit some of the less popular, but just as nice beaches. Just make sure that you allow yourself plenty of time to return to the ship. We always catch the returning 2:00 ferry.

Have a great cruise!

 

[jmcarol]

this might seem like a silly question, do you rent the car in St. John or St. Thomas? I have never been, so I am confused.

 

[uncle al]

We rented a car in St. Thomas - drove around until we reached the ferry - and took the ferry over to St. John. There are plenty of cabs (they are open air - basically a pick-up truck with seats in the bed - covered of course). They offer an "Island Tour" which we were quoted as $16/person. We only wanted to visit Trunk Bay - so we just sort of "hung around" until most everyone had left - a cab driver came over and offered to take us to Trunk Bay for $4/person (one way) we ended up getting a bit of the tour on the way up & back- it was interesting & if I had to do it again, we would probably take the tour (I must admit that I really wanted to get back to the ship - my beloved Auburn Tigers were playing their bowl game & Pierre - the Pubmaster in Diversions was expecting me- not really but that is what I told my wife). I know a previous post mentioned that they wait until the cab is full - and I believe that to be true - but I can tell you that they seemed to fill up pretty quickly. We spent as much time as we wanted - there were cabs waiting around - we took the cab back got on the ferry, went back to our rental car & continued our "self-guided tour" around St. Thomas.

The roads in St. Thomas are very well marked & the map we were given at the rental agency was great (especially when compared to the one we had the previous day in St. Maarten). They are marked as "Green Route", "Red Route", "Blue Route" and the map is color-coded. I presume you can rent a car in St. John as well - I'm not sure about that, though.

 

[IrishCowboy]

You can rent a car in St Thomas or St John. We always rent from Budget, within walking distance of where the Magic docks.

Its cheaper to rent a car on St Thomas and leaves more time for the beach!

 

[jel0511]

Just a note, MOST car rental agencies do not allow you to take their cars over to ST. John. I know one poster parked at the ferry and rode the passenger ferry over, this is allowed. If you want to experience St. John, there are plenty of car rental agencies on St. John itself and their rates aren't much more than on St. Thomas. I've traveled to St. John numerous times, we vacation there often. It truly is very easy to get over to St. John, just hop in a cab at the dock and go over to Red Hook. The ferry runs every hour on the hour and it takes 20 minutes to make the crossing. Once there there are plenty of taxis to take you where you want to go, with the most popular destination being Trunk Bay. St. John is so much more than Trunk Bay, and it's always the most crowded beach when multiple ships are in port at ST. Thomas. We usually avoid Trunk Bay when multiple ships are in port, or arrive earily in the AM and leave as the "hords" begin arriving and go to one of the other beaches. They are all equally as beautiful as Trunk, but Trunk is the most famous and with the most facilities, that's why it gets the most crowded.

 

[IrishCowboy]

When we cruised last May, both Budget and Avis (located within walking distance of the Magic) would allow you to take their rental vehicles over to St John. Maybe this has changed since our last visit.

 

[Alice Sr.]

I have read,

The National Park Visitor Center in Cruz Bay is the best place to start your visit. Located only a few minutes away from the ferry dock, the Visitor Center provides maps and guidance for making the most of your time on St. John. There are posters, drawings, maps and exhibits on display to help educate you about the park's flora and fauna, history and preservation. Books, maps, postcards and games are available for purchase.

and that,

There are numerous well maintained hiking trails, great beaches and interesting sites.

These trails interested me as they go to a beach, the 1st one starts at the National Park

Lind Point Trail
(Distance: 1.1 miles, Approximate Time: 1 hour)
This trail connects the National Park Visitor Center in Cruz bay with Honeymoon Beach and Caneel Bay.

Caneel Hill Trail
(Distance: 2.4 miles, Approximate Time: 2 hours)
This trail joins Cruz Bay with Northshore Road entrance to Caneel Bay.

Does anyone have experience with these trails and/or beaches? Or would we just be better off taking a taxi to Trunk Bay after we do Lind Point Trail?

Thanks,
Alice