St. Thomas to St. John Considerations

S

SIN-CITY-CRUISER

Guest
Hello all-

I'm very interested in seeing St. Thomas but would also like to venture to St. John to check out (possibly snorkel) Trunk Bay. I've heard mostly good things. I know it takes about 30-minutes via water shuttle (eash way) and another 15 minutes or so by car or open air safari bus..

If the cruise is leaving at 8pm & we wanted to take a tour of St. Thomas in the morning, what would be a good time to depart for St. John & return to just to see Trunk Bay. Any suggestions or advise would be "highly" appreciated.

I understand that people often might avoid this simply because of the time to get to and from the island. I was thinking about doing it all without a planned excursion just to save time- no group and we could leave to get back in time???

Thanks
 
S

Sheffie

Guest
Here is a site for the ferry schedule from St. Thomas to St. John.

http://vinow.com/general_usvi/interisland_ferry/#St. John Passenger Ferry: Red Hook to Cruz Bay

If you go to www.vinow.com you can see a whole lot of information.

I guess I would either do St. Thomas and then see how much time is left, or go to St. John on the first ferry I could get out and see how much time is left when I got back. (That is what I would do.) St. John is a gorgeous little island. I hope you get to see it.

Michelle
 
R

red stripe

Guest
we do it all the time.
But any time we are doing ANY tour by ourselves..and not ship sponsored.. we do them first thing in the morning. This way you can arrange to start back in plenty of time just in case something happens.

We get off the ship early and get the taxi to red hook ferry. when you get to the ferry, remember to ask for a return ticket.
Usually there is no problem with lines at the ticket counter on the way back, but this can save you time.

Once over there, you get another taxi to the beach. they will ask what time you want them to pick you up.
Now we usually figure on getting there around 10 in the morning, So we usually try to catch the 3 pm ferry, so we just tell the taxi driver we want to be back in time for that, and he will do the rest.
Getting back at this time gives us to look around the shops etc. on St. Thomas.

With your not sailing until 8pm.. boarding around 7.30? then you will have enough time to enjoy the beach and see the shops.
Oh yes.. remember.. Trunk Bay is a part of the national park service of the US.. so if you have a park pass, it works over here too.
otherwise the entry fee is $4
 
E

Einstein

Guest
Just a followup to red's info...

It takes approx. 35 mins to get to the Red Hook ferry from Havensight. The Red Hook Ferry rins on the Hour so its best to leave NO later than 15 mins past the hour to get there and minimize your wait. Its best to plan on catching the 8 or 9 AM taxi to Red Hook if U wish to maximize your time at the beaches.

As we had nearly 20 of US we had a full taxi already so our wait is minimal before we hit the road to catch the ferry at Red Hook. Another bonus of our good size group is we were alloted a discount of $18 roundtrip and a short tour of St. Thomas upon our return from St. John this afternoon by Antonio.

Through the rolling roads and hills it will take about 35 mins to reach Red Hook. Its also wise to get everyone to get the round trip pass so they will not have to wait on the return to purchase their ticket.

Everyone buys there $12 roundtrip ferry tickets and gate to the ferry opens up for boarding. By 10 AM the ferry is FULL and within 10 minutes we pull in the lines and head towards Cruz Bay on the lovely island of St. John.

Within 20 minutes we are there and docked in Cruz Bay. Once we disembark the ferry we head off toward town and are corraled by one of the many taxi drivers waiting. We told him we were looking for Puff Daddy whom we had used MANY times in the past with excellent results. The taxi cab driver stated he works for Puff Daddy and so we tell him we have a group of 20 that want to go to Trunk Bay.

We worked out a discounted price of $10 pp round trip to get to Trunk Bay and it would of been $12 RT to get to Cinnamon Bay which is almost as nice as Trunk Bay. Both have bath and testroom facilities with showers. Figure about a 20 minute ride to get to and from these beaches. There is a $4 charge to get into Trunk Bay and there is NO charge to get into Cinnamon Bay.

Both beaches have a refreshment facility to pick up some refreshments and food if U are hungry. there is also a nice National Park tour of the Island of St. John for those interested. There is REALLY NOT a bad beach on this Island but our 2 Favorites are Trunk Bay & Cinnamon Bay.

Hope this info helps those wishing to get over to St. John form St. Thomas.:thumb

.

 
S

sabonasue

Guest
Thanks for the very useful info, Einstein. I was wondering, are all the taxis more like buses which accommodate about 10 or so passengers? Are there any taxis which take just a family of 3? Or would this be very expensive? I am asking about taxis on St. Maatern, St Thomas, Grand Turk and San Juan.
 
S

sld323

Guest
Do you recall what the charges are at Trunk Bay for chair rental? snorkal equipment rental? and are there bathrooms?

thanks
 
R

red stripe

Guest
I am afraid I do not recall the prices for renting gear.
we usually take our own.

But they do have showers, and a place to get some food and drink.
we usually sit on the sand, and I can not remember seeing chairs there.

It is a beautiful place.
They do charge $4 admission. But remember.. it is a US park, so if you have a pass to parks in the USA.. it can be used here also.
 
Top