Car rental in the southeast Caribbean ports of call

My cruise is coming soon.

I plan to spend most of my time sightseeing. I'll visit St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Sint Maarten.

We are 4 people, so I am thinking about renting a car in the ports.

While I am used to renting cars, I've never done it for just a single day (or 7 hours, for that matter).

So, what is your opinion about renting a car in these ports, namely, should I:

a)Reserve the car online through some website rental car comparison website.

b)Seek for the car locally.

Are there any other issues / problems I might encounter? Or perhaps in some particular island the transport is so good/cheap that a day's sightseeing for 4 people would not be the easiest using a rented car?

Can you drive on the left side of the road? St Thomas uses left hand cars while driving on the left side of the road.

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Yes, we have rented cars in Australia, the UK, Namibia, Malta, Cyprus and some other left-hand-drive countries.

Yes, we have rented cars in Australia, the UK, Namibia, Malta, Cyprus and some other left-hand-drive countries.

The point about St. Thomas is that they use left steering wheel cars (American cars) to drive on the left side of the road, which adds a layer of confusion for both experienced left side and right side of the road drivers. If you were to skip one island, I would leave the driving to the locals on St. Lucia. Better yet, spend the money and do a boat excursion to the Pitons.

You will see a lot more if you take cabs. The driver of a rental car has to watch where they are going, watch the road. They can't just watch the scenery as they drive by.

If you get a cabbie, ask them to drive you around for the day, show you the islands and negotiate the cost, don't just say OK, offer a lower price. make it your cab for the day. Then divide his fare by 4 and give a good tip too.

We have done this three times. Did you know there is a lake on St. Thomas that is big enough for a Dr. to tie his airplane up at his dock? We even met our driver's pastor on Cable beach where we stopped.

On Cozumel we went to ruins and saw the other side of Cozumel. If we had rented a car we wouldn't even know where to go!

In Antiqua we saw our drivers house and his daughters who just got out of school. We made him stop and he gave them $ for ice cream and put their books in his trunk!

They always would stop, let us out of the cab to see sights waited for us to get back in the cab.

I wouldn't do it. Simply because you are taking way too much of a chance getting lost and missing the ship. If you do insist, just don't rent one in Barbados. That island is extremely rural, and they are severely lacking in street signs for their tiny back roads. Our tour guide even said that he doesn't recommend tourists renting cars there because driving around Barbados is too confusing.

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We have actually rented cars in all those ports....but in some places it was a few years ago. Whether (or not) you need a rental car depends on what you want to do. If you are simply thinking of a beach day and perhaps some shopping...then a rental car is not usually a good idea. If you want to explore an island then a car can be good. Of all those islands we think the best for a rental car are St Maarten and Barbados. But both of those island mean driving on the left side of the road and you must also be careful to find automatic transmissions unless you are comfy with a stick (and shifting with your left hand). In St Maarten you can reserve a rental car for pick up at the port...or usually find a rental car without a reservation (no guarantee). In Barbados, when we rented, we reserved in advance and picked the car up at the port (the agency rep did all of his business out of a briefcase. Once you get out in the countryside of Barbados there are very few signs and its easy to get very lost. So having a working Smartphone you can use for GPS is a good thing. We happen to have T-Mobile...which simply works everywhere (Europe, Caribbean, Asia, etc) which makes our life a lot easier.

St Lucia is a large island and parts of it are very rural (like in a jungle) with bad roads. We have driven all the way down to the Pitons and even further south...but it was not the best area to drive. Not sure we would recommend it on this island. With 4 persons you can probably do as well by simply hiring a car/driver at the port. As too St Kitts, we have not driven there in over thirty years. We usually use the local buses to go to one of our favorite beaches.

Some of the islands do have interesting policies. For example, when we rented on Barbados we were required to get a local drivers license...which was quickly arranged at the port by our rental car agent (he filled out the forms. took the money..and handed us our temporary license). In a sense it is just a scam to collect more money from tourists...but is is the law (we assume its still the law).

Hank

...If you were to skip one island, I would leave the driving to the locals on St. Lucia...

Agreed. My husband was raised in St. Lucia and learned to drive there (standard-shift, right hand drive, clutch/brake/gas using other foot, opposite side of the road to North America), and he would be the first to tell you not to rent a car there. It can be very scary and dangerous.

Take a tour, or hire a cabbie for a few hours. There is good shopping at the pier (Pointe Seraphine).

clutch/brake/gas using other foot

St. Martin drives on the right side of the road.

We always rent a car from Coastal when we go to St. Maarten. The island is very easy to navigate and the roads are quite good. The best way is to head west towards Maho Bay, then go north to the French side to Marigot. Have lunch in Grand Case at one of the mom and pop beach side restaurants for fresh seafood. Then head back towards the Dutch side on the east side of the island, stopping at all the lovely beaches along the way. Do not go through Downtown Philipsburg in the late afternoon as the traffic is heavy, so coming down along the east side is best.