Thinking about St. John and how to go

[augie]

 

Augie...the island misses you!

 

Not nearly as much as I miss her - but I suspect that you already knew that!

 

Savor every minute of your trip!

[Host Anne]

We are enjoying every second, Augie.

 

Here's a shot of a cute little guy (just a month old) from Haulover South during a snorkeling trip yesterday. A bit too far to go for a cruise ship excursion to snorkel but you can get here if you are taking a taxi tour of the island.

 

Just another beautiful day in paradise!

[cvrap]

Wannabatsea,

 

Send us some more pics!!! I know you are having a wonderful time!!

[LynnAnne]

Want to go to Trunk Bay while on a cruise Feb 2013. Please go through the steps again on how to get there. I don't see a excurtion yet going there with our ship. Thanks

[augie]

Want to go to Trunk Bay while on a cruise Feb 2013. Please go through the steps again on how to get there. I don't see a excurtion yet going there with our ship. Thanks

 

Get off of your ship as early as possible. Find a taxi going directly to Red Hook and take it there. Buy a round trip ticket for the ferry to Cruz Bay (St. John) and take the ferry. When you get off there will be a LOT of taxis there going to Trunk Bay. Get on one, pay the fee to enter the beach area - and....ENJOY!

 

You will want to take the return ferry to Red Hook/St. Thomas (they leave from Cruz Bay on the hour) that leaves three hours before your ship's scheduled departure.

[petepie]

Just returned from a spring break cruise with a stop in St. Thomas. Made the trip to St. John and have some pointers. We thought we knew everything we needed to since we've been to St. John several times before, but those times we were staying on the island in a villa so had rental car, plenty of time etc. Going on a cruise day was a little different.

 

First lesson learned: get off the boat early - the ferry from Red Hook leaves once an hour on the hour. We moseyed off the ship at 8:40 and got to Red Hook around 9:05 so had to sit and wait for the 10am ferry. Some of the ship excursions leave right from the cruise ship pier - put you on their boat and take you over, which would be more convenient than taking the taxi to the ferry, but is also more expensive.

 

Second tip: go to a beach where you can easily get a taxi back. St. John is known for beautiful uncrowded beaches. The downside is that when you're on a tight timeline at the end of the day, it could be tough to get a taxi back if you're on one of those uncrowded beaches. Some of the further out beaches will not have regular taxi traffic (Francis, Salt Pond, maybe Maho), so stick with Trunk, Cinnamon, or Caneel Bay resort (where you can walk through to get to Honeymoon). Even though Hawksnest doesn't typically have taxis wait, they drive right by on their way from Cruz Bay to and from Trunk, so it should be easier to flag one down there too.

 

Third tip: if the waves are up at Trunk, head to another beach. North swells were up making Trunk and Cinnamon unswimmable for our kids. Normally if we were in a car, we'd head over to Maho, or the south side of the island (Lameshur or Salt Pond). But on the cruise we had to stick with taxis and did not want to take one that far out. A driver recommended Honeymoon beach, reached by walking through the Caneel bay property. Great recommendation, very small waves, beautiful beach, taxi stand at Caneel resort, and we got to go to a beach we'd never been to before. Caneel charges rental cars $20 to park on their property, so we never bothered before since other beaches are free. This was definitely the right plan when we were traveling without the burden of the rental car. They had no services there, but we bought some sodas and snacks at the Trunk Bay snack bar (where we went first and saw the waves were too big) to take with us. Also, when it's time to go back, Caneel is only 5 mins from Cruz Bay. Note that Caneel Bay resort does not encourage daytrippers to walk through their property, but they do allow you to skirt the property on a walking path then dirt road down to Honeymoon beach and have someone stationed at the resort entrance to point you towards the right path.

 

Fourth tip: Pay attention to which beaches have services (restrooms & food). Few of the St. John beaches have bathrooms (Trunk, Hawksnest, Cinnamon, Maho), and of those I know for sure only Trunk and Cinnamon have flushing toilets (Hawksnest may too but I can't remember). Rest of the beaches have latrines or nothing. I think only Trunk and Cinnamon have snack bars for beverages and food, so if you're not bringing your own, you'll be stuck. Since the beaches are national park, there are no beachside resorts (except Caneel and the Westin (which is not in the national park)), and no beachside bars, motorized watersports etc.

 

Finally, before you get back on the ferry, have a beer, painkiller, or bushwacker (or all three) at the Beach Bar right by the ferry terminal in Cruz Bay! (as you get off the ferry, it's to your right and on the beach) You will be less than 150ft from the ferry so can walk over about 5 minutes before departure.

Edited April 28, 2012 by petepie

[LynnAnne]

Thanks for all the info!! You all rock!!

[cruisee<3]

cruisee ~ if you are off the ship as early as possible, you can get to st. John and have enough time to enjoy the the island and then make it back to St. Thomas for some shopping, especially if you are docked at Havensight. What ship are you on?

 

Disney Fantasy ... what's the best thing to do at st john?

[cruisee<3]

Just returned from a spring break cruise with a stop in St. Thomas. Made the trip to St. John and have some pointers. We thought we knew everything we needed to since we've been to St. John several times before, but those times we were staying on the island in a villa so had rental car, plenty of time etc. Going on a cruise day was a little different.

 

First lesson learned: get off the boat early - the ferry from Red Hook leaves once an hour on the hour. We moseyed off the ship at 8:40 and got to Red Hook around 9:05 so had to sit and wait for the 10am ferry. Some of the ship excursions leave right from the cruise ship pier - put you on their boat and take you over, which would be more convenient than taking the taxi to the ferry, but is also more expensive.

 

Second tip: go to a beach where you can easily get a taxi back. St. John is known for beautiful uncrowded beaches. The downside is that when you're on a tight timeline at the end of the day, it could be tough to get a taxi back if you're on one of those uncrowded beaches. Some of the further out beaches will not have regular taxi traffic (Francis, Salt Pond, maybe Maho), so stick with Trunk, Cinnamon, or Caneel Bay resort (where you can walk through to get to Honeymoon). Even though Hawksnest doesn't typically have taxis wait, they drive right by on their way from Cruz Bay to and from Trunk, so it should be easier to flag one down there too.

 

Third tip: if the waves are up at Trunk, head to another beach. North swells were up making Trunk and Cinnamon unswimmable for our kids. Normally if we were in a car, we'd head over to Maho, or the south side of the island (Lameshur or Salt Pond). But on the cruise we had to stick with taxis and did not want to take one that far out. A driver recommended Honeymoon beach, reached by walking through the Caneel bay property. Great recommendation, very small waves, beautiful beach, taxi stand at Caneel resort, and we got to go to a beach we'd never been to before. Caneel charges rental cars $20 to park on their property, so we never bothered before since other beaches are free. This was definitely the right plan when we were traveling without the burden of the rental car. They had no services there, but we bought some sodas and snacks at the Trunk Bay snack bar (where we went first and saw the waves were too big) to take with us. Also, when it's time to go back, Caneel is only 5 mins from Cruz Bay. Note that Caneel Bay resort does not encourage daytrippers to walk through their property, but they do allow you to skirt the property on a walking path then dirt road down to Honeymoon beach and have someone stationed at the resort entrance to point you towards the right path.

 

Fourth tip: Pay attention to which beaches have services (restrooms & food). Few of the St. John beaches have bathrooms (Trunk, Hawksnest, Cinnamon, Maho), and of those I know for sure only Trunk and Cinnamon have flushing toilets (Hawksnest may too but I can't remember). Rest of the beaches have latrines or nothing. I think only Trunk and Cinnamon have snack bars for beverages and food, so if you're not bringing your own, you'll be stuck. Since the beaches are national park, there are no beachside resorts (except Caneel and the Westin (which is not in the national park)), and no beachside bars, motorized watersports etc.

 

Finally, before you get back on the ferry, have a beer, painkiller, or bushwacker (or all three) at the Beach Bar right by the ferry terminal in Cruz Bay! (as you get off the ferry, it's to your right and on the beach) You will be less than 150ft from the ferry so can walk over about 5 minutes before departure.

 

Thanks for all that wonderful information! I still haven't booked an excursion for this port and am still super confused as to what I want to do :confused:

[Host Anne]

Back to reality after a fantastic week on St. John.

 

A few more pointers after reading petepie's post.

 

I wouldn't hesitate going to Maho from a cruise vacation. It's only a couple minutes past Cinnamon and on cruise ship days, we avoid Trunk and sometimes even Cinnamon due to crowds. Check to see what other ships are in port with you (google St. Thomas Cruise Ship schedule and you'll find a list of ships in port for the month). If you want to go to a less crowded beach such as Maho, make arrangements with the taxi driver that takes you there to come back and get you at a specified time. This may concern some but we've done it for years and our taxi driver has ALWAYS returned for us at our agreed upon time.

 

Francis Bay also has restrooms but I would not recommend Francis for cruise ship passengers. It's at least another ten minutes beyond Maho and not worth the extra time. Hawksnest does have regular restrooms but it's about the smallest of the north shore beaches and also gets quite crowded on any day.

 

Petepie is correct. Only Trunk and Cinnamon have snack bars and rent things like beach chairs and snorkel equipment. The others are beaches and restrooms only. Even restrooms with pit toilets are kept relatively clean so as long as you stick with a north shore beach between Caneel and Maho, you will have restroom facilities of some sort.

 

Cruisee ~ what's causing confusion? Anything we can answer to help you out? Let us know.

 

Here's one more photo for now. It's taken at Maho beach. I'm working on an album and will post a link as soon as it's complete.

[Asia_Leone]

Hello everyone, can you let me know how long it takes to get to Trunk Bay from the port?

[Host Anne]

Asia ~ it depends on where your ship is docked. There are two docks in St. Thomas - Crown Bay and Havensight. From Havensight, if you time it right and get to the Red Hook ferry ten to fifteen minutes before the hourly ferry departs, I'd say the entire trip is about is a little over an hour (maybe an hour and ten to fifteen minutes). If you are docked at Crown Bay, I'd add another 20 - 25 minutes to that total.

 

If you break it down, I'd estimate 30 minutes for the taxi from Havensight to Red Hook. 20 minutes across on the ferry to Cruz Bay, St. John and then about 15 minutes in the taxi from Cruz Bay to Trunk Bay. Your taxi may stop once or twice for photos so it could end up being 20 minutes to Trunk. Those are fairly good estimates.

 

We always try to be off the ship by 8:00 AM so we can catch the 9:00 AM ferry from Red Hook to Cruz Bay. That way we can be on the beach before 10:00 AM.

[cvrap]

Beautiful picture!! Thanks!! Can't wait to see your album!!

[Jiffymom]

Has anyone ever just hired a driver to stay with you.I want to beach hop.

[LynnAnne]

Is there ever a excution that will take you to Trunk Bay???

[gatour]

Petepie and wannabatsea,

 

Great timing and great pointers.

 

After many stops at St Thomas on cruises, we flying down for a week stay on St Johns.

 

We will be staying at the Westin. I am trying to figure out the logistics about getting around. The Westin has a ferry between St Johns and St Thomas (Crown bay) and I have that part down.

 

My questions are mostly about getting around St Johns. Sounds like the a taxi to the beach of the day and and pre-arranged return pickup will work for those type of trips.

 

But I would also like to see some of the sights and perhaps utilize some of the National Park trails. The hotel has an onsight jeep rental agency where they offer 3+ day rentals. There is a 3 day rate, a 7 day rate and a daily rate. But you have to book for at least 3 days, so I imagine the daily rate if if you want to rent for 4 days.

 

I also don't want to eat every day at the hotel. Would like to eat at various restaurants around the island.

 

So should I think about reserving a jeep for a least part of the trip, or could I rely on taxi's etc for most if not all of the trip. Obviously when we take the hotel ferry to St Thomas (Crown Bay) we would have to take a taxi into Charlotte Amai.

[augie]

 

So should I think about reserving a jeep for a least part of the trip, or could I rely on taxi's etc for most if not all of the trip. Obviously when we take the hotel ferry to St Thomas (Crown Bay) we would have to take a taxi into Charlotte Amai.

 

You absolutely should rent a jeep and see what the island has to offer beyond where the taxis will take you.

[Host Anne]

gatour ~ I think quite a few people do what you are thinking about. Rent a jeep for a few days from the rental desk at the Westin. I highly recommend doing that so you can see all of the island. One couple on our catamaran trip stayed at the Westin for four nights and never got beyond the beach at Caneel bay other than getting on our catamaran. You can't enjoy the beauty of the island if you don't venture beyond the Cruz Bay area.

 

Here's a link to my recent review on trip advisor: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g147409-i432-k5384143-St_John_Trip_Report_April_22_29-St_John_U_S_Virgin_Islands.html You'll find some restaurant suggestions here. I highly suggest making a reservation for the bar on the upper level at Zozo's at Gallows Point. Make a reservation for 30 minutes before sunset. GREAT view and equally great food. If you are going before june, tell Carlos we said hello (he's the bartender/server). There are lots of great restaurants in Cruz Bay and if you rent a jeep, you can venture to some of the fun places on the east side of the island like Skinney Legs, Shipwreck Landing, Donkey Diner and Miss Lucy's. So much to do, so little time. Have a great one!

[Host Anne]

You can check out my photos from our recent St. John visit here:

http://stjohnapril2012.shutterfly.com/

 

ENJOY!

[skydog802]

gatour ~ I think quite a few people do what you are thinking about. Rent a jeep for a few days from the rental desk at the Westin. I highly recommend doing that so you can see all of the island. One couple on our catamaran trip stayed at the Westin for four nights and never got beyond the beach at Caneel bay other than getting on our catamaran. You can't enjoy the beauty of the island if you don't venture beyond the Cruz Bay area.

 

Here's a link to my recent review on trip advisor: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g147409-i432-k5384143-St_John_Trip_Report_April_22_29-St_John_U_S_Virgin_Islands.html You'll find some restaurant suggestions here. I highly suggest making a reservation for the bar on the upper level at Zozo's at Gallows Point. Make a reservation for 30 minutes before sunset. GREAT view and equally great food. If you are going before june, tell Carlos we said hello (he's the bartender/server). There are lots of great restaurants in Cruz Bay and if you rent a jeep, you can venture to some of the fun places on the east side of the island like Skinney Legs, Shipwreck Landing, Donkey Diner and Miss Lucy's. So much to do, so little time. Have a great one!

 

You can check out my photos from our recent St. John visit here:

http://stjohnapril2012.shutterfly.com/

 

ENJOY!

Great review and great photos. Thanks for sharing.

[cvrap]

Love the pics!! We started growing Plumerias back several years ago!! Love that white one!!

 

I wish I could take pics like yours. What camera and lens are you using?

[Hogladyrider]

Anne FABULOUS photos and great review.......glad you enjoyed "heaven on earth" for another week.

Susan

[Host Anne]

Thanks, Skydog, cvrap and Hogladyrider. Glad you enjoyed the photos.

 

cvrap ~ I actually used a combo of two cameras and three lens. My DLSR is an Olympus E620 (no longer manufactured). My point and shoot underwater is a new Panasonic LUMIX TS3. Loved it but had a problem with it the last couple of days as moisture and then water seeped into the fixed lens on the front of the camera. I just sent it back to Panasonic yesterday. Loved it until then.

 

If you want to see GREAT underwater photos, Augie has them and he'd probably be happy to re-post a link to those. I still need quite a bit of work on my underwater work.

 

Great weekend to all.

[hula dancer]

I've just finished reading all 35 pages of posts. Yep, all 35!

 

Thanks to Augie & Anne (and everyone else) I no longer want to just spend a day on St. John. I want to be there for a week. No, that's wrong ... I'd really like to be there for a month! I'm going to start planning a trip right now.

 

Augie & Anne --- what are your favorite times of year to be on St. John? Is it possible to find places to rent for only 2 people? Hmmm, the places you rent look fabulous ... can we come stay with you. Hey, we'd be happy to pay our share. We'll even cook and clean !!!

 

We were fortunate enough to be on HAL's small Prinsendam ship over the Christmas & NY holidays. It's a small ship so we anchored in the harbor and tendered to shore. Fabulous day.

 

I had pre-arranged with a local company (Arawak) for a 2-person kayak rental. What a day. It was very windy so the owner suggested we paddle into the wind and then have the wind at our back on our return. Good idea! We managed to paddle to Chocolate Hole but it was quite a challenge with very strong winds and BIG, BIG waves. At one point, no matter how hard we dug in and pulled our paddles it seemed as if we did not move for about 10 minutes. On our return we had the wind at our backs and a following sea -- what fun! Would not recommend this on a windy day unless you are experienced kayakers (We are 66 & 69, are experienced kayakers and are both very fit).

 

This day just whetted my desire for more time on St. John. We will be back on St. Thomas (Celebrity) December 5th, 2012 and again in February 2013 (Princess). This time with our son & wife. Plan to take the ferry to St. John both times. Can't wait to show St. John to the "kids".

 

Thanks again for sharing your wealth of information and incredible photos.

 

Molly

[Host Anne]

Molly ~ WOW....what a trooper you are. That's a ton of reading.

 

Yes, there are quite a few places on St. John that accommodates two. VRBO has a bunch listed and is where I found Skyflower Suite where we stayed. It was perfect for two!!! Favorite time of year is a tough one. Jan & Feb has great weather when it's cold back in the US but that's also high season. I prefer when it's less crowded. We've done April, May and June now. I think I'd vote for April. Fewer people, not too hot, not too many bugs yet, all the restaurants and stores are open. I'd probably love it in late Fall, too (November) but our business doesn't let us get away in the Fall.

 

Cruises have taken us there primarily from January through March. In all of our stops there on cruise ships (probably ten), we have only had one day where we had any kind of considerable rain.

 

For me, I'd go any time of year, I love it that much. The sights, the peacefulness....it's just the perfect way to slow down and appreciate mother nature's beauty.

 

Enjoy you upcoming stops, Molly. Wishing you days filled with sunshine!