Advice on St. Johns

[J9sling]

Our family of 4 (with 2 kids 11 and 13) are interested in visiting St. John while we stop in St. Thomas. We really liked the idea of the natural beauty of the island. I would love advice on the best way to get to and from the island, places on the island to visit (beach, lunch, shopping) and transport on the island. Also, are there any tours on the island that we could book? Our ship arrives in the morning at around 9am and then leaves at 8pm so we have plenty of time to explore.

 

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

Jennie

[PABirder]

The typical thing is to take the Red Hook ferry from St. Thomas to Cruz Bay, St. John. Although small, Cruz Bay has a decent amount of shops to browse and quite a few restaurants. The quickest beaches (and quite scenic, good snorkeling, reefs are close to the beach, amenities) are Trunk and Cinnamon Bays which are just moments from Cruz Bay by the plentiful taxis. If you can swing it, you could rent a car and drive to the northern part of the island to go to Leinster Bay/Waterlemon Cay (VERY scenic but long walk from the parking lot, some swimming to get to the reef) or even a longer drive to Salt Pond Bay. ENJOY! It really is a beautiful island!

[Jeanne B]

St John is beautiful, we spent a week there last summer and can't wait for our next trip back. I would also recommend renting a jeep for the day, there are lots of great beaches and you would have more freedom vs relying on taxi service.

 

I would recommend stopping at Hawksnest Beach which is right before Trunk and Cinnamon, it doesn't have all the amenities that the others have but it was our personal favorite, smaller and more peaceful than the other two IMO. If you rent a jeep you'll have time to go to several beaches. Waterlemon that PABirder mentioned is one beach we didn't make it to but it's definitely on our list for next time.

 

Cruz Bay is small so you should easily be able to do a little shopping before heading back to St Thomas. I purchased a Caribbean hook bracelet from Palm Jewelers, St John Spice shop was one of my favorite gift shops (it's right next to the ferry terminal on the upper floor) as well as Pink Papaya.

 

If you just want sandwiches Deli Grotto in Mongoose Junction is a great place for lunch. Mongoose Junction is the last shopping area as you head out to the north shore beaches (Hawksnest, Trunk, etc).

[MiniMom57]

Jeanne -- did you stay at an all-inclusive or a regular hotel? We loved St. John so much when were there in early March for a day at Trunk Bay that we want to go back for a vacation either in St. John or in St. Thomas

[Jeanne B]

We spent a couple of nights on St Thomas (one night at Secret Harbour and one night at Sapphire) and on St John we rented a villa. It was wonderful, hillside, overlooked the ocean (and the Westin Resort) and we had our own private pool. I hated the day we had to leave...and I can't wait to get back again. St John was definitely our favorite of the two islands.

 

Feel free to ask if I can answer any more questions, there are numerous villa rental agencies on St John.

[dyeaman]

we arrive at Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas at 9 AM then depart at 8 PM...is this enough time to get to Red Hook then catch the ferry over to St John. I need some advice. Thanks. David

[PABirder]

St John is beautiful, we spent a week there last summer and can't wait for our next trip back. I would also recommend renting a jeep for the day, there are lots of great beaches and you would have more freedom vs relying on taxi service.

 

I would recommend stopping at Hawksnest Beach which is right before Trunk and Cinnamon, it doesn't have all the amenities that the others have but it was our personal favorite, smaller and more peaceful than the other two IMO. If you rent a jeep you'll have time to go to several beaches. Waterlemon that PABirder mentioned is one beach we didn't make it to but it's definitely on our list for next time.

 

Cruz Bay is small so you should easily be able to do a little shopping before heading back to St Thomas. I purchased a Caribbean hook bracelet from Palm Jewelers, St John Spice shop was one of my favorite gift shops (it's right next to the ferry terminal on the upper floor) as well as Pink Papaya.

 

If you just want sandwiches Deli Grotto in Mongoose Junction is a great place for lunch. Mongoose Junction is the last shopping area as you head out to the north shore beaches (Hawksnest, Trunk, etc).

 

Jeanne B - Deli Grotto was our favorite spot to buy packed lunches - great sandwiches and loved the chocolate chip cookies!

[schnell]

Thats the same arrival times and departure times we have in a couple months and thats plenty of time to get over there and back. You can figure between 60-90 minutes ea. way from the cruise ship to Trunk Bay. It is soooo worth it though. We stayed a week last May on St. Thomas and got to St. John twice and wanted to go more. We love staying on St. Thomas due to the activity, but love the tranquility of St. John. Loved it so much that we actually bought with Marriott at their new timeshare. Now we will go there once a year :)

 

Enjoy St. John ;)

[JNCRUISEBUMS]

I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF WE CAN GET A TOUR GUIDE FROM ST. THOMAS TO TAKE US TO ST. JOHN'S FOR THE DAY? YOU MAY EMAIL ME OR RESPOND HERE. THANKS! NANCIE@AUSTIN.RR.COM

[kestrel]

we arrive at Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas at 9 AM then depart at 8 PM...is this enough time to get to Red Hook then catch the ferry over to St John. I need some advice. Thanks. David

 

Yes, you will have plenty of time. Take a look of the "Ferry Services" section in the following link:

 

http://www.wiol.com/st-john/services.html

 

When we were in St.Thomas last December, we took the Downtown Ferry to St.John and back. There will be plenty of taxis waiting for you in St.John. They have "standard" taxi fares.