Scooter Rentals on St. John

I must say right off the bat, that I don't recommend renting a scooter to see St. John. There are very steep hills, even narrower roads, and a bunch of crazy drivers! When the roads are slick, the only thing that will make you feel good is 4w drive.

But the scooter guys are really nice. They are located in The Lumberyard, which I will mark on my St. John map when I figure out how to add one. Their phone number on St. John is 340.693-RENT

St. John Island Tour by Taxi and Taxi Rates

Taxis are always waiting at the ferry dock to take you anywhere you want to go. I always have friends do a tour with a “taxi mon,” just because we tend to forget some of the lore. All should have the fixed rate to each beach or other destinations for you to peruse. I will be adding rates soon, but they all (should)have their rates posted in the back of their "safari bus". Always ask how much for each person before leaving, so you don't have sticker shock at the end of the ride!

St John Transportation - Cheap Public Busses

Another wonderful benefit of being under the US Flag (as well as no passports required) is our public bus transportation which goes from the Cruz Bay Ferry Dock all the way to Coral Bay via Centerline Road, then continues to Salt Pond where they turn around and come back thru Coral Bay before heading back to Cruz Bay. It’s only $1 per person each way, so it is a great, cheap way to go from one end of the island to the other, and places in between. You can take the bus to various hiking trails as well. The bus leaves the Cruz Bay ferry dock at :25 minutes past the hour (about 5 minutes after the ferry arrives on St. John), and the ride out to Coral Bay (depending upon how many stops are in between) takes about 20 minutes (thirty minutes to Salt Pond).

The bus route goes right in front of Skinny Legs and Jolly Dog, Island Blues, Shipwreck Landing and turns around at Salt Pond. The busses are surprisingly dependable. I believe the last bus goes to Coral Bay after the 7:00 pm ferry, but I wouldn’t depend on it if you MUST be somewhere at a specific time.

A little local knowledge: if the bus is full before the ferry arrives, it will leave the dock early. This is very rare; normally early in the morning, when school lets out and sometimes when many are getting off work at the same time.

St. John Transportation: Car Rental, Bus, Taxis

Another wonderful benefit of being under the US Flag (as well as no passports required) is our public bus transportation which goes from the Cruz Bay Ferry Dock all the way to Coral Bay via Centerline Road, then continues to Salt Pond where they turn around and come back thru Coral Bay before heading back to Cruz Bay. It’s only $1 per person each way, so it is a great, cheap way to go from one end of the island to the other, and places in between. You can take the bus to various hiking trails that start on Centerline as well. The bus leaves the Cruz Bay ferry dock at :20 minutes past the hour (about 5 minutes after the ferry arrives on St. John), and the ride out to Coral Bay (depending upon how many stops are in between) takes about 20 minutes (thirty minutes to Salt Pond).

The bus route goes right in front of Skinny Legs and Jolly Dog, Island Blues, Shipwreck Landing and turns around at Salt Pond. The busses are surprisingly dependable. I believe the last bus goes to Coral Bay after the 7:00 pm ferry, but I wouldn’t depend on it if you MUST be somewhere at a specific time.

A little local knowledge: if the bus is full before the ferry arrives, it will leave the dock early. This is very rare; normally early in the morning, when school lets out and sometimes when many are getting off work at the same time.

Stepping off the Ferry in Cruz Bay

When you step off the ferry, you are in the heart of Cruz Bay. Be assured that there is snorkeling, hiking, shopping and more to do within a couple of hundred yards from the Cruz Bay Ferry Dock (details in the next blogs)

The park across the street from the ferry dock hosts many events, and our Chamber of Commerce is working towards making the little kiosk in the Park more visitor friendly. "Connections" is straight up the little road in front of the ferry dock, which most St. Johnians consider to be the heartbeat of Cruz Bay. Here you can get first hand info on what you can do for a day, paid or otherwise. (not to be confused with the “St. John Connection” desk to the right of the ferry dock, which the Westin Resort has built to “help visitors” as well as sell more timeshares.)

As mentioned previously, Cruz Bay is maybe only 2 football fields long, so you can go from one end to the other quickly, then decide what you want to do for the day.

Cruise Ship Day Excursions Don't Have to Be Costly

St. John Cruise Ship Day Excursions – cruisers, there is really no need to pay triple for what you can book yourself through some very trustworthy and knowledgeable sources right on St. John! And since calling the USVI and most cell phone providers (like AT&T) include the US Virgin Islands in their national calling plans (check w/ your provider before taking my word), it’s just a few minutes on your phone and you are booked on a personalized, away-from- the- cruise- ship- crowds day excursion!

Here are a few of the great folks who book all sorts of excursions every day for day trippers to St. John:

Connections St. John and Every’Ting both book day sails, snorkeling trips, dinghy rentals, horse back riding, a day trip to the British Virgin Islands and more. They have a plethora of knowledge and your best interests at heart, so you will enjoy St. John leisurely and comfortably, on or off the water.

Getting to St. John

Coming from St. Thomas to St. John is really easy and very convenient, since the ferry runs every hour on the hour between 7 am and 11 pm, and it is only a :20 minute ferry ride. The ferries are very dependable, and we have found many people to change their return time to later because they are having too much fun on St. John! It’s $5.00 per person each way (baggage additional). (this might be going up in the next month or so, due to rising gas prices)

Some St. Thomas visitors bring their rental car over for the day, but the car barges are less dependable than the people ferries; plus many St. Thomas car rental companies don’t allow their cars to go to St. John – if you have car trouble, they have to come to St. John to assist you, and most don’t think that is wise use of their time.

Welcome to St. John USVI, Day Tripper!

Welcome to St John USVI for the day!

You’ve found the start of your very special day on St. John! We are here to give you accurate information for your St john day trip, excursions, and generally for folks who are coming over on the St. Thomas ferry or off a cruise ship for a few hours or the whole day. We will include enough info that even week-long island guests will appreciate.

I’ve lived on St. John for many years, and try to stop each time and help visitors with a St. John map open, standing on the corner trying to figure out which way to go or what to do. How many hours do you have? What do you like to do? What is St. John known for? That one is easy – the National Park and its beaches are incomparable! Plus, you don’t have to be an avid hiker to enjoy some of our trails. Just walking around Cruz Bay is an experience! The narrow roads, colorful buildings and stonework…and of course, the beautiful water and mountains! Everything has a slow, laid back feel.

So this site is to help you decide where to go if you have just the day or a few hours to enjoy our little piece of paradise.

I hear of many week-long St John visitors saying that they came back for a longer visit to Love City because of the wonderful time they had on a day trip to St. John. As you will find, there is so much to do on St. John, you’ll want to come back for longer than a day!

There are many different “types of adventure” on St. John – from the hiker/backpacker, to the spa queen, budget traveler to discriminate luxury guest, eco tourist to families and cruise ship passengers.

I can tell you what we DON’T have: Barkers on the street corners hounding you to come in the stores; discos or late night dress up nightclubs; women dripping in jewelry

And since Cruz Bay is so small and parking spaces are very limited, it’s an easy walk from one end to the other. The whole village is less than two football fields long, and most of the shopping and sites are within just a few yards of the Bay.