About that ferry to St John's
 

Like everybody, we're flying into St. Thomas first & then taking the ferry to St. John. Because we're flying in fairly late in the day (past 3 p.m.), we thought we'd stay a night in St. Thomas and then take the ferry in the morning. But where to stay for one night? I had read that the ferry leaves from the East End...so, I thought, "cool. We'll go stay on that part of the island." But I can only find way-expensive (and multiple-nights) places over there. Where do most people stay?

There are actually 2 different ferries between St. Thomas and St. John. One leaves from Charlotte Amalie and one that leave from Red Hook (East End). With a 3PM arrival in St. thomas you have plenty of time to catch a ferry so you don't have to overnight in St. Thomas. You can check schedules here:

http://www.vinow.com/general_usvi/interisland_ferry/

Sorry, can't recommend a place to stay in East End, if you decide to overnight.

that ferry schedule link is great....many thanks!

As far as staying overnight, I guess i look at it this way: Say we get to the airport here & we don't leave exactly on time. In Atlanta. In July.  This is not just a far-fetched situation. :) Then say we get to st. thomas at 4:30...then we have to take a taxi across the island & get to the ferry...and then find the villa rental place...drive again...and we have kids. Feels easier to just cruise on in, get a rum drink on St. Thomas...and then roll around the next morning.

:)

(i ended up booking at the best western emeraold...they're afforable & decent location).

Don't know the schedules of ferries from Char. Am. but Red Hook are regular..You have to take a taxi where ever you go and places to stay in town are "iffy" and Red Hook offers none that I know of. Check it out carefully. Char. Am. is not a place to wander in at night as any regular St.T. visitor will tell you. Seeing the resv. that you have made stay close to it and don't wander about..Also check the taxi price to Red Hook if that is where you are catching the ferry before you get in tne cab. A longer ferry ride is from Char. Am. and the top deck sun can be brutal and the lower deck diesel fumes worse. That said you will love the islands. Have fun amer_can

Garvin22 I have to respectfully disagree with you. If you are delayed leaving Atlanta, I've been on that same flight 6+ times and have never been more the 30 minutes late leaving, it's not a big deal to catch a later ferry at Red Hook. You don't want to stay in St. Thomas for one night because you'ld basically just sitting around your room.

What villa did you rent & from whom? All the rental agencies I've used meet you at the dock in Cruz Bay and escort you to your villa. Once you expercience St. John you'll know why we recommend getting there as soon as you can.

Agree with Pulley on this one!

I agree too!
I can't imagine staying on St Thomas for the night - when getting to St John is so quick and easy!
The ferries run until midnight - and it would be so, so much nicer to wake up in St John already settled in your accomodations!

I agree with the others. I would go directly to STJ. Thats actually a very reasonable time to arrive to make it to your villa. While the taxi/ferry situation might seem daunting, it's really quite simple.

Having just been to St. John in Apil, I would recommend the Charlotte ferry.That one is about a mile or so from the airport.Otherwise, the ferry from red hook is a wild goose chase all over the island, and there is only 1 road! It took us over an hour stopping at nearly every hotel on the way to get from airport to red hook! We stayed at Gallows Point Resort and loved it.

Just curious- why did you stop at every hotel? Did you take some kind of shuttle? We have only done the STT to Red Hook in a (private) taxi that we were paying for so there were no stops- I think it all depends on what you are booking when you choose your cab. As others said, go ahead and get to Stj but don't get on some kind of shared taxi unless you want to do just what the previous poster described. You can go straight to the ferry dock in Red Hook.

Just have to put my two cents worth in here. We have done the public taxi's three times and a private taxi twice. The most we have stopped (public taxi) is once to drop people off at The Wyndham. Maybe we have had good luck. Although I have a good idea which ferry I will take before we leave, I make my final decision after we arrive. The CA ferry sometimes doesn't run as frequently as advertised. The Red Hook ferry is a sure bet. I pretty much go with whatever works best with our arrival time. If you are interested in a private taxi, I have a contact for someone that charges $20pp (she went up from $15pp recently, I'm sure due to gas prices). The public taxi's to RH I think are $10pp plus a charge for bags.

If you end up staying on STT for the night, I have read that The Best Western Emerald Beach is a good place to lay your head for the night, so no worries there. Take our advice and get yourself to STJ the first day. I don't think you will regret it :). I wouldn't even consider staying on STT with that kind of arrival time.

Oh, to answer your initial question "Where do most people stay?" The response would be to go directly to STJ upon arrival.

Hi Garvin,

I stayed at the Best Western Emerald Beach last year and was perfectly happy there! They have a pool and a pretty beach, so if you want to stay in STT your first night, I think you'll be able to enjoy yourselves.

I've only been to STT and STJ the one time. I actually sort of liked STT. I know some here wouldn't agree, but we a great time! We rented a car and drove all over the island. We lucked out and visited Magen's Bay on a day no cruise ships were in port. We practically had the beach to ourselves and it was gorgeous! We didn't spend any significant amount of time in Charlotte Amalie, but I thought it was kind of interesting to drive through.

I <i>will</i> admit that I did like STJ better than STT. St. John is a special place! But I didn't at all regret the time spent on STT...

oh my gosh, you guys. I was gone for a few days and didn't realize how many answers I had gotten!

so i&quot;m torn on this...,.sounds like SJ very doable on that first day.

but is ST so bad that we wouldn't even want one night there? LOL.

I don't think its a matter of it being bad. Its more a matter of taking the time to check into a hotel for only one night. Then packing up, checking out and moving out, taking the ferry - which kind of kills half of your second day.

It just seems like a better use of your time to take the ferry over after you arrive -- especially because its relatively quick and easy. That way you will wake up at your destination in the morning ready to go.