Day trips to St. John from St. Thomas
 

I'll be in St. Thomas with my family in early April. Any thoughts on day trips to St. Johns?

Day trips from St. Thomas to St. John (no s). are easy to do and a great thing.

You can ferry from either Charlotte A. or Red Hook. The Charlotte A. ferry takes about 45min, and the Red Hook ferry about 20min. There is also a car barge ferry in Red Hook. For 1st timers, I recommend just taking the passenger ferry - from most St. Thomas resorts the Red Hook ferry is a closer.

You can either rent a car on St. John, or take the open air taxi's. I recommend to rent a car for the day to give you the freedom to explore. Taxis are handy and come by frequently, but the cost can add up pretty quick if you want to move around St. John during the day.

If you have specific questions, just reply and I or others will be happy to answer whatever we can.

Definately rent a car. As J62 said, you can explore as you want to. The Coral Bay and East End areas are beautiful (Must try Skinney Legs for a burger).
Also the drive along the North Shore is amazing.
There are so many beautiful beaches. Research the different beaches before you go so you will know which ones will suit you best.
Once you see STJ, you will never stay on STT again!
Have Fun

When we went last May, we stayed at the Wyndham Sugar Bay and signed up for Island tours of both St. John and St. Thomas. They were great, and very good overview of both Islands. They were run by Tropic Tours.

Here's a synopsis of each tour:

St. Thomas Island Tour
This tour is an excellent way to get an overview of the entire island, enjoying the history and fabulous panoramas found at Mountain Top, Drake's Seat and St. Peter Great House & Botanical Gardens. The tour ends in Charlotte Amalie, with approximately 3 hours to explore town, have lunch and enjoy some great duty free shopping. Lunch not included. Monday - Saturday. 9:00am - 3:30pm. $30.00 per person.

St. John Island Tour
After a short ferryboat ride to St. John, guests embark on a guided tour of the island and National Park in open-air safari buses. The tour travels along the North Shore Road, stopping to enjoy several panoramic overviews, followed by a visit to Annaberg Plantation, the ruins of a 1780 sugar mill. Lunch is at Coral Bay, followed by a stop at beautiful Trunk Bay to swim, snorkel and relax on the beach. There is time for a little shopping before returning on the ferry to St. Thomas. Transportation, lunch and snorkel gear are included. Tuesday - Thursday - Saturday. 8:35am - 5:00pm. $75.00 per person.

We are taking our first trip to St. THomas in April too. The least expensive way to get to St. John is by passenger ferry from Red Hook. There is also a passenger ferry from Charlotte Amalie. You can rent a jeep(you will need 4 wheel drive) for the day but getting a reservation for just one day is tricky. (Rent the jeep - taxis are darn expensive and charge per person.) I only found one place that would do it called Varlack Ventures http://www.varlack-ventures.com/vvfi...ntal-rates.htm Their web site has a ton of information about touring the island as well.
If you want to do the Reef Bay Trail with a National Park Ranger you need to make reservations now and check which days of the week they do them. The National Park Office number is 340-776-6201.

Here is my favorite beach guide for St. John. http://www.stjohnbeachguide.com/Beaches.htm

We have two sailing trips booked for going from St. Thomas to St. John as well. One is with Ike Witt Charters and Captain Pat. This would be a snorkeling trip and if anyone needs a little snorkel lesson he is probably your guy. The web site is this: http://www.ikewittcharters.com/

The other sailing trip we booked was on the recommendation of the condo owner that we are renting from who used to run a day sailing charter. She recommended The Alaunt with Captain Ron and Carol King. They also run a restaurant called Latitude 18 and the food on their boat is supposed to be yummy. Here is the link: http://www.alauntcharters.com/index.html

Both of these boats only take out 6 passengers. The best way to contact the Captains is buy the phone numbers on their web sites.

I had lots of thoughts for you but can't personally recommend anything.
Enjoy your family vacation.

We did a day trip to St. John.

Take the ferry.

Rent a 4WD.

Check the gas gauge. If necessary buy gas before leaving town (gas stations are rare or non-existant).

Drive on the left.

Enjoy the views -- you will be in paradise.

Woody

While it's nice to have 4WD, for first time visitors there is plenty to explore that's accessable by main roads. No need to spend $75 per person on a tour either. You can drive the north shore road and stop where you wish. The Annaberg planation is free and in the National Park., and you can pick your own place for lunch.

The beauty of exploring St. John is really the ability to beach hop. Stay a short time at a beach or stay all day.

I really don't like Trunk bay for snorkelling, unless you really enjoy the flipper-to-head combat of snorkelling with 100;s of cruise ship passengers who are there for the day. Too many of the coral tops are destroyed by the overuse.

I much prefer the quiet of a place like Hawksnest or Waterlemon beach.