st. john ferry
 

Have seen many posts about the bad ferry experiences between islands. It looks like the only way to get to St. John is by ferry from St. Thomas.Is this the case and is it pretty rough?

You could swim.<BR>The ferry from Red Hook to St. John only takes 15 mins, hardly enough time for it to get 'pretty rough'.

I live in the British Virgin Islands and take the ferry often from the BVI to St Thomas - sometimes going via St John and on to St Thomas and can recall very few occassions in the last 5 or so years when it was a rough crossing. The waters are generally very calm in that channel between St Thomas and St John and that particular trip (St Thomas/St John) is barely 10 minutes - so even if the water is a little choppy it won't last very long.

Between Charlotte Amalie and Cruz Bay it can get a bit bumpy and you might get a bit green depending on the wind and weather. More going than coming. The short ride between Red Hook, 15 minutes tops, and Cruz Bay is an option. Sometimes some bumps but certainly not worthy of the many posts you say you have seen. Do it almost daily and it's just a way of island life.

Thanks Camilla and Vislander. Having never been to the islands before I didn't realize it was such a short distance.

on a related note- when in port on a cruise (with the attendant time constraints) is it better to get the ferry out of charlotte amalie or red hook? thanks, steve

We met 2 gals that shared a taxi with us to go from the Ship to Red Hook. They had to leave sooner than we did for the time constraints (back at the ship by 6pm if I recall) so they left St. John earlier, but they said they had more time doing it the taxi way.<BR><BR>We stayed in St. Thomas; never did a cruise, but that's what the gals advised.

My husband and I have taken the ferry between St. Thomas and St. John round trip on three different occasions. I am prone to motion sickness - he is not. Twice going on the Charlotte Amalie ferry from St. Thomas to St. John I felt queasy. My husband felt fine. If you are worried about it, just take the Red Hook ferry. It is only 15 minutes, I never felt queasy on it, and it is quite pleasant. If you are not prone to motion sickness, you will probably be fine anyway. If you are, take some Dramamine a couple of hours beforehand, which I failed to do and probably should have.