St. Thomas to week on St. John
 

My family is just starting to plan a week on St. John in April. We will not be arriving to St. Thomas until very late in the evening, too late we feel to catch the ferry to St. John. Any recommendations for a hotel on St. Thomas for one night -- should we plan to stay in Charlotte Amalie and take that morning ferry or would be it better to go across the island and then take the Red Hook ferry the next day since it has more crossing times? Are there any hotels that offer a free airport shuttle pickup?

We are experienced campers and will be staying at the Maho Tent cottages. In reading reviews is there anything we should bring besides bug spray and sunscreen? Should we really try to bring food along as many people recommend? Should we rent a car to get to other places on St. John or just depend on a taxi? What sights should not be missed?

Thanks

www.betterbidding.com

good deals on St. Thomas hotels

for me bidding priceline usually frenchman's reef Marriott

from $80 or so check with hotels on xport options.

Maho is wonderful no need to rent a car lots of cute

little striped jitney jungle shuttles that take you

all around... good food avaialble beach/snorkel

the big attracetion.

Have fun,

Thanks for the link and advice. I will check out the bargains. Glad to know we don't need to rent a car. I had not read anything about the shuttles.

Did you take your own snorkel and fins or rent? Hate to load up my baggage with such things but rental seems kind of pricy... especially $25 for each lost fin.

I know you are getting in late, but have you considered just continuing on over to STJ. The ferry runs until midnight from STT. I realize you wouldn't want to set up camp in the dark. A couple of places to lay your head for the night that don't require minimun stays are The Inn at Tamarind Court

http://innattamarindcourt.com/content/hotel/rooms

or St John Inn.

http://stjohninn.com/rates_stjohninn.html

These offer the basics for you to get a nights sleep then you could get up and head straight for Maho.

I would definitely rent a vehicle for at least a couple of days. So much more of the island to see. You will finds taxis at Maho. The company that has scheduled runs is Frett's. Really, you won't find taxi's as easily that far up the North Shore Road and the taxi service to beaches is only the North Shore Road. So it will definitely limit what you will be able to see on the island.

If you end up staying on STT, I would probably just go with the Red Hook ferry. It runs hourly and is reliable. The Charlotte Amalie ferry is hit or miss. There is also a nice terminal at Red Hook to wait if you get there early.

I think it would be a big mistake to not rent a jeep. Taxis don't go by very frequently on North Shore Road, and they won't take you to a lot of the places where you'll want to go. You'll be sad if you travel all the way to St. John, and then end up having to skip a lot of interesting destinations, and spend a lot of time standing around by the road waiting for a taxi to go by.