How to get to Trunk Bay from St. Thomas ?

[stillafloat]

We will be on cruise and would like to get to Trunk Bay from St. Thomas. What is the best way? What is at Trunk Bay----restaurants, shopping, facilities, bars, anything? We just heard we should see it, but don't know anything about it---Thanks!:confused:

[Tegx2]

the last 2 times we went there, we rented a car @ st. thomas drove it on one of the ferrys, then drove to trunk bay. We are going back there again in about 3 weeks and i have reserved a car at budget. Im still trying to i decide if I want to go back to trunk bay or try something different.

[texancruzer]

There are a few ways....... cruise ship excursion, private excursion, car rental, or diy with a taxi and then ferry.......which has been discussed many many times on this forum. It all depends on how comfortable you feel striking out on your own. We took a taxi to Red Hook Bay, then a ferry over to St. John, then another taxi to Trunk Bay. Did all in reverse to get back. Not hard but scares some people. Fairly cheap too.

 

Trunk Bay is a gorgeous palm lined white sand blue water beach. St. John is 2/3 Natl. Park so pristine and fairly undeveloped. There is a small charge for Trunk, but showers, bathrooms, snorkle eqp. rental and snack bar with basics. It is a truly beautiful beach but there are others here too.

 

We prefer St. John over St. Thomas and plan to ferry over again next month but this time we will rent zodiacs (small boats) and explore/snorkle by water. Can't wait.

[The Islander]

If you are doing it on your own by ferry:

 

There are two departure points on St. Thomas for ferries to St. John. First is the Charlotte Amalie ferry, which leaves from the Charlotte Amalie waterfront. The ferry area is just at the start of the shopping district, across from Vendor’s Plaza. The Charlotte Amalie ferry is about 1.4 miles from Havensight Cruise Ship Dock area and about 1.7 miles from the Crown Bay Dock area. It’s a short drive between them, but this is all in town and traffic can cause the short drive to take a while. More ships mean more traffic. A taxi from Havensight to the Charlotte Amalie ferry is $4 pp, ow. Same from Crown Bay. The Charlotte Amalie ferry takes about 40 minutes to get over to St. John.

 

The Red Hook ferry is on the East End of the island. The drive from Havensight takes about 20 minutes in low traffic and from Crown Bay 35 minutes. More traffic it will take longer. The ferry takes 15 minutes to get over to St. John.

 

Charlotte Amalie Ferry: One-way, $10.00/Adults and $3.00/Children ages 2-11.

Red Hook Ferry: One-way, $5.00/Adults and $1.00/Children ages 2-11.

 

One vs. the other: time wise with shorter drive + longer ferry on the Charlotte Amalie ferry and longer drive + shorter ferry on the Red Hook ferry the commute itself tends to work out the same. Figure an hour to a little over an hour, depends on if you get a ferry right when you get to the dock or have to wait around a bit. When coming back to St. Thomas the Charlotte Amalie might help you avoid some of the traffic since its gets you closer to the ships.

 

In terms of schedule: the Red Hook ferry has more departures. In terms of the trip: the Charlotte Amalie ferry allows you to see a bit more of the water and island along the coast but its longer and more open ocean so for someone that doesn’t like ferries or gets seasick easily you might stick with the shorter Red Hook ferry. With taking the Red Hook route you see a little of the island while driving to the ferry. For schedule try: http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=get...p=mss&ei=UTF-8.

 

Both ferries arrive in Cruz Bay St. John. Right at the end of the ferry dock there is a taxi stand and usually half a dozen to a dozen taxi drivers waiting around. They approach people getting off the ferry dock asking ‘beach’, ‘tour’, ‘where can I take you’ so they aren’t hard to find. Tell them where you want to go and get the price and be on your way.

 

Taxi from Cruz Bay (Ferry dock) to Trunk Bay is $6 pp, ow and takes about 12-15 minutes. Admission at Trunk Bay is $4 pp (16 and under free).

 

Trunk Bay is a beautiful beach. It has a snack booth with burgers, sandwiches, sodas, water, beer. No shopping. Chairs available for rent. Snorkeling trail and snorkel gear rental. Its part of the National Park.

 

Plan to be at the ferry for the return trip at least 15 minutes before departure. Best bet is not to take the last possible ferry that would get you back on time, take at least the one before that – just in case you don’t get on that one or something happens at least you have one more option. Also good to head to St. John first thing so you can do your visit there and get back to St. Thomas with time to spare.

 

--Islander

[golfer1966]

There are a few ways....... cruise ship excursion, private excursion, car rental, or diy with a taxi and then ferry.......which has been discussed many many times on this forum. It all depends on how comfortable you feel striking out on your own. We took a taxi to Red Hook Bay, then a ferry over to St. John, then another taxi to Trunk Bay. Did all in reverse to get back. Not hard but scares some people. Fairly cheap too.

 

Trunk Bay is a gorgeous palm lined white sand blue water beach. St. John is 2/3 Natl. Park so pristine and fairly undeveloped. There is a small charge for Trunk, but showers, bathrooms, snorkle eqp. rental and snack bar with basics. It is a truly beautiful beach but there are others here too.

 

We prefer St. John over St. Thomas and plan to ferry over again next month but this time we will rent zodiacs (small boats) and explore/snorkle by water. Can't wait.

 

 

When I was last on St John, I saw a few of those small boats your refering too. When did you rent them. Any info you have would be helpful as we are thinking about doing this in December too.... Thanks !

[Gilberte]

Can someone who has recently taken the ferry confirm for me that the ferry to St John from Charlotte, St. Thomas is temporarily out of service since Oct 2009. I have looked at numerous sites and can only find this mentioned on unofficial websites. I would like to go to Trunk Bay or Cinnamon Bay in St John when we cruise to St Thomas in January.

 

However, I don't want to pay for the taxi to Red Hook terminal. Each year that I have visited St. Thomas the taxis get more expensive - for a family of 5, it costs about $40 each way to taxi to the east side of the island from the terminal. This is just not worth it.

[texancruzer]

When I was last on St John, I saw a few of those small boats your refering too. When did you rent them. Any info you have would be helpful as we are thinking about doing this in December too.... Thanks !

 

Golfer: have not rented them yet. Our cruise isnt until Nov. 21st..... However here is the info. Cruz Bay Watersports - their website is divestjohn.com They have 2 sizes.....both hold 4 people. Smaller is $120. including fuel for 1/2 day. Other info is on the website.

 

They do not take advance reservations......but once on St. John they have a retail store right near the dock......go there they will check availability and if there is one available you take a taxi to Westin resort where all the rentals are. We plan on doing this and if no availability then we will rent scooters or a jeep or hire a taxi for the day. We go with the flow.....as long as we are on St. John :D it will be a wonderful day !

[markstudy]

Golfer: have not rented them yet. Our cruise isnt until Nov. 21st..... However here is the info. Cruz Bay Watersports - their website is divestjohn.com They have 2 sizes.....both hold 4 people. Smaller is $120. including fuel for 1/2 day. Other info is on the website.

 

They do not take advance reservations......!

 

Since I am going in January (high season), the weekend of the New Years holiday, and on a Saturday... I figured the only way I'd get an inflatable boat was to commit to a non-refundable payment. So I asked the nice people at Cruz Bay if I could pay in full in advance (non-refundable) and they made an exception and allowed me to book.

 

I really wanted to do this adventure, I had grown up with a inflatable boat when i was a kid. So even though I'm taking a bit of a financial risk (whats the odds our ship misses St Thomas???) I'll take my chances... I figure its worth it. :)

 

Thanks again texancruzer for coming up with this neat idea for seeing St John.

Edited October 28, 2009 by markstudy

[texancruzer]

Since I am going in January (high season), the weekend of the New Years holiday, and on a Saturday... I figured the only way I'd get an inflatable boat was to commit to a non-refundable payment. So I asked the nice people at Cruz Bay if I could pay in full in advance (non-refundable) and they made an exception and allowed me to book.

 

I really wanted to do this adventure, I had grown up with a inflatable boat when i was a kid. So even though I'm taking a bit of a financial risk (whats the odds our ship misses St Thomas???) I'll take my chances... I figure its worth it. :)

 

Thanks again texancruzer for coming up with this neat idea for seeing St John.

 

You sneak ! Wish I had thought of that ! Oh well, like I said - we will go with the flow and see what plays out. We are there the day before Thanksgiving....... a Wednesday. Still, I don't think alot of people rent these....... we too had a zodiac and had so much fun with it when we lived in Florida. Am looking forward to this day in particular. Will let you know how it goes.

[golfer1966]

The last two times we went to St JOhn we go by so many nice spots where I just want to jump off the ferry with my snorkel gear and explore the reefs. This would be a great way to do this and our time slot for St Thomas is from 8 - 6 so I think we may try and do it. Thanks again !!

[texancruzer]

Since we will be the first..... I will post a review of the zodiac(dinghey) rental when we get back (Nov.29) I hope it is going to be as good as I am hoping !!!!!!

 

We actually have a 20' Sea Hunt and live on Padre Island on a canal....... nice ! But I do fondly remember our 12' zodiac we had while living in Vero Beach Fla. for 8 years ! We took it down to the Keys many times and had a blast...... We could take the motor off and carry it anywhere as it only weighed 90 lbs. We used it to dive off the beach for years ! In Fla if you aren't near an inlet you can't get out to the Atlantic very easily.....so this worked great !

[markstudy]

Since we will be the first..... I will post a review of the zodiac(dinghey) rental when we get back (Nov.29) I hope it is going to be as good as I am hoping !!!!!!

 

Can't wait to read your review :D

 

If you could include travel time, taxi, rush hour traffic impressions....that would be very helpful. :cool:

 

Funny how people who have had inflatables.... love them. You must have had so much fun exploring the Keys in one. I live in Clearwater Florida....as kids we explored all over in our inflatable.

[texancruzer]

Can't imagine it will be too much different getting there than the last time we went. Altho last time we docked in Havensight and this time we will be in Crown Bay..... a bit further. But we took taxi to Red Hook, bought tickets and waited maybe 10 minutes, ferried over and then another taxi to Trunk.

 

This trip will check in with Cruz Bay watersports at the store in Cruz Bay as they will check for availability BEFORE we take a taxi to Westin...... then taxi to Westin etc etc...... shouldnt be a real difference in time.

 

We definately do not want to cut it too short this trip as the next day is a sea day (Thanksgiving) and then our next port is Half Moon Cay (a private island) and so we would have to get back to Ft. Lauderdale ourselves if we missed the ship :eek: (missing half the cruise :( )

[Mary Ellen1]

Hi there Islander,

 

I just wanted to say thanks for all the great info you consistently post on this board. I came here today wanting to gather all the info, costs, schedules, etc., for getting over to St. John, and here you'd posted this, with all the latest/greatest info, all in one place. Thanks a million!!! You saved me a bunch of time and effort.

 

A couple of years ago I'd posted that we were doing a self-driving tour of St Thomas, along with a walking tour of Charlotte Amalie. Both of these were posted on Frommers, and you very helpfully commented on the itinerary, telling us what to skip, what to add, etc. We had a fabulous day, and look forward to seeing your island again on Thanksgiving day.

 

Thanks!!

 

Mary Ellen

[The Islander]

Hello Mary Ellen, you're welcome.

 

Do note that the Charlotte Amalie to St. John ferry isn't running right now, as of yesterday they weren't sure when it would be up again. So if you were considering using that ferry then check back closer to Thanksgiving to see what is up with it. The Red Hook one is running its regular schedule. Also the rates for both go up this week, Red Hook will be $6 ow for adults. And Charlotte Amalie $12 ow for adults.

 

--Islander

[snorkelphile]

I've read here that there are plenty of return taxi's at Trunk Bay, but how about Cinnamon?

[FOXTROT]

Texancruzer can't wait to read your review. What you are doing sounds really great.

[texancruzer]

Texancruzer can't wait to read your review. What you are doing sounds really great.

 

Will definately post when we get back......hopefully it will all work out.

[The Islander]

I've read here that there are plenty of return taxi's at Trunk Bay, but how about Cinnamon?

 

Both Trunk Bay and Cinnamon Bay have taxi stands where several taxis are usually waiting around.

 

--Islander

[snorkelphile]

Thanks Islander!

[mnfun2bme]

Thanks for letting me know about the taxis waiting at Cinnamon Bay as well as Trunk. What are the benefits of each?

 

We would like to do some snorkeling and I've read that Cinnamon Bay is very good and potentially less crowded. Is that correct?

 

Lisa

[PHreuD69]

Are the taxi stands in the dock area easy to find? Where are they? We're trying to catch a taxi for a family of 5 to the Red Hook Ferry. Any help with how to find the taxi's in the dock area in St. Thomas and St. John would be helpful.

 

Thanks!

[texancruzer]

We are back......but bad news.

 

Upon arriving in St. Thomas, neither dh nor I were feeling up to a big day. Too many mojitos in old San Juan (on top of a big day there) so we took our time getting off and just stayed on St. T.

 

Sorry there is no report about the zodiac rental. Still sounds like a fun day but the logistics are such that you need to be off EARLY and get over to St. John as soon as possible. We just didnt have it in us :o

 

Instead we taxied to Magens Bay and then another to Coki and saw more of St. T than last trip. Not real impressed with it either. Some areas are gorgeous but generally don't care for this island as much as others in the Caribbean.

 

Hope your plans all work out for you guys. Please post about your day with the Zodiacs (dingheys) when you get back !!!!

[markstudy]

Sorry you guys didn't make it. ...

 

Thanks for the idea :D I would have never thought about it, on my own.

 

I'll come back with photos and a trip report in January.

Edited December 2, 2009 by markstudy

[texancruzer]

Sorry you guys didn't make it. ...

 

Thanks for the idea :D I would have never thought about it, on my own.

 

I'll come back with photos and a trip report in January.

 

 

Looking forward to your review :)