Dollar Rides or Taxi to Coki, and more...

[cpizzull]

Hi All!

 

Docking in Charlotte Amalie on a Monday, at 1pm. (leave at 11pm)

Objective: Spend time at Coki and then go buy lots of liquor! :o)

 

I figure taxi up and back, for 4, will be about $72 total ($9/person/1way).

 

1. Are the "Dollar Rides" possible to Coki?

2. If so, how long is walk from drop-off to beach?

3. How much time, other details, is best to get Dollar Ride to shopping area?

4. Do I get dropped off at Havensight Mall, instead of downtown, so I can walk back to ship from there?

 

These are just a few things I'm trying to clear up. Any other info you can give about those Objectives are much appreciated!

 

Oh, one more...

5. When cruise ships are in town, do stores stay open later than 5pm?

 

Thanks!

[ManOfTheYear]

Hello Cpizzull,

 

 

I copy and pase this information from one of the post bellow from Caribbean Blue. I think that person live on the island.

 

Man of the Year.

 

 

The public transportation system around St Thomas is very eratic and unreliable. Even the locals can't figure out the system, there seems to be no reliable schedule nor route. In general it runs along the areas where the locals go to work or shop, TuTu park mall, the Hospital, workers neighborhoods, Pricesmart etc. To find the particular bus that goes to tourists areas would be very difficult and may eat up your entire day. The bus system will go by the resorts which are located at the beaches early in the am for the workers, housekeepers, desk help etc and come by later in the evenings to pick them up. It wont run by the cruiseship docks or even close, it will go by the workers neighborhoods. For a few dollars more take a public taxi to your destination.

 

 

CaribbeanBlue

 

www.*****.org

__________________

CaribbeanBlue

www.*****.org

[cpizzull]

Wow, is it really that bad to pass up a possible savings of.....

$72 taxi - $2/person/eachway*4*2 (assuming $2 dollar rides to Coki)

$72 - $16

$56 is a heckuva a nice piece of change, heh? Of course, I'm not going to waste an hour either.

[ManOfTheYear]

Give the pubic bus a try and see if it ok and when you come back from your vacation just let me know if it worth it or not.

 

 

Man Of The Year

[Brianinidaho]

Hello Cpizzull,

 

 

The public transportation system around St Thomas is very eratic and unreliable. Even the locals can't figure out the system, there seems to be no reliable schedule nor route. In general it runs along the areas where the locals go to work or shop, TuTu park mall, the Hospital, workers neighborhoods, Pricesmart etc. To find the particular bus that goes to tourists areas would be very difficult and may eat up your entire day. The bus system will go by the resorts which are located at the beaches early in the am for the workers, housekeepers, desk help etc and come by later in the evenings to pick them up. It wont run by the cruiseship docks or even close, it will go by the workers neighborhoods. For a few dollars more take a public taxi to your destination.

 

 

 

Our experience was 180 degrees opposite!! Open air safari buses are ALL over... going everywhere! If this guy above does live on the Island, and I am speculating with no offence meant, he might be a TAXI driver! They charge tons when the safari taxis are plentiful. Reliable? I would say as reliable as Island living allows. Save a bundle, follow the locals. Brian

[The Islander]

Hello,

 

The east end route the dollar rides and public buses follow does go passed the turn in for Coki Beach.

 

From the main road/bus stop area to Coki is about, ummmmm... a 10-15 minute walk.

 

The shops downtown close up shop around 5pm. The shops in Havensight might stay open until 6 or 7pm if there are ships in late and there are passengers still out shopping - but thats not a for sure thing. Bars and restaurants will be open in the evening.

 

--Islander

http://www.*****

[MrsPete]

Our experience was 180 degrees opposite!! Open air safari buses are ALL over... going everywhere! If this guy above does live on the Island, and I am speculating with no offence meant, he might be a TAXI driver! They charge tons when the safari taxis are plentiful. Reliable? I would say as reliable as Island living allows. Save a bundle, follow the locals. Brian

Hmmm. You may be right. I see that ManOfTheYear is new here and has written only 6 posts. All of them in the St. Thomas folder. 4 of the 6 are hyping the same website /travel activities page. Can 'ya say HIDDEN ADVERTISING?

 

Personally, I tend to trust what people say here -- no one has any motivation to lie. However, every now and then you find something that makes you question the information.

[cpizzull]

So, if the shops close at 5pm, and my ship is there 1-11pm, it sounds like the game plan may be...........

 

From Charlotte Amelie, walk to Main Street....buy liquor to be delivered directly to ship....catch a Dollar Ride on main street??? to Coki area... walk 10 mins to the beach.....stay as late as we want... catch Dollar Ride back to ship (IS THIS POSSIBLE? or am I forced to find a taxi at that time?).

 

Thanks!

[The Islander]

Hello,

 

I see you said you are docking in Charlotte Amalie: this could mean 1 of three places; Havensight, anchored in the CA harbor and tendered into the maintown's waterfront area or Crown Bay.

 

If you were in Havensight you could walk to downtown Charlotte Amalie's main street; it would be like a 35 minute walk. If not walking then its a short drive, around 6-8 minutes.

 

If you were tendered to the waterfront then you are right in the shopping area as the shopping area includes waterfront, main street and some of back street. I don't recall seeing anchored ships stay in that late so I figure you are either at Havensight or Crown Bay.

 

You aren't going to find a dollar ride on Main Street, you will find taxis. You'll need to be on the main road along the waterfront to find dollar rides and public buses.

 

I see you are in port until 11pm; I wouldn't stay at Coki until 'as late as you want'. If no one else is on the beach I'd be on my way; the surrounding area is not all that good of an area. While there are a couple business in the vacinity, most close up in the afternoon. There is a good Italian restaurant in the area; its closer to the turn in though, rather than right at the beach.

 

I don't know what time the dollar rides stop running. The public buses stop around 8pm and I suspect the dollar rides will be around that time or earlier. Also once all the visitors to Coki leave so do the taxis, so while there are typically several taxis waiting at Coki during the day; the same doesn't apply in the late afternoon and early evening. So pay attention to the crowd thinning and the taxis leaving in order to determine when you should be leaving too.

 

--Islander

http://www.*****

[cpizzull]

Thanks a bunch Islander!

 

I was wondering if there was still a possibility of docking at Havensight, even though it said Charlotte Amalie. Sorry for the confusion. Would be nice to know exactly where. Do the big ships have to dock in one place?

 

Thanks for the great advice! I'm hoping we will be Havensight as that makes things a bit easier, if I understand all correctly. ;o)

[The Islander]

Hello,

 

The very large ships like the Queen Mary 2 have to stay at anchorage. The other ships that can dock vary in location depending on how many ships are in port that day. Some are fairly consistant; like it seems the Carnival ships are usually in Havensight however I've seen where they have been at the Crown Bay dock as well. You can check the schedule at http://www.*****/general_usvi/cruiseship/, it includes where the ships are suppose to dock, its released monthly a few days before the new month.

 

--Islander

http://www.*****