st thomas traffic?

[AwesomO]

I'm trying to plan my family of 4's (2 adults, 2 kids) day in St. Thomas. We're in port 7am-7pm, but there will be 4 other ships in the same day (yikes). I'm thinking we will go to Magen's Bay first thing in the morning via taxi (ship excursions don't leave until 1pm). Then, if we're up to it, head over to Coral World at about 1:30. But I'm wondering what we might expect as far as traffic goes? If we are in the Coral World/Coki beach area, what time do you think we'd need to leave to make it back to Havensight by 6pm? I haaaate feeling rushed or pressed for time so I really want comfortable wiggle room for making it back to the ship in time. 2 ships (including ours) have the same 7pm departure time.

 

Also, should it be easy enough to get a taxi from Magen's to Coral World, or will be that be difficult because less people will be heading over there? 

 

Do I need to buy tickets to Coral World in advance, or can I do it when we get there?

Edited January 16, 2023 by AwesomO

[Ms411]

It may take a while to get a taxi from Magens to Coral World because most taxis will be headed back to ports/town. With 4 of you the dispatcher may send your group without waiting for other passengers who may want to go in that direction, but you won't know until you're ready to leave Magens.

 

There shouldn't be a problem with traffic leaving Coral World to the ship. If you leave Coral World no later than 5:00 you have plenty of time to get to your ship with time to spare.

 

Don't know how old your kids are or if they like hiking, but there's a great nature trail at Magens that's a fairly rocky climb up the mountain. Makes for a fun day combined with the beach. You probably have to ask where trail starts or check google maps. It's kind of easy to miss.

[AwesomO]

thank you! Good to know. I'll hold off on tickets then just incase it's too much of a hassle. 

 

The hiking trail sounds great!! My kids generally hate hiking, unless rocks are involved 😂 May not even need Coral World if we do that. I was just trying to take advantage of the long port day without staying at the beach all day, since we'll be doing a beach day the day before in Tortola. 

[Ms411]

Lots of rocks! And there are places where there is a rope to help climb up those rocks. There are also huge rocks before the trail that they can probably climb on. Surely there are pictures/videos somewhere online so you can get an idea.

[Ms411]

Here's a video of part of the Magens Bay Trail. It doesn't look like they went all the way up, and I don't think the camera captures the huge rocks near the trail that I remember.

 

 

[nimbex1970]

give yourself an hour to get back from coral world/coki.  It's usually a 25-30 minute ride as it's on the east end of the island.  traffic gets backed up near the port and easily adds 15 minutes or more.  There are plenty of taxis available, you may need two.