St. Thomas to St. John - Best to rent car at ST or SJ. In port 10-10

[travl2day]

Hi, We will be on the Enchanted Princess in St. Thomas from 10AM-10PM. I think we dock at Crown??? Can someone verify that please?

We stayed on ST several years ago and rented a car so we are familiar with driving in both locations. There will be 6 of us traveling together. No littles.

Questions:

For one day, would it be smarter to rent car in ST and then car ferry to SJ or take people ferry to SJ and rent car there?

I noticed most car rentals are not open late for returns.  Tips on who to rent from is appreciated.

We would like to be off ship as long as possible. We want to swim/snorkle at several SJ beaches. Your opinions about best way to spend the day in USVI is greatly appreciated.

I look forward to your insight. 

Thanks

 

 

[Ms411]

St John has limited rental vehicles and most won't let you reserve for just a day. Plenty of rentals on St Thomas and most will deliver to the cruise dock. A Google search will direct you to ones that let you reserve online.

 

Some have provisions for after hour returns, so you should eventually find one. Check 360 Car Rental because they are close to the Havensight dock and are on a gas station property so should be open until late.

[Ms411]

Princess ships now dock at Havensight.

[travl2day]

Thanks so much MS411, very helpful information!

[philv]

We were in St Thomas last February from 10 am to 10 pm docked at Havensight. We went to Maho Bay on St John. Did taxi to Red Hook and ferry, taxi to Maho Bay and back. Easy peasy. You can purchase ferry tickets online and avoid ticket lines. Taxi stops at Trunk Bay and other beaches along way. One of the most beautiful places I have been. Good snorkeling from beach. Food and drink trucks and one sketchy bathroom. It’s a bit of an adventure but we really enjoyed. Plenty of time on this itinerary.

[travl2day]

Thanks so much philv,

We are traveling with 6 or maybe 8 people so we were kind of thinking a car might be a better option and give us the flexibility to change beaches when we wanted to . Did you stay at Trunk Bay all day or experience other beaches? Do you remember the taxi company name? I may be able to shoot them an email to ask if they have any mini vans or large SUV's  

Thanks again!

Trudy

[philv]

On 1/26/2024 at 10:58 AM, travl2day said:

Thanks so much philv,

We are traveling with 6 or maybe 8 people so we were kind of thinking a car might be a better option and give us the flexibility to change beaches when we wanted to . Did you stay at Trunk Bay all day or experience other beaches? Do you remember the taxi company name? I may be able to shoot them an email to ask if they have any mini vans or large SUV's  

Thanks again!

Trudy

Hi Trudy, We did not go to Trunk Bay. Taxi stopped at Trunk Bay and other beaches on the way to Maho Bay which was our destination. From what we heard Trunk Bay is very popular and sometimes they limit entry. The taxi was one of the many pickup truck style taxis that line up at ferry to scoop up arrivals. They put a dozen people in the back so a taxi may handle your group. Taxi stopped at many popular beach locations along the way to Maho Bay. Check out a map. There was 4 of us traveling together and we had no problem with transit.

[rockymtn2]

On 1/27/2024 at 6:49 PM, philv said:

Hi Trudy, We did not go to Trunk Bay. Taxi stopped at Trunk Bay and other beaches on the way to Maho Bay which was our destination. From what we heard Trunk Bay is very popular and sometimes they limit entry. The taxi was one of the many pickup truck style taxis that line up at ferry to scoop up arrivals. They put a dozen people in the back so a taxi may handle your group. Taxi stopped at many popular beach locations along the way to Maho Bay. Check out a map. There was 4 of us traveling together and we had no problem with transit.

Do you remember what the taxi fare was from the St. John ferry to the beach?

[philv]

Don’t remember fare but it was nothing special.