St.Johns...on our own or tour

[Joie]

We have been to St. Thomas, but not St. Johns. This November when we go, we would like to see Trunk Bay. We have always done ship tours so we were not afraid of not getting back to ship on time. But ship tours says 4 hours and we would like to see Trunk Bay as well as the area around the ferry dock...looks interesting....my question is if anyone has taken the ships tour and what did you think? Did you have enough time at both places to enjoy, or was it hurried? The ships tour in $69, not sure what it would be on our own...but not worried about that....just want to have enough time to enjoy the island.

[Tribefans]

You'll spend about as much doing St. John on your own as you will on the ship's excursion. However, you will be on your own schedule and if you are able to be comfortable without the assurance of being on a cruise line sponsored excusrion, then go on your own. We, family of 5 adults, went on our own last October and it was great. We arrived at Trunk Bay way ahead of the cruise ship tours so we nearly had the place to ourselves for close to two hours. It is a beautiful beach, but we were disappointed with the snorkeling. There is an admission fee, since it is a National Park and there are taxi fees and ferry fees, so that is why it costs about the same. Cruz Bay, where the ferry docks is a very interesting town with lots of shops, but you won't have much time there unless you cut your beach time short. You will love Trunk Bay!

I see you are from Kankakee, we had family in Watseka for years , but they have all moved away or passed on.

 

Phil

[Joie]

Thanks for the reply..........well I still am not sure what we will do then....sounds good that you can have extra time on your own.....maybe going and coming back early will ease our minds. Was there much to see and do at Cruz Bay? And how far is it by cab to Trunk Bay from there?

Haven't met anyone on these boards that knew about our area before....that was a surprise !!!

[Tribefans]

Cruz Bay has a number of little shops with high end merchandise, tourist "stuff" and quite a few nice restaurants. As I remember, it took about 20 minutes to get to Trunk Bay, but the ride is scenic and there are a couple of spots that overlook the beaches. If we were going again we would still go on our own, but would probably do a different beach, like Cinnamon, instead of Trunk Bay. The area of the nice North Shore beaches is all national park, so there are few houses and no condos, etc. even visible from the beach. Quite different than on St. Thomas. You have to take a taxi from the cruise ship dock to the town of Red Hook, unless the Charlotte Amalie ferry is running. Last I checked, it was not running so the Red Hook ferry was the only way to St. John. The Red Hook ferry is a much shorter trip.

 

Whatever you do, I think you will like Trunk Bay.

[alb1956]

Does anyone know if Paradise Point is close enough to walk from the cruise pier?? Was thinking of going on our(4) own. Going to the top of P.Point. Take pictures....enjoy the view....have some drinks then have lunch. Or is the dining better "in town"?? Does Carnival dock at Havensight??

[MiniMom57]

I wouldn't consider walking to Paradise Point. The roads are narrowing and winding, with very little if any shoulder. Plus, it's too far!

[Joie]

Thank you for the info Tribefan......we will try Trunk because it is our first trip.......Although I imagine it's the busiest of all the beaches. I suppose it will be ok to take the Ferry on our own, appreantly thousands of cruisers do....just always afraid of NOT making it back to the ship....but what a place to be left behind !!!!

[galvezhome]

I think were going to go to st. johns first for half of the day, would like to go to lunch there any suggestions???? Were on the Triumph so we have from 8am-8pm so should have plenty of time to see both islands and there is supposed to be only 2 ships in port. My question is what and how should we do and see St. thomas since i believe all the private tours are in the mornings, would like to go to sapphire beach maybe just get a cab and go there? Any suggestions??? Thanks

[CaribbeanBound]

Our destination on our 3rd trip to St. Thomas was Trunk Bay and Cinnamon Bay on the Island of St. John for snorkeling. Just like our second trip, we caught local transportation for $2 per person in an open-air taxi from Havensight to Red Hook to catch a ferry to Cruz Bay on St. John. The drive takes about 20 to 30 minutes each way depending upon traffic. The taxi will drop you off at the Red Hook ferry terminal. Pay upon exiting the taxi, go through the gates and hop on the ferry to St. John.

 

We caught the 8:00am ferry and paid our $5.00/pp fare. Normally, you would pay at the booth prior to boarding. The very pretty ride across the bay runs about 15 minutes. Upon arrival at Cruz Bay, St. John, we caught a 10-minute taxi ride ($6.00/pp) to Trunk Bay, stopping once along the way to take pictures of Trunk Bay from a picturesque spot along the road.

We arrived at 8:30am which allowed us to get in free. Once the admission booth opens, it costs $4.00/pp to enter this beautiful white sand beach with clear waters, awesome views of islands and cays, nice facilities, and an underwater snorkeling trail. The snorkeling trail can be found on the right hand side of the beach. It begins on the far side of the little island and works its way around the island and ends on the closer side. The snorkeling is very good, with lots of fish and colorful coral. Including the four of us, there was a total of 7 people enjoying this beach from 8:30am to 10:15am when larger groups began arriving —– at which time we left and caught a $4/pp taxi for Cinnamon Bay. (Trunk Bay is now one of our top three Caribbean beaches).

 

Cinnamon Bay is part of a campground with good facilities, snorkeling equipment rentals, and kayak rentals. The beach is not as pretty as Trunk Bay but offers good snorkeling as well. Sea Turtles can be spotted here in the middle of the bay feeding on the sea grass, but we did not spot any this trip. We caught a taxi back to Cruz Bay ($7/pp) at 11:40am.

 

We just missed the noon ferry so we ate lunch at High Tide Bar and Grill adjacent to the pier. We enjoyed the Virgin Island Pale Ale (a fruity beer made for distribution in St. John by a brewery in Maine), and especially liked the sweet mango salsa which accompanies the chips and salsa appetizer. We shopped until 1:45pm and bought tickets for the 2:00pm ferry, which was 30 minutes late arriving. A very large crowd anxiously waited in a long line in the hot sun on the pier.

 

There was no problem getting everyone on the ferry. We arrived back in Red Hook at 2:40pm. Ignore the $7/pp taxis and wait for a $2.00 taxi again EXACTLY where it dropped you off. (Do not cross the street). We got dropped off a couple blocks closer to Havensight than the K-Mart where we picked up the taxi. We look forward to doing this excursion on our own again.

 

Here are more of our Secrets of the Caribbean!

http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/caribbean-secrets.html

These are our very detailed personal reviews, hints, and tips for ports of call that you will be visiting.

[schnell]

The difference between the ships tour and on your own is the ships tour to St. John picks up right at the Havensight dock and drops you off there as well. On your own you either go downtown to pick up that ferry or take a cab to Red Hook to pick up that ferry. Its a bit easier to do it with the ship, but I would reccommend doing it on your own as you have lots more time. 4 hours gets you about 1.5 hours of actual beach time. Its well worth it to have the extra time on your own. Also nice to be able to stay once the cruise tour leaves. It gets very nice and quiet then. Just FYI try and avoid the 5pm ferry back to St. Thomas. It is filled with workers getting off work and heading home. You may or may not get a seat and might be denied if its too full.

 

Kankakee, huh? I was born there and grew up there until I went to college. Small world!

[schnell]

Does anyone know if Paradise Point is close enough to walk from the cruise pier?? Was thinking of going on our(4) own. Going to the top of P.Point. Take pictures....enjoy the view....have some drinks then have lunch. Or is the dining better "in town"?? Does Carnival dock at Havensight??

 

Actually the point is a very easy walk. Just go through all the Havensight shops and cross the main road and head left. Its a couple blocks down.

 

From my experience there is not much in terms of eating near the point. There are a couple restaurants, but none that I have tried. Not much at Havensight either. I would suggest going downtown to get a bite to eat, lots more selection there.

[The Islander]

Does anyone know if Paradise Point is close enough to walk from the cruise pier?? Was thinking of going on our(4) own. Going to the top of P.Point. Take pictures....enjoy the view....have some drinks then have lunch. Or is the dining better "in town"?? Does Carnival dock at Havensight??

 

Reply: Carnival usually docks in Havensight. Paradise Point's tram starting point is just accross from Havensight shopping area so its an easy walk to catch the tram. It is not an easy walk up the mountain to the actual look out/shopping area at Paradise Point. They sell food/drinks up there. And there are several restaurants in Havensight. There are more restaurant options downtown.

 

--Islander

[gemz]

How long does it take to get to St. John? I would really like to check it out as I've done downtown St. Thomas too many times now and it's all the same.

 

I'm just worried about doing it on my own for the first time and missing the ship :S

 

But it's generally the same price just that you get more free time if you do it on your own?

[schnell]

You can figure a min of 60 minutes to get from the ship to trunk bay. But, that time can be as long as 90 minutes or so, depending upon the ferry schedule and when you get to ferry.

 

The cost is probably a couple bucks cheaper than if you did the ships tour.

[Travelitis]

Just wanted to say Hi to the Kankakee and Watseka people. I've lived in K3 and grew up 11 mi. south of Watseka in Milford. Small world.

 

I've only done St. John on my own, and it was great beating the mass migration of ship excursion folks. It was also much cheaper, but it seems the prices have become more competitive. I think I'd still go on my own to have control of my schedule.