taxi/bus to Red Hook price????

[Joie]

In one of the members reviews of the Triumph he writes that the fare to Red Hook is only $2......not the usual $10....he said that is the tourist price. Anyone tried to just give the safari type vehicle $2 and get by with it????

[Dubsolute]

I was there October 2006 and took the public bus (open air bus/truck) to Red Hook. The cost is $2. The taxis charge $10 and they look very similar to the public buses. If you're docking at Havensight, you can catch the public bus by walking straight after gettting off the ship until you get to the public road. Cross the street and turn left. Walk approx. two blocks up to the K-Mart plaza. Cross the street again and wait for the bus at the bus stop on the corner. They come roughly every 15 minutes. It's a 20 minute ride to Red Hook.

[The Islander]

Hello Joie,

 

The $2 is for the 'dollar ride safari' and not for a taxi. Dollar rides function like public transportation but they are not the bus. The public bus is called Vitran. So no you can't give a taxi $2 and get away with it ;).

 

--Islander

[AKtoFL]

Islander, you see to know about St Thomas. If you rent a car do you need car seats? Also a group of 17 want to go to Coki beach/ coral World tax's and group tours too expensive. Can we take "dollar taxis"" or public transpotation to this beach and back to cruise port?

[The Islander]

Hello AKtoFL,

 

Here is what the law says about car seats + seat belts last time I checked: Driver and front passenger must be restained by a safety belt. Any child under the age of five must be in a car seat. In the case of a child aged three through five, seat belts can be used but the child must ride in the back seat of the vechicle. Any child older than five years but under twelve must wear a safety belt.

 

You can double check with your car rental agency. Also they should have car seats that you can rent or that they can include - ask them about it.

 

Coki Point area is on the public bus route. Public buses and the "dollar ride" will however drop you off on the main road and not right at the beach. You will need to walk about half a mile from the main road to Coki Beach/Coral World. The area you walk through is a bit seedy.

 

--Islander

[AKtoFL]

Islander, how do we know when to get off or do we just tell them coral world/coki beach. When we get off how do we know which direction to walk?

[The Islander]

Go to this St. Thomas map http://usvimaps.com/stthomas/Map.asp. If the box for the map is blank then click the St. Thomas map button and it will appear. On the right side you will see Red Hook, click there twice to zoom in and then you'll see Coki Point - click just below Water Bay beach to zoom in one more time. The road marked 38 is where the public transportation passes. You have to walk the .5 miles on 388 to get to Coki. There is a sign for Coral World at the area where 38 and 388 meet.

 

You could grab a small pocket map from the visitor center at the cruise ship dock so that you can follow along the route the driver is taking and be able to identify what you are passing and seeing by looking at the map.

 

--Islander

[AKtoFL]

Thanks Islander, I think we will try it. Don't mind 1/2 mile walk when it saves lots of $$$$$.

[kevdds]

Hello Joie,

 

The $2 is for the 'dollar ride safari' and not for a taxi. Dollar rides function like public transportation but they are not the bus. The public bus is called Vitran. So no you can't give a taxi $2 and get away with it ;).

Darn! I wish I had known this before! I walked all the way to the Kmart and still wound up paying $10. I guess I waved down the wrong vehicle. How can you telll the Dollar Ride Safari from an open-air taxi?

[AKtoFL]

What is the difference from public transportation buses and dollar taxi's? Which one will take us closest to Coki Beach?

[The Islander]

Why confusing: Dollar rides use vehicles that are called safaris (converted trucks, open air seating in the back of the truck, bench seats). Taxis also use safaris in addition to other vehicles. The dollar rides pull into/close to some bus stops. The taxis could to if you flagged one down.

 

Which is which: The dollar rides usually have residents, folks going to/from work, sometimes students and they might be in school uniforms. Taxis close to the cruise docks usually have tour groups and visitors going sightseeing/to the beach. So best way, look at the passengers on the vehicle.

 

A little more info: Since the bus hasn't been the most efficient for several years some taxis started running what became known as the 'dollar ride or dollar run' a while back. They would pass by areas where lots of residents that depend on public transportation live, go to school and work and act as a mode of public transportation. It wasn't regulated and still largely isn't that I am aware of - except for the $1 (in town) and $2 (out of town) fares. Some drivers doing the 'dollar run' when it first started up would charge residents the dollar fares and visitors the taxi fares; while I haven't heard of this happening in a while it’s possible.

 

Bus vs. Dollar rides: The bus is actually the public transportation. It’s a real bus, labeled with bus name Vitran, route information. The dollar rides are as described above.

 

AktoFl - they would both get you to the same spot; the bus stop on the main road close to the turn off to Coki Beach/Coral World.

 

--Islander

[jccruiser]

Just ask the driver if he is a cab or $ride - our driver said he was a taxi, told us the cab fare, and when we refused and said we wanted the $bus, he magically turned his vehicle into a $ride bus, took us, and then picked up other passengers along the way!!:)

[Joie]

Is it $10 per person to Red Hook....that's a $30 cab ride one-way....seems a little expensive.??????

[beachchick]

Is it $10 per person to Red Hook....that's a $30 cab ride one-way....seems a little expensive.??????

 

True, that seems like a lot. But Red Hook is 6 or 7 miles from the pier area. You'd pay at least $30 for a taxi ride of that distance in New York or any other urban area. St. Thomas may be a Caribbean island, but they've still got fuel costs (higher than many other places) and overhead just like any other taxi business. We consider the convenience of taking a private taxi with no waiting to be well worth that extra money over the Vitran or Safari rides. (That's just our priority for cruise costs; YMMV.)

 

beachchick

[Joie]

I did not realize it was that far from the port........then it isn't a bad price.

Thaks for the info......

[beachchick]

Joie: No worries. It often seems as if the distances on the islands are shorter than they actually are. I know that there are many people who still consider the taxi fare to be ridiculous and prefer to take the Safari or Vitran. No problem; good for them. We simply have other priorities. However, for the price, we do not take the big 15 to 20 pax "taxis," but rather take a regular car taxi (same price, in our experience) because the larger taxis do not leave until they're full and sometimes make several stops. If we wanted that kind of transportation, we'd take the Safari/Vitran and save the $$.

 

beachchick

[BecciBoo]

Please tell me what the best plan would be to get to Watermelon Cay on St John from the ship? I thought about renting car in Charlotte Amalie and then getting on ferry over to St John, driving to Leinster and back as easiest most economical solution. Do you agree? Or would it be better to just take $ride to ferry, then to St John then taxi to Leinster? And hope for taxi back in time for departure??? Or can you just snorkel Trunk and see as beautiful underwater stuff there??? Ship excursion available for Trunk. Your input invaluable. Thanks

[The Islander]

Hello,

 

Waterlemon Cay is quite a trek in terms of commute time (getting to ferry, ferry, driving to Leinster, hiking to beach, swimming to Cay). If you haven't already, take a look at your time frame in port to make sure you can make it there and back comfortably.

 

Renting a car and taking it to St. John is fine. Do look at the car barges' schedules to see if it all works out time wise. It’s a good idea just before getting going on your cruise to call the 3 car barge operators to make sure they are all operating. Sometimes one and even two go down for repairs and when this happens using the car barge can be a headache.

 

You could also ferry to St. John and then try and rent a car there. There are several car rental agencies close to the dock that you can walk to and check if they have a rental available. I say walk around because they don't usually take reservations for one day rentals but will rent a car for one day if you walk up and they have one.

 

The taxi to Leinster and taxi back idea. Taxis aren't usually there. Annaberg is right around the corner and it is popular on taxi tours so they do come around the area just not lined up to offer transportation like at some spots for example Trunk Bay and Cinnamon Bay's taxi stand areas. If this is the route you go then you should ask the taxi driver that drops you there to come back for you at a certain time.

 

Trunk vs. Waterlemon... Snorkeling is better at Waterlemon however Trunk is easier to get to, has faculties like restrooms, food service and taxis. Waterlemon is off the beaten path.

 

The big factor to consider is time.

 

--Islander