Cruz Bay Landing, St. John
St. John Transportation
St. John does not have major airport, so it is dependent on Cyril E. King Airport (STT) in St. Thomas. The airport terminal contains a restaurant, bar, gift shop, ATM and duty-free store and 3 smaller departure lounges. Passengers arriving from mainland United States and Puerto Rico over age 18 are greeted with complimentary samples of Cruzan Rum. The 11-gate terminal handles arrivals from Miami, Atlanta, San Juan, Dallas, New York-JFK, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Newark, Philadelphia, Charlotte, Chicago-O’Hare, Philadelphia, Boston, Houston-Intercontinental, Newark, Washington-Dulles, Tortola and St. Croix. STT Airport receives service from American, Delta, United, Spirit, Cape Air, JetBlue, LIAT, Silver, Air Sunshine and more.
Upon arrival, travelers to St. John should take a taxi to the Ferry Port in Charlotte Amalie or Red Hook in St. Thomas. Red Hook has a 20 minute ferry ride to St. John. Charlotte Amalie has a 35 minute ferry ride to St. John. Many travelers arriving before 3pm take the Red Hook option to enjoy St. Thomas scenery along the way to Red Hook. Once on St. John, these taxi rates will apply. Ferry rides leave every hour from Red Hook, but less frequent from Charlotte Amalie.
Once on St. John, most taxis are open-air safari bus style. In general, taxis don’t want to drive people from the western end to the eastern end of St. John, because its hard to get a ride all the way back. The expensive exception would be if you rented the taxi 8-10 daylight hours via round trip. Drivers would like that very much.
Car Rental service is provided from Cruz Bay and some large resorts by these companies:
L & L Jeep Rental +1 340-514-5324
Aquarius +1 340-514-5262
Budget +1 340-776-5774
Vehicles are typical American cars with left side steering, but driving in the U.S. Virgin Islands is on the left side of the road. U.S. driver’s licenses are valid for up to 90 days. If you want to see more of the island, rent a jeep with GPS navigation.
The public bus system is called VItran. Buses run along Centerline Road. Currently, August 2018, the bus schedule is from Cruz Bay 6am, 8am, 3:25pm and 5:25pm. From Coral Bay at 7am, 9am, 4:10pm and 6:10pm. The fare is $1 a person. If you are on a tight schedule it is not a good idea to ride the bus. For more information on VItran buses call 340-626-4010. There are a few shops that rent scooters in Cruz Bay. Bicycles are available for sport to ride on St. John trails. More options to tour the island include:
Star Fish Tours & Taxi Service
PHONE: 340-998-6139 or 340-344-1394
WEBSITE: http://www.stjohnislandtours.com
Ferry Port
Ferry service is available between the port of Red Hook, St. Thomas to reach Cruz Bay, St. John. That trip costs $6 each way, takes 20 minutes, and runs hourly 6am-Midnight. The longer ferry route from Charlotte Amalie to Cruz Bay on St. John costs $12 each way and takes 40 minutes. The earliest ride leaves Cruz Bay at 8:45am and the latest returns from Charlotte Amalie to Cruz Bay at 5:30pm.
PHONE: 284-343-7276
WEBSITE: https://www.vinow.com/travel/virgin-islands-ferry-schedules/
Since St. John does not have a deep-water pier, major cruise lines that stop here, use a tender to transport passengers to the ferry dock in Cruze Bay. Cruise lines stopping in St. John include Royal Caribbean, Princess, Disney, Celebrity, Carnival, Holland America and Norwegian.
