STJ transportation on island

My wife and I will soon be visiting MFC (Marriott) on STT and plan to take a day trip via ferry to St. John's.
At this time, plan to rent a car, at least part of the week, from Hertz so restricted from car barge ferry (not a problem really)....

We were thinking of maybe biking around St. John's for a few hours when we arrive for the day since we won't have a rental to use.

Does anyone with experience know if there are bike rental shops near the ferry dock area?
Is biking a feasible, and safe, transportation strategy on STJ and are there any trails, one can use along the shoreline or side roads?
If we didn't rent a bike, is a taxi or car service best way to get around for a few hours? We don't plan to tour the entire island, just popular beaches, shops, etc. then head back to STT so we would not need a tour company.
Thanks for any comments.

J-

St John is a very mountainous Island. Very steep hills with sharp turns and switchbacks, not to mention the roads have no shoulders. I would not attempt to bike there. If you want to visit a few beaches and shop I would take a taxi.

SpikeMauler said:

St John is a very mountainous Island. Very steep hills with sharp turns and switchbacks, not to mention the roads have no shoulders. I would not attempt to bike there. If you want to visit a few beaches and shop I would take a taxi.

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Thanks for the warning......we'll avoid the risk and head to the beach for a few hours, walk there.

jaym said:

Thanks for the warning......we'll avoid the risk and head to the beach for a few hours, walk there.

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As Spike mentioned - biking would not be a good idea (there are no bike rentals anyway...). Walking would also not be a good idea. I think that here are scooter rentals (I would still advise the Safari taxis - as it is a bad idea to get injured on StJ).

Take passenger ferry from RedHook to StJ (Cruz Bay) - and then use taxi-buses (aka Safari taxis) to visit the north-side beaches. They are not far - but walking to them from Cruz Bay (except for maybe Solomon and Honeymoon) would be a bad idea, and not safe (IMO) - they go all the way out to Maho Bay (considered one of the best north-side beaches by many - including us). A 'must see' is Trunk Bay (world famous for a reason).

DavidnRobin said:

- as it is a bad idea to get injured on StJ).

Take passenger ferry from RedHook to StJ (Cruz Bay) - and then use taxi-buses (aka Safari taxis) to visit the north-side beaches. They are not far - but walking to them from Cruz Bay (except for maybe Solomon and Honeymoon) would be a bad idea, and not safe (IMO) - they go all the way out to Maho Bay (considered one of the best north-side beaches by many - including us). A 'must see' is Trunk Bay (world famous for a reason).

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As one who did get injured last November on St John I can second the message "it is a bad idea to get injured on StJ" !!

Scooters while available are a bad idea too...
Take the taxi's as suggested and have a great time!! Bring your snorkeling gear and visit Truck Bay or Cinnamon Bay for reef snorkeling then head to Francis Bay out into the grassy areas to snorkel with the sea turtles. Back to town for libations and dinner then a late ferry back to STT.

A great day.

Safe travels.

bbb

Do the taxi/trucks just stop at the beaches? Or do you have to call them?

The more popular ones, Cinnamon/Trunk, they are there waiting, might need to wait for a several people though. I'd make arrangements for a pickup if it's one of the further out beaches.

Another option for people visiting St. John is to take a personal tour with Pam Gaffinhttp://www.pamgaffin.com, who wrote a guide about the island. We had a great day sightseeing, hearing about life on the island (including a warning that you don't want medical care there )snorkeling, going to lunch, shopping, visiting the resorts to see which one we would like to come back to, etc. I agree I would definitely save the bike riding for Mackinac Island in Mi I would definitely recommend her services if anyone wants to fit a lot in for a day visit.

Thanks to all for the responses.
I should have known more about the topography of STJ before thinking biking would be something to do there....
On our honeymoon, 25 years ago, we only visited St. Croix.
This visit to USVI we are reserved at MFS for the week on STT and plan to visit St. John's for a day trip only.

As mentioned in my OP, we are getting a car from Hertz and I really didn't plan to barge it over even if we used another rental car agency.
Beach, drinks, and dinner sounds like the plan!

easy - just take the passenger ferry over - and take Safari Taxi (open air) to one or more of the pristine northside-side beaches. On the way back - go to one of the many great restaurants/bars in Cruz Bay before taking the ferry back.

The taxi costs and ferry times are on vinow.com (importantly, the cruise ship schedule is also there - the cruise ship schedule often helps us to decide where not to go...)

DavidnRobin said:

easy - just take the passenger ferry over - and take Safari Taxi (open air) to one or more of the pristine northside-side beaches. On the way back - go to one of the many great restaurants/bars in Cruz Bay before taking the ferry back.

The taxi costs and ferry times are on vinow.com (importantly, the cruise ship schedule is also there - the cruise ship schedule often helps us to decide where not to go...)

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I agree with DavidnRobin. Take the passenger ferry out of Red Hook to St John. Then take a taxi to one of the north shore beaches. Trunk Bay and Cinnamon Bay both have decent bathrooms, showers and changing areas. You can bring a change a clothes with you and shower there. Then head back to Cruz Bay for a nice dinner and take a late ferry back. We did this a couple years ago. We went to Cinnamon Bay(less crowded than Trunk and just as pretty)for the day, showered and changed there and headed back to Cruz Bay for a couple drinks at the "Quiet Mon Pub" and dinner at "The Banana Deck". We then caught a late ferry back to Red Hook. It was a really nice day. Probably going to do it again next year as we didn't make it to St John this year.

Red Hook or Charlotte to WSJ

Not sure which is better from St Thomas to get to the Westin St John. Any tips would help make our trip special. Can we walk to any nice beaches and restaurants or do we need to spend alot of money on taxis. Please help, thanks!!!

If you want to bike take a ferry to water island from Charlotte Amalie on StT
Small island but fun to ride for a day, google this , there is a couple on water island who rent bikes. You might want to combine this with a day trip to CA
Agree with others not to attempt biking on St John

jclouie25 said:

Not sure which is better from St Thomas to get to the Westin St John. Any tips would help make our trip special. Can we walk to any nice beaches and restaurants or do we need to spend alot of money on taxis. Please help, thanks!!!

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We just went to WSJ for the first time (8 nights) and are now staying at Marriott's Frenchman's Cove on STT for two nights. After reading a lot on TUG, we decided to take the Westin ferry, since we were staying there. It costs $120 pp, but $110 for Starwood owners. We checked in at the WSJ office in the STT airport, left our bags with them and they provided a taxi to the ferry (a short drive away). Once we arrived at WSJ, they gave us our room keys and a bottle of cold water, and took us by golf cart to our room. Our bags arrived about 15 minutes later. A very nice way to arrive at the resort.

We decided to take taxi's to town ($5 pp each way), but did rent a car one day to go to the various beaches on the north shore. It cost a bit more ($84 plus gas) than taxi's but it gave more flexibility and we could come and go as we pleased. It worked out well. The roads were in very good shape, but it was hilly and had some sharp turns. If you are used to driving in hilly areas, it shouldn't be a problem. You definitely cannot walk to downtown as it is too far and you have to go over a very high hill. We did walk to the St John market just down the street from the resort to get some groceries. That was a very easy and short walk.

Have a great time.

mjm1 said:

We decided to take taxi's to town ($5 pp each way)...

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If there are 4 adults - one RT taxi ride to/from WSJ and Cruz Bay costs $40 during the day (sans tip) - and $48 at night. That is a very high price for a ~5 min taxi ride.
Of course, with using a taxi there is no issue with trying to find a spot to park.

DavidnRobin said:

If there are 4 adults - one RT taxi ride to/from WSJ and Cruz Bay costs $40 during the day (sans tip) - and $48 at night. That is a very high price for a ~5 min taxi ride.
Of course, with using a taxi there is no issue with trying to find a spot to park.

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David, I agree. If we had more than two people in our group, I would definitely consider getting a car.

DavidnRobin said:

Of course, with using a taxi there is no issue with trying to find a spot to park.

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Or drinking and driving.