St. John car rental - necessary?

[abcmanzer]

Debating whether or not to rent a car during our summer week at the Westin, St. John.

Is it necessary to see the whole island? Would it be wiser to rent only for a few days in stead of the whole week? Is reserving ahead of time advisable?
(assuming renting on St. John itself and not in St. Thomas is preferable)

Thanks for any advice you care to share.

 

[Eric B]

Opinions vary. We usually just use taxis there, but there are some places where it's tougher to get one. Getting from the resort to Cruz Bay or popular spots like the Windmill or the more popular beaches is simple by taxi, but the beaches that are further away and less touristy things like eating at Gwen's Place it doesn't work out as well. Our next trip we plan on just renting a car for one or two days but not the whole week.

 

[ConejoRed]

We also just rented for a day to do a circle around the island. Used taxis and the beach shuttles from the resort the rest of the time. Very easy.

 

[Tia]

Car rentals are double what they were a year ago cost wise, yes you want to reserve a head. Some people like to rent on STT then go to a grocery store before taking the car ferry over to STJ. Taxi rates went up last October and are per person. https://www.vinow.com/stjohn/getting_around_stj/taxis-rates/

 

[SandyPGravel]

We did not rent a car on our first visit and regretted it. Since then we have rented on St Thomas (Amalie) and have thoroughly enjoyed driving all over the island. Parking in town is expensive.

 

[tofdel1]

Debating whether or not to rent a car during our summer week at the Westin, St. John.

Is it necessary to see the whole island? Would it be wiser to rent only for a few days in stead of the whole week? Is reserving ahead of time advisable?
(assuming renting on St. John itself and not in St. Thomas is preferable)

Thanks for any advice you care to share.

Curious if you rented a car or not? How was your trip and what did you do? We rented a Jeep from STT about 10 yrs ago, and drove around St John to Lameshur Bay. Fantastic snorkeling there. Not sure if it's coming back from the hurricane. I hope so.

 

[bobpark56]

We did not rent a car on our first visit and regretted it. Since then we have rented on St Thomas (Amalie) and have thoroughly enjoyed driving all over the island. Parking in town is expensive.

Parking in town is not expensive if you rent your car on-island. Most, if not all, agencies allow you to park in their lots for free. That what we have done on our past trips.

 

[abcmanzer]

Curious if you rented a car or not? How was your trip and what did you do? We rented a Jeep from STT about 10 yrs ago, and drove around St John to Lameshur Bay. Fantastic snorkeling there. Not sure if it's coming back from the hurricane. I hope so.

Just got back - loved our first visit to St. John. We did NOT end up renting a car. Price doubled at Budget counter in St. Thomas due to new mandatory insurance. Relied on Westin ferry and St. John safari taxis and never felt hindered or like we were paying more than a car would have cost. That being said, if we return, we would like the freedom a Jeep provides now knowing the lay of the land.

We hiked Reef Bay Trail to a wide, empty beach and the Caneel Hill Trail to a near 360 degree island overlook. We spent long days at the beaches on Maho Bay, Cinnamon Bay, and Trunk Bay (on a NON cruise ship docking day). Lots of decent dining and shopping options in Cruz Bay. We did not make it to Coral Bay. Only spent most of one day at the Westin Beach/Pool.

We met lots of great people from all over, loved talking to the locals, too. We can totally understand why so many people return to this island for longer stays.

 

[Tia]

Many people recommend not renting at the airport to rather rent from one of the many others on island. Several others pick you up and drop you off at the airport. Check TripAdvisor forums for the USVI lots of chatter about car rentals.

We rented last winter from Avis at the STT airport, it's related to Budget. Nothing was said about mandatory insurance. The tricky guy at the counter did add it to our printed out receipts, even tho we verbally said NO, he marked in the computer YES. I think they get a %. Another couple inline behind us said exact thing happened to them a week earlier there, they made them redo the paperwork in the computer taking it off. Unfortunately for us we did not look at the print out until way too late. We'd always used Avis there in past years, no problem, but this year there has been a change of ownership and not so good. (Avis did ask to see our car insurance card and took a copy)

 

[legalfee]

We go to STT every year at least once and always rent a car. We quit Avis at the airport around 4 years ago. Go tired of waiting two hours or more for a car. We've been using Dollar and they're great. New cars and SUVs, shuttle and close to the airport.