Well, best advice is to start NOW to rent a vehicle. They are scarce to rent for a single day rental. If you cannot find one on STJ, then rent on STT and take the car ferry over. In other words, take what you can get for a single day. Most STJ rentals will be 4 wheel drive. STT rentals give more 2 wheel drive (cheaper) options.

No - you don't NEED a 4 wheel drive. You can explore north shore beaches without one. For a single day rental - that's what I'd recommend. Get in the car and go past all the way to Leinester area (past Maho) to see the sights, then backtrack to Cinnamon for beach and snorkeling time; stop at Trunk on the way back (you cannot go to STJ without at least spending a few minutes at "world-famous" Trunk Bay); then, a quick stop at Hawksnest to round out your time. Then go into Cruz Bay for the evening having Happy Hour at Woody's and dinner at one of the area restaurants (FIsh Trap, Morgan's Mango, Zozo's and others, of course)

Or - head out early to Coral Bay area (via Centerline Road) to see that area then backtrack to the areas listed above. It really depends on what you want to see.

We've never rented on STJ, so someone else will have to help with the "where to rent" and "open how late" questions. In the meantime.....

Good Luck! Have Fun!

Just a few things. St John does not have an 'S" and you will find that almost every car on STJ is 4WD. Most all the rental car companies are w/in a few dollars of each other. You will have to return the car by 5 or 6 depending on where you book.

Are you renting a car on STT? You can bring it over on the car ferry but you will have to head back to STT by 5 or 6ish, I have no idea when the last barge is.

Depending on what you want to do, you can get around by taxi if you will only be there for a day.

Thanks for the info. We do not plan on taking a car from St. Thomas over the St. John.

Elfie

Your suggestions are very welcome! Thanks so much for taking the time to share this info with us!

Elfie

Elfie

If you only intend to be on STJ for a day I think you are better off renting a taxi to go to the different beaches VI Lover suggested. You will have difficulty renting for a day if that is really possible and you will have to return it by 5 - 6. Assuming a reasonable starting time from STT, that does not leave a great deal of time to rent a car, find your way around, etc.
Hardly the most enjoyable way to take in STJ.

For one day, I'd just cab it. It'll be cheaper and you can stay on STJ longer.

Elifie:

Even if you rent the vehicle on STJ and have to turn it in at 5 or 6, The suggestion of Woody's for cocktails (happy hour) and the others for dinner are all within walking distance. Cruz Bay (downtown) is not that big at all. Everything is centralized. My suggestion is if you want to do the out of the ordinary things as far as hiking trails and visiting really good snorkeling spots, you will need to rent a vehicle. Spencers, Delbert Hill, Denzil Clyne (My cousin), are just a few rentals you can contact for availability.

The VITRAN bus will take you from Cruz Bay out to Coral Bay for $1 if you wanted to see more than the immediate Cruz Bay area but didn't want to rent a car.

Luli....that's an unbelievable deal for $1. We want to go to Coral bay this time. We've never been to that side of the island.

Do you recommend that we do it that way? Or do you think we should take our car over on the car barge for the convenience.

We wanted to have lunch and check out the Coral bay area.

Any suggestions?

I didn't actually do it, but these girls we met at Skinny Legs did. They stayed in Cruz Bay and took cabs and rode the bus everywhere. I think they probably spent less than we did on the rental, really. I'm not completely opposed to doing that in the future.

If you're on island time and don't need to worry about your schedule, it is not a bad idea. However, I think you mentioned you're traveling in a large group, so you may want to take that into consideration.

Get a jeep and see as much of the island as possible. You'll be happier and can avoid the more crowded beaches. Go to Salt Pond and hike down to the beach. It is gorgeous!

Skinny Legs for a CHEESEBURGER. They are the best ! AND, you can enjoy Red Sox Nation !!! GO RED SOX !!!

Yes you can use the bus (when it's running) It is supposed to run every hour but you can't count on it. I would rent a car and go at your own pace instead of wasting time waiting for buses.

Locals are quick to let you know if the bus is running on schedule or not. When we were there, it was right on time quite a bit. I was shocked because I'd heard so many horror stories about how unreliable it is.

If you're on island time a wait for the bus is no big deal. And it costs $1, versus $85 to rent a car for one day. If I were just going out to Skinny's to have a cheeseburger, I'd go the $1 route.

If you like independence and want to see lots of off-the-beaten-path places, then renting a car for the week or at least a few days makes lots of sense.

One day on ST John (no 's' by the way. St Johns is the capital of Antigua and St. John is an island within the US Virgin Islands but it's a common mistake.}

Take the ferry from STT to STJ and, once you reach, ask the safari taxi drivers rightt there how they might acommodate your plan, of course bidding them a "good morning" before you ask.

In no way would I evenTHINK about advocating the government-run VITRACO buses as a travel option for visitors either on STT or STJ. Cheers!

STT, could you elaborate on why tourists/visitors shouldn't use the VITRACO buses??? Problem there?

Also, new people to the forum could certainly use some sensitivity. I could care less whether they mention STJ as St. Johns. They all know where they are going...and it's not Antiqua.

We were also talking about saying "Good Morning", "Good Afternoon", or "Good Evening". Personally, that doesn't feel comfortable to me. I wouldn't be offended if someone from the VI's said that to me instead of "Hi"..."How are you" or anything close to that. I certainly do it when I'm in the Islands, but I don't understand why someone on the Islands would get upset if we used our own greetings that we use in the states.

I think the main thing is that you have to greet people and ask how they are doing before you ask if they have a table, can make you a rum punch, etc. It's just common courtesy that they expect. They were fine with me saying hello, just as long as I wasn't rude and made some sort of demand without a greeting.

I don't think we need to be jerks about it, but it doesn't hurt to correct folks who call it St. Johns. When I was down there, Ruth told me a story of a girl who accidentally booked her hotel on Antigua because she thought she was going to St. Johns, and I surely wouldn't want anyone to screw up their vacation that way.

Oh, and I only knew about the buses from some girls who rode the bus and cabbed it all week on STJ. They got everywhere they needed to go when they needed to be there. Of course, it helps to be on island time!

I just don't see the point in spending $85 for one day car rental, especially because it took a few days of driving for us to get used to the roads. Also, the closer you get to season, the less companies that will offer that option anyhow.

Connie, in answer to your question about using the VITRAN buses (my apologies for previously saying "VITRACO" which was a slip) is because of their unreliability. Even if a visitor were fortunate enough to find their routes/timeschedules posted anywhere, best to take them with a HUGE grain of salt and plan on standing at the bus stop indefinitely. Nine times out of ten a safari or a taxi will come by much faster than a VITRAN bus.

As far as your other comments are concerned, visitors generally take no umbrage at being corrected where "St John" versus "St. John's" or "St Johns" is concerned (and it's AntiGua, not AntiQua.) I can't imagine why anyone would personally feel uncomfortable for whatever reason about offering the locally preferred greetings of, "Good Morning," "Good Afternoon," "Good Evening," Good Day," or "Good Night." It behooves any visitor setting foot on any foreign soil to appraise themselves of local customs/mores. Cheers!

STT Resident,
What Flag flies over STJ/STX/STT? Foreign soil?