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Hi everyone. LONG time reader, first time poster. I just want to say thanks for all of the specific and helpful comments made. The stress of planning is almost non-existent- just go with the flow- its vacation in paradise right!?! It's hard to believe that our trip is just 2-1/2 weeks away!
My husband and I are headed to STJ for our first trip to any Caribbean island- very excited- and will be there for 10 days. We are staying at Cinnamon Bay campground- both of us are very experienced campers/backpackers- and renting a Jeep in STT. Here's my problem- our flight leaves out of STT on a Sunday morning to head home at 8:30am. I've been trying to get an idea of driving times, waiting for the ferry, ferry travel, etc. I was hoping to fly out a little later but the flight schedule just didn't work out that way unless we wanted to pay double or more. The good thing is that we don't have to drop off the rental car, they are going to pick it up from the airport. Even with that, how much time should I allow to get from Cinnamon Bay campground to the airport??? How dependable is the ferry that time of the morning? I realize we need to get there at least an hour or so early and want to make sure we won't be getting up at 4am or something ridiculous to make it there in time when we could just stay on STT that night. What can I say, I want as much time on STJ as possible. Just remember, we're not local drivers:)
OK - Brace yourselves here's the bad news........ I don't think you will make it (don't shoot the messenger) The ferry schedule on Sunday is as follows - at least this is what is currently posted online.
Boysen.... 1st Sunday ferry 8:30am
Republic.. 1st Sunday ferry 7:00am
Roanoke... 1st Sunday ferry 8:00am
Given that the trip on the car ferry is approx 30 mins and the drive from Red Hook to the airport is approx 30 mins and you will need to be at the airport 1 1/2hours before flight time (maybe you could get away with 1 hour at that time of dayC to clear customes and Immigration even the 7:00 am wont work for you as the earliest you could make it to the airport taking the 7:00am ferry would be approx 8:15am - no time to do all the necc paperwork/customes etc. Your best bet would be to spend your last night on STT - possibly at a hotel next to the airport. Good luck you will love it here 🙂
I agree you can't make it. There is a nice hotel right by the airport right on the beach, or if you want something more affordable there are some nice hotels in town as well. www.galleonhouse.com or I would suggest www.mafolie.com since it has a nice view of the harbor and would be a nice way to close out your trip.
I hope this helps.
Stu
From previous experience there is no way to stay on St. John the night prior to departing in STT especially with an early flight. I suggest staying at the Emerald Beach Resort, which is a 5 minute walk to the airport. The hotel isn't great but for one night it's o.k. They have a nice beach, clean rooms, an outside bar and a fairly decent restaurant right on site. We stayed there our last night simply for ease of getting to the airport, it's a good spot to just wind down on your last day and lay on the beach or sit by the pool. Just a suggestion
All of the above...don't try it. Especially for your first trip, the last thing you want is to end it all stressed out about catching a flight.
It takes only a little time to decompress from "your time" to "island time" upon arrival, but trying to accelerate from "island time" to "your time" in a few hours is dangerous to your health and the world around you.
I believe it is something to do with warp speed, worm holes or something like that. 🙂
huga,
I asked this question a while back and the responses were pretty much the same. Don't do it. We have pretty crappy flights. We arrive in STT at 9:00pm and depart at 8:30 am so we decided to add a couple days to our trip. We'll be spending the first and last nights in STT.
Thank you all so much! We have made reservations for the night before our flight out. Two weeks and two days to go!
The same thing happened to me - AA moved my connecting flight from JFK-SFO, and so they moved my flight time from 1PM (perfect time) to the 8:30AM flight (lousy/stessfull time) - so I got my money back and booked on Delta - instead of trying to get to the airport in time.
However...
What is stopping you from making it to the Airport in time is your car rental, and getting back to STT on the car barge? (if I understand correctly) - seems to me if you rent your car in STJ, then you can take the 6AM passenger ferry from CB to RH and you can make it to the airport in time.
Isn't this correct - or am I missing something? I am interested in this since I almost choose to go this route, and spend $100pp less.
This question was on my mind also, this is my first trip to St. John. We are renting a car on St. John and have an 11:30 am flight on a Saturday out of STT. The passenger ferries appear to leave St. John daily at 6am. Assuming the 1.5 hours airport arrival before flight, will I have enough time?
Thanks
A 6 am passenger ferry will get you to Red Hook by 6:30. It's a 30 min drive from Red Hook to the airport without traffic. She would never make an 8:30 flight.
I have arrived at STT airport for a 12:30 flight at an hour and half prior, and they wouldn't let us on. Not enough time for customs. Arrive exactly two hours prior. Do not take your chances. Not worth it. Although we did have a great time at the airport bar waiting for the 4 pm flight 🙂
