Someone in this thread said it may be possible to contact a taxi ahead of time and have a car seat(s) ready when you arrive:
https://www.vinow.com/wwwtalk/read.php?4,86150

That's the extent of my knowledge, though. Hopefully someone else has been through it and can help.

thanks jen. i did read that thread but most of it is about the passport issue. i plan on calling frett's and island taxi's in the morning to see if they can accommodate us.

one thing i wanted to mention is we are just going to maho and staying at maho. perhaps boring to some, but to us (especially if we bring the kids) this is just about vegging out on the beach.

point is, we won't really need the seats other than airport transportation 🙂

Hundreds of kids travel in the taxis with no car seats every day. Hold them in your lap!

RL

I agree with the previous post. The taxis have seat belt and although your kids are small they shold be ok. They pack everyone in the taxis so tight it is hard to move around. Remember that you are going at most 25 miles an hour.

It is not the way you would do it in the states but in all the time I have been here (over 20 years) I do not recall a child being injured in a taxi. Now the safarri bus is another story.

billd

I have never seen a child in a car seat in a taxi here.

Pia

I have to disagree about car seats.....anywhere. Kids should ALWAYS be in car seats if that's what their age calls for. Seat belts on small children just don't cut it. They could be thrown from the car and killed very easily, even in the VI's.

Don't take the chance. You'll find someplace that you can rent car seats if you don't want to carry them.

Maybe Christy's would have some ideas, even though you don't want to rent the seats for the whole trip:

http://www.christysofstjohn.com/rentals.htm

I agree about the safety but I believe taxis and buses are except from the law.

RL

Not to long ago there was an accident with an open air taxi on STT, that required 5 ambulances to bring the passengers to the Hospital! I believe one had to be Air Evacuated for critical care off the island! This accident was at low speed. Maybe taxi's are exempt from the law requiring seat belts. Kids get hurt, kids get hurt,kids get hurt (regardless of the Law) car seats are for the most important part of your of your life "your kids". Keep following up on the car seat rental or Lug yours from home!

We will be arriving Feb 29th and are debating the same issue. But ultimately I think we will leave the car seat at home for our just-turned 3 year old. We were in STT when the kids were 1, 4 and 6 and never used them. Honestly I am a car seat fanatic at home...just ask the in-laws 😉 but it seemed cumbersome and awkward in STT. Most of the seat belts were tangled or non-existent. We fumbled endlessly to get it installed and finally we gave up and held the baby on my lap....praying, laughing, and cursing the whole way...SO not my style at home, but I never saw anyone in car seats.
Now if we decide to rent a car for our stay we may reconsider, but for taxis and short trips...
Stacey

ok, i'll end my disagreement on this, but someone very very close to me didn't have a seatbelt on, was thrown from the car and killed...sorry to be so adament about this, but the only way to carry children anywhere in a car is with a carseat. I think the inconvenience of bringing a car seat or even renting one is worth it.

If you're fortunate enough to be blessed with children, be diligent enough for their safety!

Okay - one portion of the problem is resolved. Island Taxi can offer private car service, with a car seat from the STT airport to the Red hook ferry for around $75 one way.

Now I have to figure out how to get from Red Hook to Maho.

I know that most of the people in the world don't use car seats. I have been forced to abandon my car seats a few times while traveling because there was LITERALLY no way to travel in a taxi with them. But if I have a choice, and I think I do here, I would prefer to have my kids in car seats. I don't want to lug them, but I do want to find them down there. If I need to lug them - eh so be it.

BTW you should know that we just upped and decided to bring our kids because I didn't want to leave them for 4 days. Thus the quasi hectic planning.

Does anyone know car services specifically in St John? I might have better luck with hiring a private car service and requesting the car seats. Thank you!

Oh - one more thing. Let's say we opt to bring the seats and install them in a taxi. How much would a private taxi from the airport to Red Hook cost for 2 adults, 2 kids and 2 bags. Will they charge us for the car seats as a per item/bag fee?

I am just trying to figure out if the cost of the private car services who supply car seats and such justifies not actually bringing the seats down. The more I think about it for $150 in convenience charges, I might want to flex those muscles carry my own seats, and hire a taxi right there.

Thoughts on the price?

Thanks!c

We've traveled twice to STJ with our kids at 1 and 3 and again when they were 2 and 4 and stayed at Maho Bay. I'm pretty big on using car seats and also prefer to use them on the plane too - my kids just seem to travel better in them. My now 5 year-old just took his first flight without a car seat two weeks ago (and it was really nice only installing one on the plane). For our first trip when my youngest was 1, I really didn't want to use the open-air taxi. We decided to rent a jeep liberty on STT and keep it for the week (you definitely need the ground clearance to get to Maho). It was easier to just get the car and pack everything up from the airport and have it there. The car ferry was easy and with all the stuff we had, it was cheaper than taking the regular ferry and renting on STJ. We rented from Budget at the airport the first time and from Dependable car rental the 2nd time. Both allow their vehicles to go over to STJ (some don't). We also felt like if the kids were hot, tired, and crabby that we could always get in a air-conditioned car and drive around until they fell asleep. 🙂 That said, we did the Reef Bay hike with the NPS and did ride in an open air taxi with the kids (sans car seats) to the start of the hike. There wasn't really another choice for that. We really enjoyed going to all the different beaches and having a car to lug extra stuff with us. Big Maho Bay beach is great but kind of close to the road for us to feel relaxed about our 2 year old. Little Maho Bay was great but small and Francis is really nice but quite a walk with little ones.

A couple of little tips for Maho that made it a little easier with little ones: Take the drink pitcher from your tent to the showers with the kids - much easier to get them rinsed since the water is colder than they are used to. I like to use those pre-soaped baby washcloths for washing my kids in the showers, no need for soap bottles, etc. Take a nightlight to plug in if your kids are used to that. Plan some simple meals to cook in your tent. You can also order food from the restaurant and bring it back to your tent to eat (nice for us after the kids were tired of behaving restaurants). Let me know if there are any other Maho Bay questions you have. We've stayed there twice, both with kids, but our new favorite is Concordia, especially as the kids grow up sinec there are more beds in their tents (and you have your own bathroom and warm shower).

Keri

How much would a private taxi from the airport to Red Hook cost for 2 adults, 2 kids and 2 bags.

From Taxi Rates: Any person requesting a taxi exclusively for themselves are as follows: Airport to Red Hook: $90 for 1-4 passengers, (5 or more passengers add $15 for each additional person). Luggage: A flat rate of $2 per bag shall be added to the fare for each passenger. The rate for items greater than 30"x20" shall not exceed $4 per item.

--Islander

Okay so we are back! It was a great trip but I have to say I am happy we didn't bring the kids. I could have sort of handled the van from the STT airport to the ferry dock. It has seats and it feels more like a small bus. Small children travel on small public buses all over the world.

That said,once we got to to STJ I would have NOT felt safe in the open air jeep taxis. The hairpin turns, the steep roads, the lengthly journey from Maho into town and back just would have made me feel very unsafe. A child could easily be thrown out of one of them if there was even a mild accident and they were seating on the window sides. I didn't see any private car type of taxis, but to tell the truth because it was just me and my husband I wasn't really looking for them either.

Thanks for everyone's help.

I hope to post a trip report soon.

Asrai...thanks for this post. That's what I was looking for. I'm glad you realized after being there that no car seats for children is just a mistake in general. An accident can happen in a heartbeat and we all know that you can't take those chances with your children.

Thanks! I feel better now..i was worried (I'm a worrier)