Angie,
someone else recently asked this question and the response was unanimous that one should get your own car. We rented one thru hotwire.com for $204/week (taxes included), and some families had paid as much as $100-200 per DAY for taxis! Do a search to find out everyone's opinion on this, but I don't recall ANYONE suggesting to take taxis.

You don't need a car..we got around just fine without one. HOWEVER, it would be much MUCH more convenient! You can come and go as you please! 🙂

I would rent the car for more then just a days shopping trip. Sugar Bay Resort is nice but if you're shelling out the money for the caribbean I would want to see more of it then one beach. At least go see Magens as well. There are many wonderful beaches to visit, not to mention taking a day trip to stj from red hook since you're already so close. I would start to feel claustophopic just staying at the resort all week. Plus there really are many wonderful restaurants on stt why limit yourself to hotel food? Is Sugar Bay still doing that awful all inclusive? Never understood why they wanted to do that on a island like stt where there is so much to see, do and eat.

But then again maybe you just want to lay on the beach and soak up sun for the week, which I know many do, if so just ignore what I said.

Yea we are doing the "do nothing" vacation. I want to see the island, which is what the day is for. But we lived fast paced lives in central florida with 3 childre. getting away means tranquility and solitude for me, not the hustle and bustle of the "touristy" thing. I do want to see some of the island though.

I would think about skipping downtown charlotte amalie unless you're looking to get a deal on something specific. Its very touristy and extremely busy. Is you want a slower pace go over to stj's downtown. Its a very short ferry ride from red hook. And everything is slower and all the beaches are gorgeous. Have a good trip.

Or, come to Water Island for the day. It's very quiet and beautiful. Not touristy. You'll probably have the beach all to yourselves this time of year at least during the weekdays.

Hi Angie,

Given that you only want to leave the resort to go to and from the airport and for one day of sightseeing, it will likely be more convenient and less expensive for you to use taxis than to drive and park. If you change your mind you may also be able to rent a car from your resort for the one day you wish to be out and about. If what you want is to relax in one spot, don't feel pressured to see or do much of anything!

Hello Angie,

Just My 2 cents. I lived on STT for two years and if you just want to hang at a beach and have a do nothing vacation (which is my dream to do soon) I would skip the car rental. I highly suggest spending one whole day on St. John. You can rent a jeep for the day and hit a couple of beaches, take great pics, shop in STJ, have lunch, dinner and come back on the ferry which runs till Midnight??? (Please correct me if I am wrong - been off island almost a year now...) catch a cab back to your hotel. The rest of the time spend on the beach, pool, or whatever. To me that would be the ultimate.

If you do get a rental, read some other posts about it and get a good rental and hit a different beach everyday and still do one day on STJ if you can. Take my advice with a grain of salt though. I lived on STT and have seen a lot of it. With a car though you can hit different restaurants too which there are sooo many good ones. So just figure out what would be the best for you. I have three kids and just sitting on any beach anywhere with no schedule and the same restaurant everyday would actually suit me just fine. 🙂 Check this site for taxi prices. You will be on the North side and Red Hook is close (to go to STJ). There are plenty of beaches near you and restaurants so without a car it shouldn't be too expensive, no???

How did I do on the pros and cons??? Actually trying to count the pros on each choice. There shouldn't be any cons! No worries and have fun.

Teresa

If you've been to STT before, and if you both want to veg on the beach and relax, that's cool and enjoy it! But if you live in FL, you can drive anywhere there and do that. Why spend the money to stay on STT without seeing it? Seeing it IS relaxing. Sorry, but I'm landlocked and a beach is better anyday!

Driving a jeep on the USVI with a picnic to a different beach each day is going to far more relaxing than being home with 3 children! 🙂
Rule of thumb: If you end up using a taxi more than 2 days....it's more economical to rent a vehicle for a few days.

P.S. The fact that you are asking this question should be telling you something. 🙂

Betty: Sugar Bay has pretty much phased out the all-inclusive. Angie, my advice is to definitely rent a car. The "touristy things" bear little resemblance to what you might be used to in Florida. Charlotte Amalie ("town") on a big cruise ship day probably isn't something you would enjoy but if you check the cruise ship schedule, town offers a lot when none or only one ship comes visiting. Driving is easy and there's almost nowhere where you can drive over 35mph! Cheers!

As for shopping, Town in STT is wonderful and as said above, simply ck the cruise ship schedule to go on a one ship day vs. a no ship day as some of the shops will not open on a no ship day! I think it wiser IF you want to shop to stay in STT for that, as STJ is more expensive for shopping. STJ does have a few different unique shops to offer tho!
I would consider things like Paradise Point and Mountain Top as "touristy" and if you care not to do those things, those are the type of things to stay away from! ( I usually recommend Mountain Top for its wonderful view tho).
Personally, I would want to see a few different beaches than just the hotel beach (which isn't that great from what I understand). You can still relax and do nothing at various sights! 🙂 I would want a car simply to be spontaneous and go when and where I want on a whim!
A point on town aside from shopping- Beautiful Historical sights, if you don't want that? Just look at the interior of A.H.Riise, it is awesome! (You will not find this in STJ).
To find the cruise ship schedule, pick up a ST. Thomas this week magazine at the airport upon your arrival! 🙂
Enjoy!