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Renting a Jeep or paying a driver for the day on St. Johns

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Renting a Jeep or paying a driver for the day on St. Johns

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(@toplesslemans)
Posts: 2
New Member
Topic starter
 

Coming down and be our first time there on the 19th and have a question about cars and St. John. Between a car and a Jeep to take to St. Johns is $150 to $200 plus the ferry fee. If we take the ferry over what would the cost be to hire a driver for the day on St. Johns? We will be renting a car either way since we will be down there for a week on ST. Thomas and staying at Sapphire resort

 
Posted : March 6, 2014 8:00 am
(@stt-resident)
Posts: 3316
Famed Member
 

Here are the St John taxi rates:

https://www.vinow.com/stjohn/getting_around_stj/taxi.php

If you scroll down to the bottom of the page you'll find the rate for sightseeing tours. If you wanted to do more than that then you can negotiate with the driver. My preference would be to load up your rental vehicle with a cooler and your beach gear and go it alone as only Trunk and Cinnamon have any facilities - but have fun whatever you decide to do!

 
Posted : March 6, 2014 8:48 am
(@alana33)
Posts: 792
Prominent Member
 

I doubt the cost of renting a car and taking it over to STJ on the barge would cost that much since the round trip STT/STJ/STT ticket only cost $50.00 plus the $3.00 Port Authority fee. Much better to take your rental car to STJ and do your own thing.

Be careful which agency you rent a car from tho as some companies such as Hertz and Discount do not allow their vehicles to be taken to STJ. Budget and Dependable Car do.

Most of the Park beaches have some sort of bathroom facility (Porta Potty) and picnic tables but as STT resident mentioned only Cinnamon and Trunk have options for food and beach rental gear.There are all kinds of places to grab something to eat if you don't pack your own.
Have fun.

 
Posted : March 6, 2014 8:55 am
(@beach_bums)
Posts: 2
New Member
 

We can arrange the driver for you... Are you going to be providing the rental car? Do you need a driver for one day or multiple days? Also, be aware that the ferry cost is only $50 r/t and a jeep rental is about the same per day.. Not sure who quoted you such a high price of 150 - 200??
There are also plenty of safari taxi's at good rates but you share with other large groups, either way, you guys should have a great time and if you need any help, let us know

 
Posted : March 6, 2014 11:32 am
(@toplesslemans)
Posts: 2
New Member
Topic starter
 

Guess what Im getting at is a cost of (car-326) vs (jeep-500) for a week is $175 difference plus ferry cost is $225. Cost of hiring a driver with his car since my rental car isnt allowed over to st. johns. Can I hire a driver(with his car) cheaper for the day to take the two of us around the island for the day (vs) then renting a Jeep and doing it myself.

 
Posted : March 6, 2014 1:48 pm
(@stt-resident)
Posts: 3316
Famed Member
 

You don't need a 4WD on STT nor for a day trip to STJ. Although there have been rumors that Discount doesn't allow their cars to go to STJ, the only agency I know of which specifically disallows any of their vehicles over there is Hertz. However, there are several agencies which will not rent you a 2WD, only a 4WD, if you're actually staying on STJ - but that's not your circumstance.

 
Posted : March 6, 2014 5:49 pm
(@alana33)
Posts: 792
Prominent Member
 

Discount absolutely does not allow their rentals to go to STJ.
Had guest this winter (2 different sets) have this happen. Neither does Hertz.
Budget and Dependable Car do.

 
Posted : March 6, 2014 6:51 pm
(@stt-resident)
Posts: 3316
Famed Member
 

Alana33 wrote:
Discount absolutely does not allow their rentals to go to STJ.
Had guest this winter (2 different sets) have this happen. Neither does Hertz.
Budget and Dependable Car do.

Discount does allow their 4WD vehiicles to be taken to STJ. This is from their website:

"Travelers to St. John

By renting from us you save time and money, and you'll enjoy hassle-free travel to your final destination on St. John. You can pick up your 4x4 vehicle on St. Thomas and take it by ferry to St. John, which allows you to start your vacation the second you drive off our lot!"

 
Posted : March 6, 2014 7:10 pm
(@alana33)
Posts: 792
Prominent Member
 

Tell that to my 2 sets of guests that were told they could not take their 4WD to STJ so ended up taking the passenger ferry and taxi's. One couple was here end of Dec. and the other left this afternoon. Just saying - their experience. Plus was told both times re: long wait to check in and out when getting car and dropping it back off. Budget and Dependable Car are a lot better.

 
Posted : March 6, 2014 8:13 pm
(@stt-resident)
Posts: 3316
Famed Member
 

If you've twice encountered this problem with guests, maybe you should call Discount and ask them why their policy in these two incidents seem to be at odds with the information on their website. I haven't seen it mentioned on any other travel forums and Discount generally gets decent reviews. On the other hand, more complaints are made about Budget than all the rest put together!

 
Posted : March 7, 2014 9:55 am
(@alana33)
Posts: 792
Prominent Member
 

After the first guests couldn't take their rental to STJ I checked the website, then it happened again.
As mentioned previosly, majority of my vacation rental guests have used Budget and Dependable with no complaints, whatsoever.

 
Posted : March 7, 2014 10:00 am

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