You can arrange for a private taxi to the ferry. I did that one time and NEVER AGAIN! I ended up on a much later ferry because the driver arrived 30 minutes late and paid an insanely high price in advance. (I could have strangled the rental agent for being so insistent.) Had I shared the taxi, i'd have been on STJ an hour sooner. It also seemed to cause attitude at the airport and I ended up in some type of unique, local territorial argument and had to talk to the police to get a disagrement between the locals straightened out. It was like some sort of 'claim jumping' thing. All of this agnst is avoidable by just using the group taxi.

If you scroll down here you'll see lots of comments on STT taxis and getting to the ferry. I learned tipping the drivers is a waste of good money. Take a look at earlier posts. I suggest you do what the vast majority of folks do and take a group taxi. It's fairly cheap and it is an experience.

I'm sure the locals will weigh in on this.

What we've always done is to get a rum punch, get our luggage and wander out of the terminal and find a van going to Red Hook. Never crossed my mind to prearrange private transportation. Never saw a need to. I like the trip across STT. It helps me to slow down and begin to shift into Island Time. I put my watch in my pocket and enjoy the ride. There's nowhere that I have to be by any particular time for a week or more, so there's no reason to hurry. I get to chat with other excited new arrivals. Sometimes we drop folks off at hotels along the way. I enjoy seeing those places. Sometimes we go direct. Either way is fine with me.

Sometimes we've missed the ferry. No worries, another will come and we get to enjoy a Carib and take in the scene at the ferry dock. We've been going to the VI for a while, so we're able to slip into Island Time fairly quickly and smoothly. Life's slow and sweet in the VI.

Nick,

Love your attitude - couldn't agree more!

Carolmo

You don't have to go all the way to Red Hook to take the ferry. You can always take the Charlotte Amalie Ferry unless you are taking a car over. I've always found it less confusing and easier to access the CA ferry if we weren't renting a car to take over.

To earlybrass:

Your taxi driver was late, and he should receive the blame for you missing your ferry, not the idea of hiring a private taxi.

At the St. Thomas Airport, the V.I. Taxi Association has an exclusive contract to transport passengers to all destinations on the island. Anyone else who arrives on the property to take persons from the airport must have a company-issued voucher indicating that the person or group has prepaid for the pickup in advance. Without that paperwork, confusion ensues. To the visitor, it looks like "infighting", but it's actually the enforcement of the rules.

Once your driver has this document, he should be able to take you where you need to go with little difficulty. I am not a taxi driver, but it is my understanding that the proper wording had to be pre-approved, and this information was not available to the public until some 10 days ago. I may be wrong, but this is the first time I read published reports about it.

But, the bottom line is: your driver was late. He should not have been. Once your plane lands, you are way ahead of the game. I like to remind folks that they are now on "island time", and to relax. Enjoy the balmy, fresh air and know that your vacation has now begun!

Oh, here is the link on the creation of the voucher system:
http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/index.pl/article_home?id=6615198