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My Husband and I are heading to St. Thomas for 6 days in about a week and I am trying to figure out if we should just rent a car to drive around St. Thomas, or if we should rent a Jeep so that we can drive it around St. Thomas and take it over to St. Johns for a day trip. What are the transportation options on St. Johns? Is it worth it to have your own vehicle or can you see just as much with the transportation available? Are there any must-see "secret" beaches or spots on St. Johns that it would be worth having a car to see them? Also, has anyone delt with "Rent -a-motion"? Is there office close to the airport?
Thanks!
Welcome to the VInow Forum!
Car vs. jeep: you seem to be hinging the decision on maybe thinking that you must have a jeep for the day trip to St. John? Not the case, you can take a car over to St. John and explore most of the island just fine for a daytrip. So on that question, pick whatever fits your wants and budget. Do make sure the car rental agency you are working with allows their vehicles to go over to St. John, most do but a few do not.
If you decide you don't want to take your rental over on the car barge, you can take the passenger ferry over and then: rent a vehicle on St. John, use a taxi, use public transportation, use your feet. The options are listed in order of seeing the most to just seeing a bit: if you have a car you can drive around and see more, or not, up to you; taxis will take you to the popular beaches and offer island tours; public transportation is along Centerline Rd between Cruz Bay and Coral Bay so you'd have to plan you day according to the route; and on foot you could do Lind Pt Trail that starts right in Cruz Bay where the ferry dock is located and spend time hiking a bit and then hanging out and snorkeling at the beaches that Lind Pt trail leads to.
There are off the beaten path beaches like Lameshur on St. John that you would need a jeep to get to, but there are other more accessible, beautiful beaches to choose from.
Rent-a-motion... looking at their website looks like the same folks as the scooter rental place. Familiar with them having an office in Havensight area, not sure about the airport area.
Hi there,
My husband and I spent a wonderful 8 days on St. Thomas in August 2011. We actually were supposed to go back last August again but family illness and other situations meant we had to defer. Got back for a day last month off a cruise ship and can't wait to get back for another land-based stay. Planning it for next February right now, actually.
My husband is the one who does all the details but I can tell you that we rented a small jeep from Discount Car Rental as I still have the business card in my wallet. We were happy with their service and rates. We stayed on the East End of St. Thomas close by Red Hook. We drove to Magens Bay twice, to the grocery store, into Charlotte Amalie for dinner one evening and also took the car ferry over to St.John for a day. We drove all over from Cruz Bay to Coral Bay and enjoyed exploring all the beaches and the Annenberg Ruins. It was great having the freedom to come and go and explore wherever we wanted. A couple of nights we drove down the hill to Red Hook and caught the ferry over to Cruz Bay just for dinner too. The Administrator's reply was all you really need, but just wanted to add my experience as food for thought.
