Time allotted for travel from St. John to STT airport

[SunnyDays]

How much time should I allot for traveling from St. John to catch a flight out of St. Thomas? If I use the 6 a.m. ferry, will I make an 8:20 flight or should I plan for later?

Can anyone provide feedback on the 2 management companies I am considering using for our villa rental? Destination St. John and Caribbean Villas.

[Randy in MD]

My rule of thumb is to be on a ferry leaving Cruz Bay 3 hours before your departure time. With an 8:20AM flight, you'll be cutting it close - real close, but it is doable, especially if you don't have to check luggage and have already printed your boarding passes.

[Diana2]

All the planets need to align to make it. I would hire a private taxi from Red Hook to take you directly to the airport with NO STOPS. I wouldn't rely on a public/shared taxi.

[polly]

I would not worry so much about the time. I have done it many times with little problem. The reason? Customs doesn't even open until after 7 am. I was so worried about the time crunch once that we stayed in the hotel closest to the airport the night before. We got to the airport and checked in with the airline only to find that we had to wait for customs to open. So now I take the 6 am barge, get there after 7 and still have time to get a paper and a cup of coffee. If you have printed your ticket off ahead of time- even better. Only have carry on? Best yet!

[Marcia (Mrs. Pete)]

Another option, albeit and expensive one, is to hire a private water taxi/taxi combo and leave Cruz Bay around 5:30 AM.

[Diana2]

I strongly suggest that you have your boarding passes printed and have your Customs form all completed before you get to the airport (pick on up when you land in STT or you can get one at the Customs office in STJ). If the airport is a mad house when you get there, hire a porter to help you speed through. It's money well spent.

[LMG]

I've done this three or four times now, and it's doable with carry-on only, and checking in online ahead of time. I've done both the private taxi and the public taxi and you know what? They both sit in the morning rush hour traffic on STT, so in my experience it took about the same amount of time. It is always a gamble, of course, and I don't think I'd do it with a big group but with a couple of organized people, it has seemed to work fine.