which ferry do you take and why?

[jp]

Family of 5 arrives next Friday at 2:55 pm via Miami for 8 night stay on STJ. Renting a vehicle on STJ as well. Seems like most visitors take the Red Hook ferry. Return flight departs at 2:55 as well.

Pros of the RH ferry seem to be more frequent trips, less cost, shorter ride.

Given our flight times, why wouldn't we take the RH to STJ and take the CA ferry back?

Sure I am missing some logic here so enlightenment is welcomed.

jp

[RickG]

I prefer the CA ferry to STJ because the cab ride to Red Hook makes me want to blow lunch. There's something about being stuck in the back of top heavy van swaying through the curves..... <yak>

But, we do go the Red Hook route if it's going to be considerably faster.

You could take the 4PM CA->STJ ferry going and the 11:15 STJ->CA ferry coming back. Check to make certain the 4PM ferry is running, the taxi dispatcher will know.

Cheers, RickG

[patr]

I feel the same way as Rick, I get find the cab ride to Red Hook nauseating.

If we can catch the CA ferry, getting on the water feels like we've started the vacation!! Love a seat outside where you can catch some of the seaspray.

[lavender]

We really prefer the CA ferry to the Red Hook. The last time we were on island was in April and unfortunately the CA ferries weren't running so we were forced into the RH route. If you go to RH you are in a van with 10 other people with A/C that may or may not be very cold and are in for a 45 min ride that I would agree could make you nauseous pretty quick. The CA ferry is 7 mins away by cab and you are on the water for that time you would have spent traversing the island. CA for me! Check your flights/add in some time for luggage gathering/check the ferry schedules and see which makes sense for you!

[waterguy]

I,m the same as the rest I perfer the CA ferry like the longer ride sitting out side instead of the back of the van.
Tom

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[flip-flop]

I prefer whichever one gets me to STJ the fastest. If that is equal then I like CA. Shorter cab ride, longer ferry ride.

This time we are doing the private water taxi (we'll have 5 or 6 including the kiddos) and have no choice but to go out of Red Hook.

[Gizzmo]

Well, for what it is worth I will throw my 2 cents in. 2 weeks ago I was on the CA ferry to St John. I do not remember the name of the boat but it was the something queen. Well, the "queen" looked alot like the SS Minow. The weather started getting rough and my brother was SOAKED with alot of other people. Don't get me wrong, we were out for an adventure and the crew was very funny. We had a good time but the ferrys running out of RH are much nicer (even a/c sometimes) and larger. Fiqures, they make the minnow do all the hard work! As of last week, the last CA run was at 3PM so I recommend RH for sure.

[starfish]

Coming home our flight leaves at 2:55. I was hoping to take the 12 ferry back to CA and eat lunch early at the beach bar (11). Is this not feasible to make our flight?

Cara

[Steve S]

On the topic of ferries and taxis, has anyone heard any update on seaplane service to St. John? A San Juan to St. John run would open up a whole lot of possibilities to get to the island... Still a taxi ride from STJ to Old San Juan, but seems like an opportunity for less hassle and I've seen some pretty cheap flights from the Northeast to SJU.

[Diane]

Steve - We flew through SJU last year and it was a mess! Our connecting flight to STT was cancelled (never got a good explaination why). There were three more flights to STT that day, but seats on those flights were being filled by other passengers whose flights had been cancelled like ours. Supposedly the later you make your connection in SJU, the greater the chance flights start backing up and suddenly your flight is cancelled. Now you're scrambling to get on a flight to STT so you can catch a ferry to STJ to the stay at the lovely villa you payed for and planned to sleep at that night. Luckily, we made it on the last flight out that night and were able to catch the last RH ferry to STJ.
As you can probably tell, for us the savings isn't worth being stuck in SJU. This year we're flying non-stop Chicago-STT.
Diane