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Ferry Questions
Ferry Questions
Hello!
We are going back to St. John in May (5/17-5/25). We are staying at Villa Ellison. This will be our 2nd trip but our first experience with the ferries so I have a couple of questions just so we know what to expect.
1. Our flight arrives in St. Thomas at 3:30 - I know there is no way we will make the 4:00 CA Ferry. My question is by the time we get to Red Hook what ferry do you think we would be able to make the 5:00? and if so would it be better to wait for the 5:30 CA? We prefer more time on the Boat but want to get to St. John as quick as possible.
2. We went to Soggy Dollar on Jost when we were there before but would like to go back and see Great Harbour and have lunch at Foxy's. We are considering taking the ferry over to Jost for a day. When we get there is customs fairly easy? and can you walk to Soggy Dollar or are there Taxi's? Is there anything else we should see while on Jost?
3. When it is time for us to go home - our flight is at 4:30 and we are checking luggage - should we take the 1:00 ferry back to st. thomas?
Thanks so much for everyone's help! This forum is Wonderful!!
We are going back to St. John in May (5/17-5/25). We are staying at Villa Ellison. This will be our 2nd trip but our first experience with the ferries so I have a couple of questions just so we know what to expect.
1. Our flight arrives in St. Thomas at 3:30 - I know there is no way we will make the 4:00 CA Ferry. My question is by the time we get to Red Hook what ferry do you think we would be able to make the 5:00? and if so would it be better to wait for the 5:30 CA? We prefer more time on the Boat but want to get to St. John as quick as possible.
2. We went to Soggy Dollar on Jost when we were there before but would like to go back and see Great Harbour and have lunch at Foxy's. We are considering taking the ferry over to Jost for a day. When we get there is customs fairly easy? and can you walk to Soggy Dollar or are there Taxi's? Is there anything else we should see while on Jost?
3. When it is time for us to go home - our flight is at 4:30 and we are checking luggage - should we take the 1:00 ferry back to st. thomas?
Thanks so much for everyone's help! This forum is Wonderful!!
I will add a little to the last post...
1. The argument for which ferry to take CA or Red Hook, comes down to this for me. Do I want to spend my time (45 minutes) in a taxi going to Red Hook or sit and have a drink in CA while waiting for the last ferry from CA and spend 45 min. on the ferry. I think you can probably guess which one I prefer. I like to take the longer ferry ride, but that's just me.
2.Customs on JVD is easy. just smile and be polite. You COULD walk, but I wouldn't want to walk to White Bay from GH. Take a taxi. The best thing to do on JVD if you are there fore the day is enjoy white bay and then head over to Foxy's about an hour or so before the ferry leaves. Also check out Corsairs...
3. the 1p.m. ferry would be find to take. You might be a little early, but you never know when things can happen and ferry can run late...it's happened to me ..
Have fun!
1. The argument for which ferry to take CA or Red Hook, comes down to this for me. Do I want to spend my time (45 minutes) in a taxi going to Red Hook or sit and have a drink in CA while waiting for the last ferry from CA and spend 45 min. on the ferry. I think you can probably guess which one I prefer. I like to take the longer ferry ride, but that's just me.
2.Customs on JVD is easy. just smile and be polite. You COULD walk, but I wouldn't want to walk to White Bay from GH. Take a taxi. The best thing to do on JVD if you are there fore the day is enjoy white bay and then head over to Foxy's about an hour or so before the ferry leaves. Also check out Corsairs...
3. the 1p.m. ferry would be find to take. You might be a little early, but you never know when things can happen and ferry can run late...it's happened to me ..
Have fun!
Before we went last time, we were told to tell the cab driver we needed to get to STJ, and he would help us figure out which ferry we could get to in time. If you know the schedule, just tell him which one to take you to. We had time to get to the CA ferry and he took us to RH instead and by the time we got there, we missed BOTH ferries and had to spend an hour in Red Hook waiting for the next one -- thank goodness for the new terminal.
The ferry to Jost is pretty painless, as is customs. I prefer to go that way because I just hang out at Ivan's and then grab a painkiller at Soggy's, call our cab driver and he picks us up and takes us back from White Bay to Great Harbour. I think that's the way to go, because really after six hours on Jost, I'm ready to go hit happy hour at The Beach Bar.
I think the 1 p.m. ferry back to STT is perfect. You want plenty of time at the airport because there are always glitches. While I can think of worse places to be stranded than the Virgin Islands, my boss wants me to come home in a timely manner, so I try not to miss my plane.
The ferry to Jost is pretty painless, as is customs. I prefer to go that way because I just hang out at Ivan's and then grab a painkiller at Soggy's, call our cab driver and he picks us up and takes us back from White Bay to Great Harbour. I think that's the way to go, because really after six hours on Jost, I'm ready to go hit happy hour at The Beach Bar.
I think the 1 p.m. ferry back to STT is perfect. You want plenty of time at the airport because there are always glitches. While I can think of worse places to be stranded than the Virgin Islands, my boss wants me to come home in a timely manner, so I try not to miss my plane.
I want to add that if you don't already know this, the CA ferry dock is only about 10 minutes from the airport so you an always go there and hopefully catch the last ferry to STJ. You may have to wait and then the ferry ride is longer, but it's a nice way to start unwinding from the trip.
I have heard of several people that have thought they were going to make the RH ferry on time but didn't because of the taxi situation.
I am also just going to say that I know some of the taxi drivers prefer to load up a bunch of people and drive to RH because it's more $$$$..... be aware of what is best for you.
I think there is still a 5:30 ferry from CA to STJ, correct me if I"m wrong someone...
Just my 2 cents..
I have heard of several people that have thought they were going to make the RH ferry on time but didn't because of the taxi situation.
I am also just going to say that I know some of the taxi drivers prefer to load up a bunch of people and drive to RH because it's more $$$$..... be aware of what is best for you.
I think there is still a 5:30 ferry from CA to STJ, correct me if I"m wrong someone...
Just my 2 cents..
Last edited by amurphy08 on Tue Mar 25, 2008 5:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
When we left the airport, it was before 3:30. There is a 4 p.m. from CA and one from RH. The cab driver insisted that we did not have time to make either of them and we'd be better off going to the 5 p.m. at Red Hook. Having never been there, we figured that maybe it was longer to get to CA than we'd been told. So imagine our surprise when we took the CA ferry on our last day and got to the airport in 15 minutes max. Needless to say, now that I know I will make sure I have the schedules with me and I will tell the cab driver where we are going instead of letting him choose. We ended up not getting to Red Hook until 4:20 and waiting for at least 40 minutes to get the ferry. Even with the longer boat ride, we'd have had an extra hour of island time the other way.
Thank you so much for all of the information!!! I really appreciate it. You guys are great!
Does anyone know what the approx taxi fare to Red hook is? There are 4 of us traveling together
I am thinking we will do the public ferry to Jost that way we can spend the day how we want and not have to worry.
Does anyone know what the approx taxi fare to Red hook is? There are 4 of us traveling together
I am thinking we will do the public ferry to Jost that way we can spend the day how we want and not have to worry.
but having said that, I always just hand him the money, say thank you and move on - but I never have more than 1 checked bag.