Getting to St John
Most likely you will be arriving to St John from St Thomas. There are two primary passenger ferry routes available: Red Hook, St. Thomas to Cruz Bay, St. John and Crown Bay, St. Thomas to Cruz Bay, St. John. There is one car barge ferry from Red Hook, St. Thomas to Cruz Bay, St. John.
Upon arrival to the airport, you can take a taxi from the airport to either Red Hook or Crown Bay. From the airport to Red Hook is about a 35-minute drive in low traffic and the ferry ride is approximately 20 minutes to St John. From the airport to Crown Bay is approximately 10 minutes and the ferry ride is approximately 35 minutes. Please note that Red Hook ferries are the most frequent, departing every hour most parts of the day from morning to night time.
In either case, there is a taxi stand directly outside the baggage claim area at the St. Thomas airport with dispatcher. Tell them where you need to go, and they will line you up with a driver. The other caveat to taking a taxi is that these are shared van taxis and if you happen to be in a hurry be aware that the taxi usually won’t leave until the van is full or near full.
The other option is if you are looking to have a car on St John, you could pick up the car at the St Thomas airport and drive it to the car ferry and sail across on the car ferry. Budget at the airport generally has the best deals on four wheel drive cars and both the kiosk and the cars themselves are located in the airport a few steps away from arrivals. Four wheel drive cars are the only rental cars allowed to be brought over to the island, and really the smart choice to explore the island. The advantage of renting a car at the airport is that there is no wait for a taxi or per person or per bag fees to pay, which certainly adds up for a larger group. You also have the flexibility to do some shopping on St. Thomas and bring things over with you (groceries are much cheaper on St. Thomas compared to St. John). The car ferry is right next to the passenger ferry in Red Hook. It’s $50 roundtrip per car and is a very easy drive on and hangout process. Just make sure to arrive early enough to get a spot and if buying a round trip take note of the schedule to make sure to end up on a boat from the same company otherwise you will be forced to buy a one way ticket if the company is different. Alternatively you can buy one ways which are $35.
Car ferries run every hour from Red Hook in St. Thomas and take approximately 20 minutes. Please note that the car ferry stops running around 7pm.