How to Get to St John: By Ferry, Barge, Boat, or Helicopter

Just a quick reminder. There is no airport on St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands.

It’s easy to get confused, especially since St. John’s (with an ’s) in Antigua does have an airport called V.C. Bird International (airport code ANU). Don’t make the mistake of booking a flight there by accident!

To reach St. John, you’ll need to fly into Cyril E. King Airport (STT) on the neighboring island of St. Thomas first.

From there, you have four ways to get to St. John: a passenger ferry, car barge, private water taxi, or helicopter.

The first option to get to St. John is by passenger ferry.

You’ll need to get a shared public taxi or private taxi (CaribbaConnect or Big Love’s Taxi) to the dock first. You have 3 ferry routes to choose from on St. Thomas:

1. Crown Bay Marina: 5 minutes from the airport. $20 one-way. $5 per luggage piece. Limited ferry times.

2. Charlotte Amalie Blyden Marine Terminal: 8 minutes from the airport. $13 one-way. $4 per luggage piece. Limited ferry times.

3. Red Hook: 30 minutes from the airport. $8.15 one-way. $4 per luggage piece. Many ferry time options.

All ferry routes transport you to the docking location at Cruz Bay, St. John.

Here are the passenger ferry schedules.

You can book online ahead of time to guarantee your spot.

• Crown Bay: Book with Inter Island Boat Services
• Charlotte Amalie and Red Hook: Book with Transportation Services or Varlack Ventures

The second option that will take you to St. John is the car barge. Red Hook Car Barge is the only docking station, which is about 30 minutes away from the airport.

1. Love City Car Ferries: $50 one-way or $65 roundtrip.
2. Global Marine’s Tug Life: $50 one-way or $65 roundtrip.
3. Big Red Car Barge Co.: $50 one-way or $65 roundtrip.

Here are the car barge schedules for all three companies.

You can book your ticket ahead of time.

1. 1. Love City Ferries: Book on their online portal
   2. Big Red Car Barge Co.: Book on their online portal  

The car barge is the option we chose. We booked our car with Amalie Car Rental. As soon as you step out of the airport, they are right there waiting with your Jeep.

I highly recommend them!

 Here’s my full car rental review of Amalie.

We drove about 30 minutes to reach the Red Hook Car Barge terminal. Since all the car ferry companies offer similar service, we didn’t bother pre-booking online. This gave us the flexibility to simply hop on the next available ferry, and in our case, that happened to be Love City Car Ferries.

Before entering the ferry loading area, we paid a small $3 VI government port fee. An attendant directed us to reverse into a marked lane in the waiting lot. Once the barge arrived, it was time to back the car onto the ferry into a tight space just inches from the vehicles beside us.

Let’s just say, I was very glad my husband was behind the wheel!

You definitely need a bit of coordination to reverse onto the ferry in such close quarters. After we were parked, another attendant came around to collect the one-way fare.

They’ll try to upsell you on a round-trip ticket for $65, which supposedly saves you $35—but we chose not to, for three specific reasons:

If you pay the roundtrip fee, you must come back with the same car ferry company.

The car ferry companies operate at different times.

If you happen to miss your car ferry (with the company you paid the roundtrip fee to) as you leave St. John, then you have to wait for their next ferry to enjoy the savings.

Otherwise, if you go with the next available company (which will be with another company since they alternate), then you’ll have to pay another one-way fee.

It locks you into one company’s schedule, and that’s just not how I vacation. I like to make the most of every last second.

By skipping the round-trip ticket, I didn’t have to plan my final day around a specific ferry time.

Instead, we soaked up every moment on St. John and simply took the next available car ferry when we were ready to head back.

I loved the fact that once we arrived in St. John on the car ferry, we drove right off and were ready to explore right away.

Here are my top three tips:

The car barge companies recommend arriving at least 30 minutes before departure, and we agree.

When heading back to St. Thomas, give yourself plenty of extra time. You definitely don’t want to risk missing your flight!

Also, be aware that local workers often get boarding priority. If the ferry fills up, you could be bumped to the next one.

So don’t cut it too close. Better to wait a bit at the airport than stress at the dock.

If you use the car barge, note you drive to the Theodore Eric Moorehead Marine Facility to get on the car ferry NOT the Cruz Bay Ferry Dock!

Two separate places.

Be sure to stock up on groceries at Starfish Market in Cruz Bay before heading to your vacation rental. It’s a convenient stop that’ll have you vacation-ready!

Still deciding where to stay on St. John? Check out my recommended boutique vacation rentals by neighborhood to help you find your perfect island home base.

While it’s pricier than the passenger or car ferry, a private water taxi is the way to go if you want maximum flexibility and to travel on your own schedule.

Here are the four water taxi options for getting to St. John:

Dolphin Water Taxi will drive you 30 minutes from St. Thomas airport to Red Hook.

Then you take a private water taxi to Cruz Bay, St. John for $95 per person one-way.

More info is on the official website.

The staff will meet you at the St. Thomas airport and take you to your 40’ Custom Built Gold Coast Yacht Wave Piercing Catamaran either in Crown Bay or Red Hook. Then you’re off to St. John!

$125 per person each way from Crown Bay.

$100 per person each way from Red Hook.

More info is on the official website.

Pricey!

One-way transfer from Crown Bay Marina in St. Thomas (5 minutes away from the airport) to St. John starts at $525 and from Sapphire Beach Marina (40 minutes from the airport) in St. Thomas to St. John starts at $250.

These prices do NOT include the cost of the taxi you would need to get from St. Thomas airport to the marinas.

More info is on the official website.

Great reviews online. You must contact them for a quote. They do state pricing starts at $527+ with a 4-person minimum, which includes the land and water taxi.

More info is on the official website.

Helicopter? Absolutely. You can soar from St. Thomas to St. John in just 10 minutes with a scenic ride carrying up to 8 passengers.

The charter is operated by Caribbean Buzz, with rates ranging from $200 to $350 per person, depending on the time of day. A minimum of three passengers is required to book the flight.

As you can see, there are several ways to get to St. John, but for most visitors, it comes down to the passenger ferry or the car barge.

We personally loved the car barge.

No waiting around for a taxi at the airport. Our rental Jeep was ready and waiting for us. Driving onto the barge was simple and stress-free. Once we arrived in St. John, we hit the ground running, snorkeling with turtles and exploring in no time. Easy and effortless.

Navigating the winding roads, passing herds of donkeys, and exploring the island in our Jeep is one of our favorite things to do in St. John!

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Questions on how to get to St. John?

Let me know in the comments below!