How to Get to St John: By Ferry, Barge, Boat, or Helicopter
I have found the best places take a little effort to get to. The beautiful island of St. John U.S. Virgin Islands is one of them! There is no airport, so let’s chat about the best four options on how to get to St. John.
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01- Passenger Ferry
THREE FERRY ROUTES
Remember there is no airport in St. John U.S. Virgin Islands.
Don’t get confused. There’s a V.C. Bird International Airport (airport code ANU) in St. John’s, Antigua.
Do not accidentally book it!
You must fly into Cyril E. King Airport on the island of St. Thomas first BEFORE you can reach St. John. The airport code is STT.
Once you land on St. Thomas, you have four options to reach St. John: passenger ferry, car barge, private water taxi, or helicopter.
Map of Passenger Ferry Routes from St. Thomas to St. John
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. Charlotte Amalie Blyden Marine Terminal: 8 minutes from the airport. $13 one-way. $4 per luggage piece. Limited ferry times.
All ferry routes transport you to the docking location at Cruz Bay, St. John.
Here are the passenger ferry schedules.
ONLINE BOOKING POSSIBLE
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
02- Car Barge
Map of Car Barge Route from St. Thomas to St. John
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.
THREE COMPANIES TO CHOOSE FROM
- Love City Car Ferries: $50 one-way or $65 roundtrip.
- Global Marine’s Tug Life: $50 one-way or $65 roundtrip.
- Big Red Car Barge Co.: $50 one-way or $65 roundtrip.
Here are the car barge schedules for all three companies.
ONLINE BOOKING POSSIBLE
You can book your ticket ahead of time.
- Love City Ferries: Book on their online portal
- Big Red Car Barge Co.: Book on their online portal
OUR EXPERIENCE WITH THE CAR BARGE
St. John USVI car ferry
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!
Our Amalie Car Rental Jeep in St. John
We drove around 30 minutes to get to the Red Hook Car Barge. Since all car ferry companies are comparable, we did not pre-book online.
This allowed us the flexibility of taking whatever company had the next ferry when we arrived. In our case, it happened to be Love City Car Ferries.
Before we entered the car ferry loading area, we paid a nominal $3 VI government port fee. An attendant told us to reverse into one of the designated lanes in the loading area parking lot. Once the car barge arrived, we had to drive in reverse into a small space on the car ferry.
I’m glad my husband was driving!
You have to be somewhat coordinated to back the car up onto the ferry inches away from the cars in the other lanes. An attendant then collected our one-way fee.
They will try to convince you to save $35 and pay the round-trip fee of $65.
Do you what you wish, but we did not for the following three reasons:
Reason #1
If you pay the roundtrip fee, you must come back with the same car ferry company.
Reason #2
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.
Reason #3
It will limit you to one company’s schedule. I don’t know about you, but I maximize every second of my vacation. Instead of timing my last day based on a specific car ferry company’s schedule, I was able to enjoy my last few hours in St. John because it didn’t matter which car ferry company I took going 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 two tips:
TIP #1: The car barge companies advise arriving at least 30 minutes prior to the departure time. Allow plenty of time when going back to St. Thomas because you don’t want to miss your flight! If there are local workers who need to cross, they will likely get priority over you, which could mean you are taking the next ferry. Do not cut it too close. Also, 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.
TIP #2: Load up on groceries at Starfish Market right there in Cruz Bay before you head over to your vacation rental, so you’re ready to go! Also, if you are still trying to figure out where to stay in St. John, do not miss my article below which goes through all the best places.
03- Private Water Taxi
It’s more expensive than the passenger or car ferry, but if you want to operate on your own schedule then book a private water taxi.
DOLPHIN WATER TAXI
Dolphin Water Taxi will drive you 30 minutes from St. Thomas airport to Red Hook for $19 one-way.
Then you take a private water taxi to Cruz Bay, St. John for another $59 one-way. If you are staying at the Westin in St. John, they will drop you right off at the resort for an additional $10.
The total is $78 pp + tax or $88 pp + tax if the drop-off point is the Westin.
More info is on the official website.
ST. THOMAS WATER TAXI
Pricey!
One-way transfer from Crown Bay Marina in St. Thomas (5 minutes away from the airport) to St. John starts at $450 and from Sapphire Beach Marina (40 minutes from the airport) in St. Thomas to St. John starts at $225.
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.
SEAHORSE LAND & WATER TAXI
Great reviews online. You must contact them for a quote. They do state pricing starts at $462+ with a 4-person minimum, which includes the land and water taxi.
More info is on the official website.
04- Helicopter
Not the actual helicopter
Helicopter? Yep, you can fly up to 8 passengers via a 15-minute helicopter ride from St. Thomas to St. John.
Caribbean Buzz is the operator. Contact them directly for a quote.
The price range is listed as $$$$ on their Facebook page, so this premium VIP service does come at a cost.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, there are several options to choose from. Most people will use the passenger ferry or car barge. We loved the car barge. No waiting for a taxi at the airport. Our car rental was right there waiting for us. Driving up onto the car barge was a straightforward process. Once we arrived in St. John, we were ready to start exploring right away. Easy, breezy.
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Questions on how to get to St. John?
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