St John USVI, Trip Tips

Useful information for traveling to St John and staying at Fair Winds.

Getting to St. John: You will fly into the airport on St. Thomas (STT). If you rent a car on St Thomas you will need to drive to Redhook to take a car ferry to St John. If you are renting a car on St John you will need to take a taxi to the passenger ferry. Most people take the passenger ferry from Redhook. It travels every hour on the hour until midnight. The drive to Redhook takes 45 minutes to an hour. The taxi is $15-$20 per person depending on luggage, and drivers accept cash only. The passenger ferry is $8.15 per person plus $4.50 per bag (excluding purses/backpacks).

Renting a Car: You will need a 4 wheel drive vehicle (Jeep or similar) to stay at Fair Winds. The last mile to the house is a bumpy dirt road and you may on occasion need/want 4 wheel drive. You have two options for renting a car. You can rent on St Thomas or St John. There are benefits and downsides to each option. Ultimately we recommend renting on St John, especially if you are landing after 4pm. That way you don’t run the risk of missing the last car barge.

St Thomas Positives: If you rent on St Thomas you will save money on taxis and ferries. Most car companies will meet you at the airport and take you to their office to pick up your car. The car ferry to St John is $50 round-trip. No extra charge for passengers.

St Thomas Downsides: Car rental companies do not offer assistance if you have car issues on St John. It’s up to you to get your car back to them on St Thomas. The last car ferry is scheduled for 7pm, but the schedule is subject to change depending on how many barges are running. If any of the car barges break down it can lead to major back-ups for the ferry. If you miss the last car barge it is up to you to either find accommodations on St Thomas for the night, or a rental car on St John for the night. Neither are easy to do last minute in the high season. Taxis will not travel the hill to the house.

St John Positives: They offer roadside assistance if you have a flat tire, lock your keys in the car, or have any other issues. Even if you arrive after hours, most rental companies have a system in place for late arrivals so you can still pick up your car. Rental companies on St John only have vehicles that are suited for St John’s terrain, so you don’t run the risk of getting an sedan or other car that is inappropriate.

St John Downsides: You’ll need to pay for taxis and ferries coming and going. For 4 people this can be significantly more expensive than taking the car barge. Car rentals themselves are slightly higher on St John vs St Thomas.

Packing:

Clothes: There’s no need to go overboard with clothes. Most restaurants are casual outdoor dining experiences. That being said, it’s never appropriate to wear just a swimsuit if you’re not on the beach. A tee-shirt or other beach coverup are necessary if you plan to dine or shop after visiting a beach. You may want a light sweater or jacket for windy evenings or air conditioned shops or restaurants. We also recommend a long sleeved sun-shirt and hat.

Toiletries: We provide hand soap and dish soap, but we do not provide shampoo or conditioner. The Virgin Islands recently passed a law regulating the types of sunscreen that can be imported. If you plan to pack sunscreen please read the label carefully to be sure it doesn’t include ocean harming chemicals like oxybenzone. If that seems like too much work, there are many places on St John you can purchase reef and coral safe sunscreen. Bug spray can also be purchased locally.

Food: It doesn’t make sense to pack food unless you have an allergy, or prefer a very specific brand of coffee. The grocery stores here have all the grocery basics, just less variety of brands. Starfish has a small gluten free section.

Money: You should bring at least a couple of hundred dollars in cash with you. At the very least you will need it for the taxi or car barge on your arrival/departure days. Credit cards are widely accepted in restaurants (with a few holdouts). During power outages most places lose their ability to process credit cards and become cash only. American Express is not accepted in many places, so bring a back up card if that’s your main credit card.

Communication: St John has AT&T towers. If you have another cell phone provider it’s worth checking into whether roaming is free on St John. You cannot pick up a US cell signal at the house. We have a direct line of site to Tortola in the BVI, and that is the signal we pick up. We recommend putting your cellphone in airplane mode whenever you are at the house rather than risk picking up an international signal. If your phone has wi-fi calling abilities you can use that with our internet. As well as Facetime, Skype, iMessage, Facebook messenger, etc..