St. Thomas to St. John ferry

Which dock to use on St. Thomas

Red Hook is the one to use. It is the closest point of St. Thomas to St. John, the boats run all day, and the crossing is 20 minutes. Two companies share the route, Transportation Services of St. John and Varlack Ventures, and the fare and the timetable are the same whichever boat is at the dock. The Port Authority's name for the dock is the Urman V. Fredericks Marine Terminal; everyone on the island calls it the Red Hook ferry.

Charlotte Amalie is worth it only if you are walking off a cruise ship at the waterfront and do not want the taxi across the island. The boat from there takes 45 minutes and costs $13 an adult as of October 2026 per Transportation Services of St. John, and it runs two or three times a day: the operator's timetable lists two sailings each way, the Port Authority's lists three. Check the schedule the week you travel.

How long is the ferry from St. Thomas to St. John?

About 20 minutes dock to dock from Red Hook, the Department of Public Works' figure; Varlack Ventures' own page calls it 15. From Charlotte Amalie the crossing is 45 minutes.

How much is the ferry from St. Thomas to St. John?

$8.15 one way for an adult from Red Hook as of October 2026, per the fares page of Transportation Services of St. John; the Charlotte Amalie boat is $13. There is no round-trip discount on either route; a return is two one-way fares.

Fares from the operator's own page, checked October 2026. A family of four with two suitcases pays $26.30 each way from Red Hook.

First and last boats, and the one to plan around

The first boat from Red Hook is 5:30 am, Monday to Friday, and the first from Cruz Bay is 6 am, on the timetable Transportation Services of St. John publishes as of October 2026. The last boat is where the sources part: the operator's off-season timetable, which most years lasts until the end of October, runs hourly to 8 pm and then lists 10 pm and 11:30 pm from Red Hook and 9 pm and 11 pm from Cruz Bay; the Virgin Islands Port Authority's schedule also says 11:30 pm; the Department of Public Works' ferry page lists 10 pm each way. The tradeoff: a late flight into St. Thomas can miss the last boat, and a night in Red Hook is the fallback. Plan around 10 pm and treat anything later as a bonus.

Timing from the airport to Red Hook

Cyril E. King airport is on the west end of St. Thomas and Red Hook is on the east, with Charlotte Amalie in between. The taxi takes 36 minutes on an ordinary afternoon and longer on cruise-ship days. Taxis at the airport are shared vans; tell the dispatcher you want the Red Hook ferry and you will be put on a van going that way, at $23 for one rider or $17 each for two or more, and $3 a bag. Allow 90 minutes door to boat, two hours on a cruise day.

There is also a boat from Crown Bay, 8 minutes from the airport, run by Inter Island Boat Services to Cruz Bay Creek in 35 minutes for $20 an adult. Its own page lists 3:30 and 5:30 pm daily, plus 9:45 am and 2:15 pm Friday to Sunday, as of October 2026, with check-in 30 minutes before; the Virgin Islands Port Authority's schedule lists the 2:15 pm on weekends only and no morning boat. It saves the drive across the island but ties you to an afternoon departure most days.

Where to buy Red Hook ferry tickets

At the ticket window in the dock building at Red Hook, or online from the operator. Transportation Services of St. John sells tickets on its site that are valid for up to ten days from purchase, as of October 2026, and Varlack Ventures sells through a booking link on its own page. Buy a one-way; the return is the same price and there is no reason to commit to a boat you may not make. A commuter book of ten rides is $70 at Red Hook on the Transportation Services fares page, non-transferable and good for 30 days, which only pays if you are crossing most days.

Ferry or car barge, and what the barge costs

A car crosses on a separate barge from Red Hook to the Theovald Moorehead Dock and Terminal at Enighed Pond in Cruz Bay, run by Big Red Barge, Global Marine and Love City Car Ferries. Big Red Barge and Love City charge $65 a car one way and $80 round trip on their own rates pages as of October 2026, and the Virgin Islands Port Authority adds $5 a car at the Red Hook dock, a fee for the round trip, effective April 6, 2026. The first barges leave Cruz Bay at 5:30 am and Red Hook at 6 am on weekdays; the last from Red Hook is Love City's 7 pm, hours before the last passenger boat.

The easier pattern is to cross as a passenger and rent on St. John, where the jeep companies are a short walk from the ferry dock. If you rent on St. Thomas, ask the rental company first whether its cars may cross. Your host will usually tell you which St. John company they use.

On arrival in Cruz Bay

The ferry lands in the middle of town. Taxis line up at the dock and go to any villa on the island, at per-person fares from the Virgin Islands Taxicab Commission's tariff, in force since October 2022: the North Shore runs from $9 to Caneel Bay or Hawksnest to $20 to Francis Bay for one rider, $8 to $14 each for two or more, and Coral Bay is $25, or $15 each. Keep the last boat in mind on the way back: the taxi to the dock from Coral Bay is 28 minutes, and a 10 pm boat means leaving dinner by nine.