--- title: "How to Get Around St. John, USVI: Jeep, Taxi, Bus, Ferry · Virgin Islands Villas" url: https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/getting-around description: "How to get around St. John, USVI: the Jeep and where it parks, safari taxis from the Cruz Bay dock, the $2 bus the park calls unreliable, the ferries, no car." updated: 2026-10-14 source: https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/getting-around --- [St. John](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john) · Getting around # How to get around St. John How to get around St. John is a Jeep for most villas and a safari taxi for the rest: 20 of the 21 areas we list measured car required or recommended, and the island has no airport, so everything starts at the Cruz Bay dock. Below: the car and its parking, the taxis, the $2 bus, the ferries, and a week without a car. Written by Virgin Islands Villas · Facts checked Oct 2026 ## How to get to St. John from St. Thomas The usual way: a taxi to the Red Hook ferry terminal (36 min), then the ferry to Cruz Bay (20 min, $8.15 a person). About 56 minutes from Cyril E. King airport to St. John, more on cruise-ship days. Six other ways across are below, with times and fares. From Charlotte Amalie waterfront - Ferry [The Charlotte Amalie ferry](https://transportationservicesusvi.com/schedule) The boat if you are stepping off a cruise ship or staying downtown: it leaves from the waterfront terminal, twice a day each way. 1. Ferry, Charlotte Amalie to Cruz Bay 45 min Plus $4 a bag; $3.50 child; $6 for residents 60 and over with the elderly ID · Two a day each way: 8:45 and 11:15 am from Cruz Bay, 10 am and 12:30 pm from Charlotte Amalie (Transportation Services of St. John) · Varlack Ventures lists its own Charlotte Amalie run as suspended for the off-season, as of October 2026; check its page before you plan on that boat · No reservation · [Times (Transportation Services of St. John and Varlack Ventures)](https://transportationservicesusvi.com/schedule) 45 min $13 a person $12 resident From Cyril E. King airport - Ferry [Taxi to Crown Bay, then the Inter Island boat](https://www.interislandboatservices.com/ferry-trips/crown-bay-to-cruz-bay/) The closest boat to the airport and the fastest door to dock, but two sailings a day, four Friday to Sunday. It lands at Cruz Bay Creek, not the main ferry dock. 1. Taxi to Crown Bay Marina 8 min 2. Boat to Cruz Bay Creek 35 min Boat only; $15 senior, $10 child 3 to 11. The taxi to Crown Bay is $8 for one rider, $6 each for two or more. · 3:30 and 5:30 pm daily; 9:45 am and 2:15 pm Friday to Sunday · Check in 30 minutes before departure · [Times (Inter Island Boat Services)](https://www.interislandboatservices.com/ferry-trips/crown-bay-to-cruz-bay/) 43 min $20 a person - Ferry [Taxi to Red Hook, then the ferry](https://dpw.vi.gov/ferries/) The route most guests take. The taxi is the long part; allow extra on cruise-ship days and at school-run time. 1. Taxi to the Red Hook ferry terminal 36 min 2. Ferry to Cruz Bay 20 min Ferry only, plus $4 a bag. The taxi to Red Hook is $23 for one rider, $17 each for two or more. · Ferry hourly, 5:30 am to 10 pm · No reservation · [Times (VITRAN, run by Transportation Services and Varlack Ventures)](https://dpw.vi.gov/ferries/) 56 min $8.15 a person $6 resident - Ferry [Taxi to Charlotte Amalie, then the ferry](https://transportationservicesusvi.com/schedule) Rarely the best choice from the airport: the terminal is closer than Red Hook, but the crossing is twice as long and only two boats a day leave Charlotte Amalie. 1. Taxi to the Charlotte Amalie ferry terminal 12 min 2. Ferry to Cruz Bay 45 min Ferry only, plus $4 a bag. The taxi to the terminal is $11 for one rider, $9 each for two or more. · Two a day from Charlotte Amalie, 10 am and 12:30 pm (Transportation Services of St. John) · Varlack Ventures' Charlotte Amalie run was suspended for the off-season in October 2026; it usually sails again from about November, so check its page first · [Times (Transportation Services of St. John and Varlack Ventures)](https://transportationservicesusvi.com/schedule) 57 min $13 a person $12 resident - Water taxi [Taxi to Crown Bay, then a private water taxi](https://stthomaswatertaxi.com/) Your own boat on your own schedule, any hour with notice. Priced by the boat, from $695, so it makes sense for a full house arriving together. The operator does not publish the crossing time, so no total is shown. 1. Taxi to Crown Bay Marina 8 min 2. Water taxi to Cruz Bay The boat, not the seat; the operator quotes from $695 from Crown Bay and from $495 from Compass Point Marina. The land taxi to Crown Bay is $8 for one rider, $6 each for two or more. · By reservation; 24-hour service with notice from $695 a boat From Red Hook, St. Thomas - Ferry [The Red Hook ferry](https://dpw.vi.gov/ferries/) The default way over: hourly until 10 pm, no booking, and it lands at the main dock in the middle of Cruz Bay. 1. Ferry, Red Hook to Cruz Bay 20 min Plus $4 a bag. Varlack adds a fuel surcharge from June 12, 2026. · Hourly, 5:30 am to 10 pm from Red Hook, 6 am to 10 pm from Cruz Bay; an off-season timetable runs from late July, usually to the end of October, so check the operator's current schedule · No reservation; buy at the window · [Times (VITRAN, run by Transportation Services and Varlack Ventures)](https://dpw.vi.gov/ferries/) 20 min $8.15 a person $6 resident - Car barge [The car barge](https://www.viport.com/schedules-ferrycargoschedules) Only with your own car, or a rental whose company allows the crossing: National and Discount Car Rental say theirs may go (their own pages, 2026-10-09), so ask yours first. Most people rent on St. John. The crossing time is not published, so no total is shown. 1. Car barge to the Theovald Moorehead terminal at Enighed Pond [Times (Big Red Barge, Love City Car Ferries and Global Marine)](https://www.viport.com/schedules-ferrycargoschedules) $65 a car one way, $80 round trip, on the Big Red Barge and Love City Car Ferries rates pages (checked 2026-10-09). Each company sells its own tickets. Fares change; the operator's page has today's. Road legs measured on island roads. Taxi fares are the Virgin Islands Taxicab Commission's tariff, in force since October 2022: per person, less each for two or more traveling together, plus $3 a bag. Checked 2026-10-09. ## A Jeep for the villa, and where it parks Every way round the island, with the one number a villa guest plans on, each from the operator's or the authority's own page on the date shown; the measured minutes are ours. | Way round | What it costs | The number to plan on | Checked | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Rental Jeep | A daily rate, from the car-rentals page | Dock to Trunk Bay 13 min, Coral Bay 28, measured | Oct 14, 2026 | | Safari taxi | $12 one rider, $9 each for two or more, Cruz Bay to Trunk Bay | Schedule the ride back; cell service at the beaches is limited | Oct 14, 2026 | | VITRAN bus | $2 a ride, seniors free | Cruz Bay to Salt Pond via Coral Bay, usually weekdays | Oct 14, 2026 | | Passenger ferry | $8.15 one way to Red Hook | Hourly, last boat 11 pm from Cruz Bay | Oct 9, 2026 | | Car barge | $65 a car one way | Last from Enighed Pond 6:15 pm | Oct 9, 2026 | | On foot | Nothing | Cruz Bay only; the park does not recommend bicycles | Oct 14, 2026 | | Uber or Lyft | None found | Neither names the territory | Oct 9, 2026 | Twenty of the 21 areas we list on St. John measured car required or recommended in September 2026, and 13 of them measure steep, which is why the rental companies in Cruz Bay rent mostly Jeeps and why the park calls driving the safest way around the island. Keep left, per the park's own safety page. From the ferry dock, Trunk Bay is 13 minutes by our measurement, Maho Bay 18, Coral Bay 28 and the East End 41. The tradeoff is parking. The North Shore beach lots can fill by 10 am, per the National Park Service's getting-around page updated December 10, 2024, and parking outside a designated area brings fines and towing; near the visitor centre a park parking permit marks the legal spots. The car-rentals page lists every Cruz Bay operator with what a Jeep costs; the driving guide has Jeep against sedan on the hill roads and what the desk asks for. ## Safari taxis from the Cruz Bay dock Open-air safari taxis wait at the ferry terminal, and the park calls them the best bet for the beaches and the park. The fare is per person and by destination on the Virgin Islands Taxicab Commission's tariff of October 2022, the latest as of October 2026: Cruz Bay to Trunk Bay $12 for one rider, $9 each for two or more. A driver fills the safari before leaving, so the posted tariff is the only check on the fare, and there is no meter. The St. John Taxi Association answers at 340-693-7530, per the park. The park's own advice is the one that matters: always schedule the taxi to come back for you when it drops you at a beach, because cell service at the beaches is limited and the call out may not connect. The taxis page prints the fares from Cruz Bay and Coral Bay, what bags and night hours add, and the water taxi from St. Thomas. ## Is there a bus on St. John? VITRAN at $2 Yes, and the park's page says plainly that it is not very reliable. VITRAN runs along Centerline Road between the Cruz Bay ferry dock, Coral Bay and Salt Pond Bay, routes 108 and 109 on the Department of Public Works' routes page, with a short 107 from Adrian to Chocolate Hole, usually Monday to Friday per the park, at $2 a ride, the regular fare effective July 18, 2024, seniors free and students $1.50. No timetable is published on the department's pages as of October 2026. By our read it is a way to reach Coral Bay or the Salt Pond trailhead on a day with nothing booked, and not a way to make a ferry. ## The ferry and the car barge St. John has no airport, so the island begins at the Cruz Bay dock. The passenger ferry from Red Hook is 20 minutes and $8.15 an adult, hourly, with the last boat back to St. Thomas at 11 pm from Cruz Bay on Transportation Services of St. John's off-season timetable, checked 2026-10-09; Charlotte Amalie sends two or three boats a day for $13, and Inter Island runs Crown Bay Marina to Cruz Bay for $20. The car barge from Red Hook lands at Enighed Pond, a 9-minute walk south of the passenger dock as we measured it, for $65 a car one way on the operators' pages, and its last sailing out of Enighed Pond is 6:15 pm, hours before the passenger boat's. The ferry page and the car-barge page hold the timetables and the fares that disagree; the ferries page puts every route in the territory, Tortola and St. Croix included, on one table. The only direct boat to Jost Van Dyke calls at Cruz Bay at 8 am on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays, and that day trip has its own page. ## How to get around St. John without a car It works in one place: Cruz Bay, the only area on St. John where the ferry, the grocery, the restaurants and a swim are all within a walk, which is why it is the one area of 21 that did not measure car required. From there the safari taxis reach the North Shore beaches at the tariff above, the bus reaches Coral Bay on weekdays, and the ferry reaches St. Thomas hourly. The arithmetic: two people to Trunk Bay and back is four fares at $9, $36 a day, against a Jeep's daily rate and the lot that fills by 10 am. Outside Cruz Bay the roads are not for walking or cycling: the park does not recommend bicycles on its steep, narrow, winding roads, and its 22 trails are the island's walking, not its transport. We found no Uber or Lyft service on 2026-10-09; the taxis page carries that check. The practical close: book the Jeep before the flight, and if the villa is in Cruz Bay, try the week without one first. Questions people ask **How do you get around St. John without a car?** Stay in Cruz Bay, where the ferry, the grocery and the restaurants are a walk apart, and take the safari taxis from the dock to the beaches: Cruz Bay to Trunk Bay is $12 for one rider, $9 each for two or more, on the Taxicab Commission's tariff. Schedule the taxi back, since the park says cell service at the beaches is limited. **Do you need a Jeep on St. John?** For most villas, yes: 20 of the 21 areas we list measured car required or recommended in September 2026, 13 of them steep. The car-rentals page lists the Cruz Bay operators; the driving guide has Jeep against sedan on the hill roads. **Is there a bus on St. John?** Yes, VITRAN, $2 a ride effective July 18, 2024, per the Department of Public Works, along Centerline Road between the Cruz Bay dock, Coral Bay and Salt Pond, usually Monday to Friday. The National Park Service's page calls it not very reliable, so plan nothing tight around it. **Is there Uber on St. John?** We found no Uber or Lyft service as of October 2026. The safari taxis at the Cruz Bay dock and the St. John Taxi Association, 340-693-7530 per the park, are the ride; the taxis page has the fares. At a glance · checked Oct 2026 **Car** Recommended in 20 of 21 listed areas Our measurement of every area's drives and terrain, September 2026; 13 of the 21 measure steep. Cruz Bay itself is the exception. **Dock to the beaches** Trunk Bay 13 min, Maho Bay 18, Coral Bay 28 Measured by car from the Cruz Bay ferry dock, 2026-09-15 and 2026-09-16, without traffic. **Taxi, Cruz Bay to Trunk Bay** $12 for one rider, $9 each for two or more The Virgin Islands Taxicab Commission's tariff of October 2022, the latest as of October 2026, per person by destination. **VITRAN bus** $2 a ride, Cruz Bay to Salt Pond via Coral Bay Department of Public Works fare effective July 18, 2024, routes 108 and 109; usually Monday to Friday and "not very reliable", per the National Park Service, page updated December 10, 2024. **Ferry** $8.15, 20 minutes to Red Hook, hourly Transportation Services of St. John, checked 2026-10-09; last boat 11 pm from Cruz Bay. **Car barge** $65 a car one way, last from Enighed Pond 6:15 pm Love City Car Ferries' rates and schedule pages, checked 2026-10-09. **Parking at the park beaches** Lots fill by 10 am; fines and towing off the lot National Park Service, page updated December 10, 2024. ## Villas near How to get around St. John [All villas on St. John](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/vacation-rentals) [Indo House Great Cruz Bay, St. John · 4 bedrooms About 5 min drive From $4,000 / night](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/villas/indo-house) Featured Drive times are estimates for island roads. More on St. John - [St. John map](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/map) - [St. John resorts or a villa?](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/villa-vs-resort) - [St. John weather by month](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/weather) - [St. Thomas to St. John ferry](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/ferry) - [The Westin St. John or a villa nearby?](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/westin-vs-villa) - [Things to do in St. John](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/things-to-do) Facts checked against [the National Park Service](https://www.nps.gov/viis/planyourvisit/gettingaround.htm), [the Department of Public Works](https://dpw.vi.gov/fares/), [Transportation Services of St. John](https://transportationservicesusvi.com/fares), [Love City Car Ferries](https://lovecitycarferries.com/schedule.html) and [Inter Island Boat Services](https://www.interislandboatservices.com/ferry-trips/red-hook-cruz-bay-jost-van-dyke/). Checked October 2026.