Travel St. John Guide

This is a complete guide to the logistics of planning a trip to St. John. Find out where to stay, how to get around, and more below.

Geography

As far as the island goes, 2/3rds is national park and there are two main towns: Coral Bay and Cruz Bay. Cruz Bay is much livelier although I recommend checking out Coral Bay for lunch one day. All the main beaches are on the North side of the island. Believe it or not there is only one round about, one gas station, 2 main roads, and no stoplights on this island. The two main roads are the road along the north side beaches and the road going down the middle of the island to get to Coral Bay. Get prepared for hills! They are STEEP. You will be working off those extra calories you are consuming on vacation. You don’t have to be in great shape, but if you plan on walking a lot just fair warning.

Where to stay

You should absolutely stay at an Airbnb. The Airbnb’s all have an ocean view because of the hilly landscape. Some will have infinity pools overlooking the island and ocean which if you can spring for it I would definitely do. The prices will differ depending where you stay. I went with my parents who splurged for a nice 3 bedroom condo with an infinity pool. They paid $300-400 a night. I went on my own on a budget trip later that year and found a place for $500 for the entire week. It was a studio style room so basically only a bed but it did have a pool with the view. I found that I didn’t spend any time in the room so it really didn’t matter! That’s why I’d recommend against staying in a resort. Not that there’s much besides the Westin as far as resorts go. When picking a location stay by Cruz Bay as close to town as possible. Trust me on this one, with the hills if you are walking you want to be close. It is so nice to walk to dinner and drinks and walk home. The second place I stayed was a mile from town so my boyfriend and I ended up hitchhiking to get to dinner every night! If you rent a car, parking is limited and you have to pay each night. Plus if you’ve had a few too many drinks it’s probably best you don’t drive.

When to go

St. John enjoys year-round gorgeous weather. The peak season is December to March and this is when prices will be highest. I went one week before kids get out of school in December and prices were halved compared to the next week. Same with when I went the first week of June. I would avoid the peak of hurricane season. December’s slightly cooler water temperatures brought on better snorkeling. I saw around four times the amount of fish and wildlife right by the shore snorkeling in December compared to June. June had slightly warmer water temperatures which affects the marine life. St. John has some random rainfalls where it downpours for 20 minutes then the sky clears back to sun but brings humidity with it. This happened more so in December for me. I don’t think you can go wrong coming in any month, it is pretty consistent overall. If you are on a budget though I would check what weeks are cheaper on the border times between peak season and off season.

How to get there

You have to fly into St. Thomas (STT) and taxi to the island ferry. The taxi is about 40 minutes to Red Hook – the spot where you get the ferry. The ferry is a couple buck and takes 20 minutes. It is possible to leave the airport and be on St. John in an hour so don’t let the lack of an airport fool you on the accessibility of this island. You can either go get your rental car or often times you Airbnb host will pick you up once on St. John.

How to get around

Rent a Car

I highly recommend renting a car. If you are on a budget you can get by without but it makes it much more difficult. I rented a car on one trip and not on the next and the difference was pretty big. Renting a car gives you the freedom and flexibility to really explore St. John how it is meant to be explored. For instance, if you want to wake up, go to the beach, grab lunch, check out a different beach, go home, and go to dinner that would be 6 one way taxi rides which adds up to more than the price of a rental car for one day. You can also pack your car with chairs, towels, cooler, and snorkel gear. Believe it or not I did my last trip carrying all of this hitchhiking and it was a pain! On top of that I could never go straight from the beach to an early dinner because I had all this crap with me. The roads are pretty steep and on the wrong side of the road. This can be intimidating for the first time but don’t worry there are only two roads and you are in a Jeep so you will make those hills even if it seems like you will fly backwards. If you pack a cooler and have a couple beers, just be safe and know your limits driving. Even though driving laws are not as well enforced here does not mean that there’s not still danger in your actions.

Hitchhike and Taxi

The other option is to hitchhike and taxi. I did this last time to save money as the premium for those under 25 renting a car cost more than my Airbnb! Hitchhiking is a very viable means of transportation and actually encouraged! Trust me when I say I’m the last person that would try doing this (watched way too much Criminal Minds) but it is safe and the people you will meet are so friendly! I met this lady who drove me into town and she had to stop at the market on the way. She gave me her keys and said I could wait in the car! I hadn’t even known the lady two minutes! That’s how the people of St. John are, so friendly, warm, trusting, and easygoing. If i did that in California, my car would be stolen before I hit the front door of the store. I even had some tourists pick me up once. I must have looked really stranded because they rolled down their window and asked if I needed help, said they normally wouldn’t pick people up off the road but I looked harmless. I felt awful because I had just came from the beach and got all this sand in their rental car!

Normally I would hitchhike to Cruz Bay and take a taxi from there. Taxis are a few dollars per person and there is a set fair on the island so they don’t try to screw you. The problem with taxis is once you are at the beach or at your place there is pretty much no cellphone service to have them pick you up or you had to set a specific time you wanted to be picked up, voila hitchhiking. While I always got a ride and normally pretty quick, I still never knew when my next ride would come and in the back of my head was this worry that it would get dark and no one would drive by to pick me up. It really limited how much you can explore. Personally, I prefer my vacation stress free and this added a bit of stress that I didn’t necessarily want, but in my situation to save money or for someone who doesn’t explore as much as me, you will get by just fine.
Bus

Lastly, there is an island bus that costs one dollar that takes the middle road from Cruz Bay to Salt Pond Bay. It is cheap and pretty fast. I would never take it again though because of the driver that took me home!! They FLEW by on the windy narrow roads with a CLIFF on the edge and other buses flying at us! On blind turns she would just blare her horn and take up the whole road. I clenched my teeth the entire time and actually thought I might die in that metal death trap.

What to pack

Get ready for heat and a little or a lot of humidity when you go. The high is normally 85 and the low 80 so expect warm nights. That means bikinis, flip flops, shorts, tank tops, and dresses. Depending on the humidity, there may be some bugs so bring bug spray. I didn’t notice mosquitoes that much, it was actually more during the day if there was a brief rainstorm or on the beach with sand flies. Bring snorkel gear if you have it! Don’t worry about towels, chairs, or coolers your Airbnb should have that. One thing you should bring is a small waterproof speaker to play island tunes at the beach. If you have an underwater camera bring that too!

Where to eat

Joe’s Rum Hut

This restaurant is right on the beach in the main part of town. This is a more casual relaxed environment. The food is a lot cheaper then most places but don’t let that fool you it was still great food! The location really is the best part of this place because you can watch the sun go down and even sit on the beach and play cornhole.

Beach Bar

The beach is what the name entails a casual bar on the beach! This is more of a spot to go drink and party the night away! I would always end my night at beach bar with my toes in the sand and a ‘painkiller’ in my hand. I would often play a game of cornhole, it is an easy way to make friends as well!

Morgan’s Mango

On the fancy side is Morgan’s Mango. The food and the atmosphere made a great combo. My favorite part was the key lime pie! Key lime pie and island life go together almost as much as rum and island life. I would highly recommend eating here.

Woodys

Woodys doesn’t look like much from the outside but it has great seafood and the best deals on drinks. People come to Woodys for a good time. Apparently it is a restaurant/bar that Kenny Chesney likes that’s actually why I went in the first place!

The Longboard

This place is a little pricier but it has freshly caught fish on the menu. You can tell it came right off the boat! As an added bonus they have fancy rum drinks to sip on during your meal.

What to budget

This is a tough one. It totally depends. As I said I spent as much in one week on an Airbnb on one trip as I did per night on another. If you want a nice place probably $200+ a night and come during peak season (even if it’s just one week later) you can see the prices double. That goes for airline tickets too. In non peak season I’ve gotten round trip flights for $400 from LAX which is cheap for that far of a flight. Rental jeep will be around $500-600 for a week. Taxis are $10-15 per ride. And if this is your main transportation think of to and from the beach, dinner, lunch. If your on the beach all day there aren’t restaurants so you will have to taxi to get lunch and taxi back. Dining can range from a low end of $15 per plate to high end restaurants. The majority are in the middle. Drinks are around $8. The market is more expensive due to shipping costs so check the price before you buy your own food. It can still work out cheaper to make a couple meals in and pack a lunch for the beach. Finally, any add-on’s such as a boat charter could cost you $100+ additional.

There you have it! Next check out my ultimate guide to St. John beaches.