St John for a day on your own.

[LRNJ]

Hey, curious to see if anyone has done this excursion before. We're doing the 2/16 sailing on Wonder and we'll be at St Thomas from 7:30-2:30 on day 5. 

My question just has to do with getting a taxi on St John. Is that easy to do at the dock? Since this is a short excursion, can I coordinate with the driver to pick us up to get us back to the dock for the return ferry?

I'm thinking we ask to go to Trunk bay, which might be crowded, so Cinnamon could be a back up. We mainly want to be able to snorkel and grab some food.

Thanks

[Peter D]

We have done the "St John On Your Own" excursion twice in October and November.  In both cases, it is very easy to get on a group taxi from the pier that will take you to Trunk Bay and back.  For two of us, the taxi was $9 each (cash only) round trip ($20 incl. a $2 tip) and  $5 each (credit only) ($10 total) to enter Trunk Bay.  So on top of the 'on your own' cost ~$40-50 pp, which is basically just a ferry ride, you still have to plan for ~$15 pp more to get to Trunk Bay.

As for the visit to Trunk bay, October was not crowded , but November (Thanksgiving cruise) was crowded, but very manageable.  I am not sure it would be easy to get a private taxi that will take you to Trunk Bay and then Cinnamon Bay, because I think they want to operate as group taxis.  Also keep in mind also that you generally only have about ~2 hours on St John under this excursion, which was about 1.5 hours at Trunk Bay.  Going to two beaches is probably not feasible, and I think Cinnamon Bay is further away from pier giving you less actual beach time.  

 

[LRNJ]

Thanks for the info. We don't want to do 2 beaches for the exact reason you said, too short on the island. I was just suggesting the other incase Trunk was super crowded. Since you mention the group taxis, I get why we wouldn't be able to arrive at trunk and then decide to move on if crowded.

Follow up question, Food and Chairs available at Trunk? I believe I've watched videos of there being decent facilities there, what was your opinion?

[Peter D]

1 hour ago, Lew Rosengrant said:

Follow up question, Food and Chairs available at Trunk? I believe I've watched videos of there being decent facilities there, what was your opinion?

At Trunk Bay, there are beach chairs that can be rented from the rental shack (same place that snorkeling equipment is available).  I did not use them, so I don't know the costs.  There is a food shack and a bar shack that served sandwiches and snacks.  Food was good, but kind of expensive.  The facilities (bathrooms and showers) were clean and well maintained.

[bcarney]

If you have a chance stop in at Lovango Rum Bar in Cruz Bay. Great cocktails and food! And an incredible rum selection if you are into that (I am!).  

[Sealegs]

We were at St. John a few days ago. For some of the same reasons you mentioned, we wanted to go to Cinammon Bay but it did not happen. Our taxi driver agreed to take us there, but when everyone else in the taxi got out at Trunk Bay, he told us that getting back might be a problem for us because no taxi would take just the two of us going back; they will only driver six or eight or more. I was frustrated but agreed to it as I did not want to risk missing the all aboard call. Trunk Bay was great, so it was all good in the end. I would advise flexibility. 

[dejavu21]

On 1/7/2025 at 9:37 AM, LRNJ said:

 

Hey, curious to see if anyone has done this excursion before. We're doing the 2/16 sailing on Wonder and we'll be at St Thomas from 7:30-2:30 on day 5. 

My question just has to do with getting a taxi on St John. Is that easy to do at the dock? Since this is a short excursion, can I coordinate with the driver to pick us up to get us back to the dock for the return ferry?

I'm thinking we ask to go to Trunk bay, which might be crowded, so Cinnamon could be a back up. We mainly want to be able to snorkel and grab some food.

Thanks

We just did St. Thomas in January and had this excursion booked.  After hearing about "possible" traffic delays, we decided that we didn't want to have a short day in St. Johns, so, we did the Catamaran Snorkel over to Honeymoon beach.  It ended up being the best excursion of the cruise.