St John on your own

[DisneyMom2000000]

Has anyone done St. John On Your Own excursion?

Are there taxis right where they drop you off? Or are there worthwhile beaches worth walking to?

We have small kids and are open to a short taxi ride, but nothing far due to lack of car seats.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Has anyone done St. John On Your Own excursion?

We did.

And it really depends on how you define "worthwhile beaches you can walk to." There are taxis nearby. There is not a good beach with public access right around the Cruz Bay docks. You can walk (hike) in to Honeymoon Beach via the National Park, but it is a pretty decent hike depending on age of kids.

You most likely would want a taxi to Trunk Bay, Honeymoon Beach or Cinnamon Bay, and they do have excursions with transport if you want to stick with Disney transport and not deal with car seat questions. The taxis don't have them, and none of the roads are straight.

 

[Quellman]

You have to usualyl get to red bay, take the ferry, and then grab a taxi. We honestly didn't see many taxi buses in St John when we went years ago. If you are just looking for a beach, you can't go wrong keeping it simple at St Thomas. If you really want to go to St John for a beach, I'd strongly consider a Disney excursion, simply due to the ease and assurances they'll get you back to the boat on time.

 

[DisneyMom2000000]

Which excursion includes transport? We did the St. John’s on your own. I’m so confused!

We did.

And it really depends on how you define "worthwhile beaches you can walk to." There are taxis nearby. There is not a good beach with public access right around the Cruz Bay docks. You can walk (hike) in to Honeymoon Beach via the National Park, but it is a pretty decent hike depending on age of kids.

You most likely would want a taxi to Trunk Bay, Honeymoon Beach or Cinnamon Bay, and they do have excursions with transport if you want to stick with Disney transport and not deal with car seat questions. The taxis don't have them, and none of the roads are straight.

 

[DisneyMom2000000]

You have to usualyl get to red bay, take the ferry, and then grab a taxi. We honestly didn't see many taxi buses in St John when we went years ago. If you are just looking for a beach, you can't go wrong keeping it simple at St Thomas. If you really want to go to St John for a beach, I'd strongly consider a Disney excursion, simply due to the ease and assurances they'll get you back to the boat on time.

I really want an excursion that requires no more than a few minutes in a car with small kids and no car seat.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

All the St. John excursions use the same Ferry. They route you off depending on your excursion.

• St. John On Your Own: They let you off and tell you when to be back. You're... on your own!
• Trunk Bay: They transport you to Trunk Bay Beach (https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/...-st-john-trunk-bay-beach-and-snorkeling-tour/) - 5 and up, though.
• There's an Island tour (no beaches)
• There used to be transport to Honeymoon but I think they dropped that due to the development issues over there (it's complicated and has to do with land lease and the hurricane)

I think if what you really want is a beach, I'd look at the beach excursions on St. Thomas proper, because they'll be a LOT easier with littles if you have any under 5.

 

[lklgoodman]

If you are on any Disney excursion that includes transport by a bus, it will be more than just a few mins, usually at least 10 or more mins, otherwise they would just have you walk to the destination(at least this is my experience with many excursions). If you just want to have your kids in some type of transport for a few mins, then it would have to be something non-Disney that you arranged yourself. We loved Secret Sands beach on St. Thomas, but it's on the opposite side of the island from where the ship docks and requires a 15-20min open bus ride on twisted roads, which I know and understand why you wouldn't like. We've been to St John but it was many years ago. I hope you are able to find something.

 

[DisneyMom2000000]

We did.

And it really depends on how you define "worthwhile beaches you can walk to." There are taxis nearby. There is not a good beach with public access right around the Cruz Bay docks. You can walk (hike) in to Honeymoon Beach via the National Park, but it is a pretty decent hike depending on age of kids.

You most likely would want a taxi to Trunk Bay, Honeymoon Beach or Cinnamon Bay, and they do have excursions with transport if you want to stick with Disney transport and not deal with car seat questions. The taxis don't have them, and none of the roads are straight.

Is the national park worth a visit on foot? We don’t necessarily have to do a beach.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Is the national park worth a visit on foot? We don’t necessarily have to do a beach.

It's beautiful, but the trails are fairly rustic. Depending on child age, it might be a challenge.

 

[DisneyMom2000000]

It's beautiful, but the trails are fairly rustic. Depending on child age, it might be a challenge.

Gotcha. We are certainly limited with our little ones!

 

[mcd2745]

St John is as beautiful as it gets. However, IMO, If you don't get a minimum of 4 hours on St. John, it is probably not worth the trek over. Usually the excursions through the ships only give you a couple of hours. It's easy to do on your own. It's taxi (to Red Hook on St Thomas)-ferry (to Cruz Bay on St John)-taxi (to Trunk Bay beach on St John). However, it will take an hour at the very minimum in each direction.

 

[kcfree]

We did it a couple of years ago. Lots of taxis available in st John. We went to trunk Bay which was fantastic. We spent a couple of hours there and then returned and we were back on the boat by 2/3. It was very easy and I liked being able to do it at our own pace.

 

[Mitura]

Watching this post. Very interested in St. John's for our December 2019 cruise.

 

[Birdie dog]

I own a villa at Westin St John. FYI, since the hurricane, there has been some issues with ferry service and weekends may not have a ferry you're expecting. Make sure you check that and have a way to get back to St Thomas. I almost missed a flight one day because a morning ferry was cancelled from St. John and the next wasn't running until 2 hours later.