US virgin island is US territory in the Caribbean. US Virgin islands residents are US citizens but they are not allowed to participate in the voting similar to other US territories with an exeption of Puerto Rico. The US Virgin Islands consist of four (not three!!) islands, about 50 islet and numerous little cays around the islands. The three main islands are St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John as well as one smaller island located by the south shore of St. Thomas called Water Island. While the islands get thousands of visitors every year, it is still not an easy task to plan how to travel between US Virgin Islands.
Its pretty easy to travel between St. Thomas and St. John, but when you add St. Criox to the picture it gets a little (or a lot) more complicated. What surprises me here is the fact that situation did not change during the last 15 year. There is a private ferry service, QE4 between St. Thomas and St. Croix and there is no service between St. John and St. Cloix
How to Travel between US Virgin Islands
Travel Between Water Island and St. Thomas
Water Island is the smallest of four US virgin islands. It is located south of St. Thomas. There is a ferry that runs once an hour between Water island and Crown Bay, St. Thomas that cost $5 for adults and $3 for kids one way. The ride is about 10-12 minutes.
Read More…
What not to do on US Virgin islands
Travel between St. Thomas and St. John
Travel by Ferry
Two ferry stations on St Thomas have ferry service to St. John: Charlotte Amalie and Red Hook.
There is a ferry service between St. Tomas Charlotte Amalie Cruise Ship Terminal located in Charlotte Amalie East(south part of the island) and Cruz Bay on St. John that runs three times a day. Check the latest schedule updates dates on US Virgin Island Port Authorities website. Travel time is about 45 minutes.
Ferry between Red Hook (on the east side of the island) and St. John Cruz Bay runs every hour. Check the lasted schedule here. Travel time is about 20-25 minutes.
You can take a taxi from St. Thomas Airport to Red Hook Ferry station. Once you get out of Airport terminal in Charlotte Amalie, you need to get to the shuttle station and take a shuttle to Red Hook Ferry station. The ride from airport to Red Hook is about 30-45 minutes depending on traffic. You will also need to wait until the shuttle get full. So, roughly plan for about 1 hour 15 minutes from the time you leave the terminal to your arrival to Red Hook Ferry station.
Read More…
Best things to do on St. John, USVI
Travel Between St. Thomas and St. Croix
By Ferry
QE IV Ferry offers once a day each way ferry service between St. Thomas to St. Croix. It is little pricey (60$ one way adult and $30 one way child tickets) , but a very reliable boat service. The boat leaves St. Croix Gallows Bay 8 am and arrives to St. Thomas Blyden Terminal 10.20 am. And later in the day it leaves St. Thomas Blyden Terminal 3pm and arrive to St. Croix Gallows Bay 5.20pm.
I strongly recommend booking tickets online couple of weeks prior to your travel dates.
Depending on the water conditions it can be rough ride. So if you are suspectable to motion sickness, make sure to have the motion sickness medicine with you on board.
You can get from St. Thomas Cyril E. King Airport in Charlotte Amalie to Blyden Terminal by taxi.
By Seaplane.
There are also Seaplane inter-island flight service. This can get even more pricey that the ferry pricey, but totally worth it if you have limited time.
Travel between St. John and St. Croix
Here it gets a little complicated. There is no direct ferry service and no seaplane service between St. John and St. Croix. There is also no airport on St. John , so the only way to get to St. Croix from St. John is via St. Thomas.
By Ferry
1. Take a ferry from Cruz Bay to St. Thomas Charlotte Amalie (see above) and take a 3 pm QE VI Ferry from Blyden Ferry Terminal to St. Croix.
There is only three daily ferries between Cruz Bay and St. Thomas Charlotte Amalie ( currently 8.45 am, 11.15 am and 3.45 am). You will need to arrive to St. Thomas at least 40 minutes to an hour before QE VI Ferry 3 pm departure, so you have only two options- 8.45 am and 11.15 am.
So, you are looking at about 6 hours total time(about 3,5 hours travelling and 3 hours waiting for ferry to St. Croix on St. Thomas)
2. Take a ferry from Cruz Bay to Red Hook Ferry Dock, take a taxi or a shuttle from Red Hook to Blyden Ferry terminal and then QE VI Ferry from Blyden Terminal to St. Croix.
By Seaplane
Take a ferry from St. John to St. Thomas and fly to St. Croix either by Seaplane or by regular plane from St. Thomas airport
Final Thoughts.
Travelling between St. Thomas – St. John and St. Thomas- Water Island is super easy and does not require any reservations. You can get ticket at the ferry terminal. If you add St. Croix to the picture you will need to do some planning and reservations in advance. Hope this post helps you to understand how to travel between US Virgin Islands.
