The Trip across the Island without a Car

The other day, we needed to get to the pharmacy in Cruz Bay.  So if you are without a car and need to get across the island to run some errands … how do you do it?  It turns out there are several means of “public” transportation.  There are taxis (actually pickup trucks with bench seats installed) which run around the island.  These are fairly common in the Cruz Bay side of the island but are VERY scarce on the Coral Bay side.  The taxis are NOT happy with having to drive all the way out to Coral Bay and the fee is supposed to be $9 but we have been quoted a price as high as $12 per person.  There is also a bus that “regularly” runs between Coral Bay and Cruz Bay.  Since government cost reductions, there is only one bus which makes the round trip about every 2 hours (unless there is a problem with the bus and it breaks down).   The cost of the bus is only $1 and if it were a bit more dependable it would be an excellent alternative but since the schedule is only approximate, you can find yourself waiting in the sun for 2 hours for the bus.  The final (and cheapest) way to get across the island is to hitchhike.  This is fairly common on St John but it does require a leap of faith that you will eventually get an “acceptable” ride before you complete the 8 mile hike (just as an aside, St John hitchhikers do not indicate with a thumb, they point with their index finger to indicate which direction they want to go). With these options in mind, we set off walking out of Coral Bay.  Started hitchhiking but had no luck.  When we got to the bus stop (about ¾ mile down the road) we decided to wait for a bit.  While we were waiting another intrepid traveler approached and asked when the next bus was due … of course we had no idea so we continued to try to flag down a ride.  Just when we thought we might have to give up and start walking again, a taxi came around the bend in the road.  Turns out he had brought someone out to Coral Bay and was headed back to Cruz Bay.  The fee was $9 each and we all piled in and had a breezy ride to town.  We did our errands and spent some time walking around Cruz Bay (even met some interesting people at lunch).  When it was time to return we looked across the street and noticed the bus was parked outside of the ferry dock.  LUCKY TIMING!!  We got on the bus, paid our dollar, and rode out to our apartment in relative comfort.  All in all, the day was a definite adventure.

Just thought I would also update the visitor’s calendar.  As you can see “spots are filling quickly” but we can still squeeze a few in!  J  Let us know if you are interested.