Getting Around

There is not currently a ferry from PR to any of the USVI. There is a company trying to put together service from PR to STX. and STX to STT. Not sure if they are completing the triangle from STT to PR or not.

There is very little public transportation on STX. There are a few VITRAN busses that run from Frederiksted to Christiansted, but you can't rely on them for your main form of transportation. You either have a car, or you live close enough to work to walk.. or you spend a fortune on taxis. I have seen lots of taxis on STT, but I don't know about other public transit there. Which island do you have interviews on?

I have a question for you Alexandra,
I understand that if you don't own the title of your car you can not ship your car to the island or at least is going to be very difficult. Is that correct?
We were just there (last weekend) and moving for good in 3 months approx.
I wanted to buy a jeep since that is the best way of transportation there I realized.
Thank you for all the good info.
I will also contact you when we arrive to see if you can help us find a nice place to live.
St Croix is beautiful and I look forward to live there and get out of this monster city with 20 Farenheit temperatures right now. Auuch.
Thank you in advance for your reply.

Martin

Both interviews are in STT. Not so much worried about the day - just thinking longer term.

Hi Martin,

Yes, it is harder to ship a car that you do not own free and clear. Some lenders will sign a waiver to allow you to move a car to the USVI. If you do not already own a vehicle that you would want to drive here, you're probably wasting time/effort/$$ buying one in advance just to go through the shipping process. I owned my vehicles free and clear when I moved here, but I still sold them on the mainland and bought new ones here. If you want a jeep, there are lots of them available on STX. If you can't find a used one you like privately or at a used car lot, check with the rental companies, as they replace their fleet of vehicles periodically and sell all the jeeps they have rented out. Most of them are still in reasonably decent condition and will be reliable transportation. It's not a bad idea to focus first on what is available at the used car lots. If a vehicles has fewer than 50K miles on it, they have to give you a warranty for a while. The length of warranty depends on the number of miles the vehicle has, but even a 2 month warranty gives you a chance to find problems the vehicle might have that aren't obvious on a short test drive.

I'll be happy to assist you in locating a place to live. You can send me email or a private message detailing the type of property you would seek, whether you want to buy or lease, etc. and I'll see what I might be able to come up with to suit your needs.

Martin-

FYI- Chrysler(Jeep) financed vehicles are allowed to be taken to the USVI. I was told that it has to be "approved" first but they will then issue appropriate documentation.

On the other hand, I recall also reading that unless the person/entity you are dealing with in the transition is familiar with the process, it still might be an ordeal.

Is there anyone out there who has had any experience with shipping a vehicle with a loan on it?

We own an Audi A6 outright and our employer may pay for it's relocation. Is that a reasonable vehicle to get around in on STT, it is left hand drive or would we be better off selling it and finding one suited to local conditions? Any suggestions?

I had a loan on my car from Michigan and I was able to ship it easily with Crowley with a simple letter "releasing" it from the contiguous United States.

Hi,

I am not a resident yet of STT, but am moving there soon.

Regarding jfbreen's question about "public" transportation if you don't have a car on STT:

There is a great section on this board regarding transporation on STT. I don't know how to create a link to it on this post, but all you need to do is to go to St. Thomas Transportation.

They talk about the "Safari Buses" which I think some people do use frequently to get around the islands.

Cindy,

I believe an Audi A6 is a sedan and sedans are fine in many locations but problematic in some. Whether or not you need more ground clearance and/or all wheel drive depends on where on the island you live.

Cindy,

I have a recent model VW Passat that I decided to sell for several reasons:

A) I have been advised that island driving is really hard on cars and I decided that it makes no sense to bring a "nice car" to the islands only to see it get ruined (more or less).

B) There is no VW Dealership on the island to get it serviced. I don't know whether or not there is an Audi dealership, but I would guess not.

C) I just sold my car to a "VW aficionado" and got a decent return on the sale. I bet you would be able to do the same with your Audi -- a car with a highly devoted following. I would guess that any time spent driving that nice car on island would greatly diminish its value should you decide to sell it at some point.

There is a really good discussion of this car issue several pages back on this board where I got some great advice from other members. The title is "Should I bother bringing a newer car." The advice that I was given (along with my observation of the general condition of most cars that I have seen on STT) have changed my mind completely about what type of a car to have on island :)!

Thanks for the information on bringing our Audi. Sounds just like in Cayman where nice cars get beat up badly do to sea, salt, sand and bad roads. Looks like I need to find someone here to buy my A-6 and get a car when we get there.

Cindy,

I would.

The other thing you want to think about is that having a fancy car might attract attention from the "bad guys." STXR pointed this out to me in a previous post.

Crime is a reality everywhere, but I think driving a fancy, expensive car around on a small island might make you the target for some unwanted attention.....................

The link Mell is referring to is the Transportation Section of this site. If you scroll to the top of this very page and click on Home on the top, left you can view all the different sections including transportation.

Re. STT/STJ-PR Ferry

Just wanted to add a note. There is a ferry between St. Thomas/St. John and PR twice a month.

Here is the info:

Transportation Services (340)776-6282
Rates: $70 one-way and $100 roundtrip
Time: 2 hours
Note: Round trip travel must be completed within the same week. Ferry service is impacted by demand, call to confirm exact schedule and time of departure. Advance ticket purchase is required.

Leaving Cruz Bay, St. John: Every Other Friday Only 7:00am

Leaving Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas: Every Other Friday Only 7:30am

Leaving Fajardo, Puerto Rico: Every Other Sunday Only 2:00 pm

This and other ferry schedules for the USVI can be found on our sister site at: http://www.vinow.com/general_usvi/interisland_ferry/

--Islander