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I have been reading all the posts here abour taxi's being so expensive. We are going to St. Thomas in a week, and I not sure if we should rent a car. We do want to see alot of the beaches and also (with teenage girls) do alot of shopping. Does any have any advice as to which would be the cheapest?
rent a car for sure... taxi's are not like stateside, you get charged by the person. for example if you took a taxi from the airport to the ritz it would cost you $15 per person, so a family of 5 would be $75( plus possibly extra for baggage)... now if you wanted to go out to dinner that night it would cost you $6 per person to get to say red hook ($30) and another $30 to get back... get it!!
I would take a taxi to town for the "shopping day". There is really no place to park downtown unless you get lucky at the Fort Christian parking lot. It's usually packed full! You could drive to Havensight. There is usually ample parking there and the prices and stores are about the same. As for any other sightseeing and beaches, the rental car is the way to go. That's our past experience.
To find the best rental go to hotwire.com - they have all the major car rentals and they are about $100.00 cheaper than dealing with the rental agencies. You can get the car right at the airport.
When you arrive have your wife and kids get the luggage- you go directly to the car rental which is right there at the baggage claim. usually you can have the car by the time they get the luggage. The lots are across the street to pick up the car.
I have it down to 20 minutes in and out. I have a rental apt. ( vrbo) ( only for 2 people though)on St. Thomas and have lived here 34 years so I know the ropes. I meet people all the time at the airport and have it down.
The taxis are real expensive from my house it is $20.00 per person one way. Yikes...
Any questions please ask and I can help you.
Have fun in st. thomas
Sunny Regards
Cindie
