St. Thomas has no Uber, no Lyft and a taxi tariff charged per person rather than per vehicle. For a party of three or four making daily journeys, a rental car is usually the cheaper option and always the more flexible one.
Two things catch visitors out here, and neither is obvious from a booking page. Traffic drives on the left, in cars built for the right. And your mainland insurance policy may not follow you across.
Do You Need a Car on St. Thomas?
It depends on where you are staying and what you plan to do. Staying in Charlotte Amalie for shopping and history, or at a resort with its own beach, a car adds little. Taxis handle the transfers and the town is walkable.
Reaching Magens Bay, Coki Point, Sapphire Beach, Coral World or the north shore under your own schedule needs a car. So does any plan that involves being somewhere at a particular time, because taxis run to arriving flights and cruise calls rather than to a timetable, and getting a return ride from a quiet beach in the late afternoon is the part visitors underestimate.
Run the arithmetic against the taxi tariff before deciding. Two people making one transfer each way usually come out ahead with taxis. Four people moving around the island daily usually do not.
Rental Companies at the Airport
Four companies operate at Cyril E. King Airport:
Avis: 1 340 774-1468
Budget: 1 340 776-5774
Hertz: 1 340 774-1879
Enterprise: 1 340 725-2507
Enterprise also operates the Alamo and National brands from the same location.
Rental operations are based on level 1 of the Dale A. Gregory Transportation Center, the garage directly across from the terminal, which the Port Authority reserves for rental cars, taxis and tour operators. A pedestrian walkway with a marked crosswalk and ADA ramps connects the two buildings. See parking for the layout and terminal guide for the terminal itself.
Off-airport companies operate nearby and run their own shuttles. They are sometimes cheaper, and the trade is the transfer at both ends of the trip. Off-airport operators are required to register their pickups with the Port Authority.
Insurance: What USVI Law Requires
Virgin Islands law requires every driver to be insured. This is the part of a St. Thomas rental worth sorting out before you leave home, because the answer differs by insurer and the counter is a poor place to work it out.
Three things to establish, in this order.
First, call your own auto insurer and ask specifically whether your comprehensive, collision and liability coverage extends to the U.S. Virgin Islands. Policies usually say either “the United States and its territories” or limit cover to the fifty states and Canada. Carriers differ, and being a U.S. territory does not guarantee it. Bring written proof of whatever you have.
Second, call your credit card issuer. Card coverage is common and useful, but it covers damage to the rental vehicle. It does not cover liability, meaning damage you cause to someone else’s car or person. No mainstream card covers liability, including premium tiers.
Third, work out what is left. If your own policy does not extend to the territory, liability is the gap, and the rental company will require you to buy third-party liability cover as a condition of the rental. That is a different product from the Collision Damage Waiver, and buying CDW does not close it.
Paying by debit card changes things. At least one major operator here makes the damage waiver mandatory when a debit card is used, and several will not accept debit at all. Bring a credit card in the driver’s name, and the same card used for the booking.
Driving on the Left in a Left-Hand-Drive Car
The U.S. Virgin Islands is the only U.S. territory that drives on the left. Rental cars are ordinary American vehicles with the steering wheel on the left.
That combination is the thing to understand before you pull out of the garage. In every other left-driving country the driver sits toward the center of the road. Here the driver sits on the outside edge, which throws off lane positioning and makes overtaking difficult, because the passenger side is the side with the view. Only overtake with a clear line of sight.
Turning is where visitors make mistakes, particularly the first right turn of the trip, which crosses oncoming traffic. Take the first day slowly and avoid arriving at night if you can, since roads outside the town centers are largely unlit.
Turning on red is permitted, but it is the left turn rather than the right, mirroring the mainland rule. Signs mark the junctions where it is prohibited. The horn is used as friendly communication rather than complaint, and drivers routinely stop to let others into traffic. Neither means what it would mean at home.
Roads, Speed Limits and Parking
Speed limits are 20 mph in towns and 35 mph elsewhere, and the roads rarely allow more than that anyway. Some stretches carry no posted limit because the curves make one unnecessary.
Roads are two lanes but narrow, steep and sharply curved through the mountainous middle of the island, and they turn slick in rain. Highway 30 is the main route, linking the airport with Charlotte Amalie and the cruise port.
Street signage is sparse and locals give directions by landmark rather than road name. Download offline maps before you arrive, because cell coverage thins out in the interior and on the north shore.
Parking at the popular beaches fills early; arriving before 09:00 is the difference between a space and a long walk. Some beaches charge. Downtown Charlotte Amalie is difficult, and a paid lot is worth the fee over circling.
Taking a Car to St. John
A car barge runs from Red Hook to St. John, and it is a common addition to a St. Thomas trip.
Check with the rental company first. Some prohibit taking the vehicle off the island entirely, and among those that allow it, ask who is responsible for recovery costs if the car breaks down on the other side. Some contracts also restrict driving on unpaved roads, which matters more here than it sounds.
What to Check Before You Book
A valid U.S. driver’s license is accepted for up to 90 days after arrival, and no international permit is needed with one. Visitors on a licence from another country should confirm the requirement with the rental company before booking.
Minimum age is typically 25. Younger drivers face a surcharge where they are accepted at all.
Almost every rental here is automatic, which is worth knowing if the left-side driving is already a concern.
Many companies apply a minimum rental period of two or three days, so a single-day hire is often either unavailable or priced badly. For one day out, a private taxi tour usually works out better.
Book early for the December to April high season, when jeeps, SUVs and larger vehicles run out well before the dates do. Rates and availability are tightest over Christmas and New Year.
Inspect the car before you drive it off. Photograph existing damage from every angle, including the wheels and the underside of the bumpers, and check the fuel level against what the paperwork says. Island roads are hard on vehicles and the standard of pre-existing damage is not what it would be at a mainland airport. Check arrivals before setting off if someone is collecting the car for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. The U.S. Virgin Islands is the only U.S. territory that drives on the left, but rental cars are ordinary American vehicles with the steering wheel on the left. The driver therefore sits on the outside edge of the lane rather than toward the center, which affects lane positioning and makes overtaking harder.
Sometimes, but not automatically. Policies either extend to United States territories or limit cover to the fifty states and Canada, and it varies by carrier. Call and ask specifically about the U.S. Virgin Islands, then bring written proof. Virgin Islands law requires every driver to be insured.
Not with a valid U.S. driver’s license, which is accepted for up to 90 days after arrival. Drivers holding a licence from another country should confirm the requirement with their rental company before booking, since policies differ between operators rather than following a single territorial rule.
Avis, Budget, Hertz and Enterprise operate at Cyril E. King Airport, with Enterprise also running the Alamo and National brands from the same location. Rental operations are based on level 1 of the Dale A. Gregory Transportation Center, across from the terminal and connected by a pedestrian walkway.