St. Croix charter airlines, the seaplane and getting around

Most guests reach St. Croix on the airline nonstops and rent a car at the curb — and for them the useful half of this page is the bottom. But the island also runs a quieter aviation layer that most first-timers never hear about: a home-grown charter operator on the airport's own ramp, turboprop charters positioned over from San Juan, up to a dozen daily nine-seat hops to St. Thomas, and a Twin Otter on floats that lands on the water a block from the Christiansted boardwalk. Here is who actually flies, what they fly, and how the ground game — taxis, rental cars, the ferry, the left-side rule — really works.

Start with the field

Henry E. Rohlsen Airport (STX) sits mid-island at Kingshill with a 10,002-foot runway — long enough for a 747, which means length is never the constraint for any charter aircraft you could book. It is a U.S. port of entry with Customs on the field, so private flights from the mainland arrive domestic for U.S. citizens and flights in from the wider Caribbean clear on the spot. The full private-jet picture — FBO, distances, which jets go nonstop from where — is in our flying private guide; this page is about the rest of the fleet, down to the taxi vans.

The island's own charter operator

Every island wishes it had a Bohlke. Founded in 1959 by William Bohlke Sr. and run by the family ever since, Bohlke International Aviation is both the private terminal that handles nearly every jet arrival on St. Croix and a charter operator with a published fleet: three Cessna Citation Bravo light jets based on the island (one outfitted as a dedicated Caribbean medevac ship), a 325-mph Mitsubishi MU-2 turboprop, and heavier metal through the family's San Juan company — a Europe-capable Falcon 900EX, a Hawker 800XP, a Citation VII and two Grand Caravans, plus managed jets up to a Gulfstream G280.

Tradewind Aviation lists St. Croix as an on-demand charter destination flown with the largest Pilatus PC-12 fleet in the region — an eight-seat single-engine turboprop that owns this kind of island flying, with 20 factory-new PC-12 NGX aircraft joining the fleet. Tradewind's scheduled shuttles serve San Juan, St. Thomas and St. Barth; for St. Croix you charter the whole cabin, which for a family or a villa group often beats buying eight airline seats through San Juan. M&N Aviation (part of the Bohlke family of companies since 2020) and Air America Caribbean, both San Juan-based, round out the on-demand bench — San Juan is about 40 nautical miles out, so positioning an aircraft to St. Croix takes minutes, not hours.

The scheduled small planes

Cape Air is the region's workhorse: 80-plus Caribbean departures a day from its San Juan hub, including the San Juan–St. Croix run, up to four daily St. Thomas hops and a Friday/Sunday Nevis service. The airplane is the nine-passenger Cessna 402C — you board across the ramp, everyone gets a window, and the crossing to St. Thomas takes about 25 minutes at reef-watching altitude — with the new eleven-seat Tecnam P2012 Traveller entering the fleet.

Fly The Whale flies the same crossings with more frequency: up to twelve St. Thomas round trips a day and several to Isla Grande (SIG) — the small in-town San Juan airport beside the old city, a pleasant alternative to the big international field. Despite the name, its Virgin Islands flying is on wheels, not floats: nine-seat Cessna Grand Caravans out of Rohlsen. For a same-day St. Thomas errand or a Puerto Rico weekend, this is the schedule to check first.

The seaplane that lands downtown

The best arrival on St. Croix isn't at the airport. Seaborne Airlines — founded on the island in 1992, carrying the lineage of Antilles Air Boats' Grumman Goose harbor shuttles from the 1960s — flies a De Havilland Twin Otter on floats between Charlotte Amalie harbor and the seaplane base on Christiansted's waterfront. Twenty-five minutes, harbor to harbor; the takeoff run is a sheet of spray and the landing puts you a short walk from lunch on the boardwalk. Seaborne describes itself as the world's only seaplane operator holding a full Part 121 airline certificate.

Plan around one real caveat: after surviving its parent company's 2025 collapse and changing hands that July, Seaborne is rebuilding — one Twin Otter flies the route today, with financing announced for up to three more. One airframe means schedules move. Book early, reconfirm the day before, and treat the airport hop as your weather-proof backup.

Puerto Rico's island-hoppers

On the Puerto Rico side, Vieques Air Link — the Caribbean's first Britten-Norman Islander operator, flying since 1968 — connects St. Croix toward Vieques and Culebra with Islanders, Trislanders and Caravans. If your trip strings several islands together, these are the aircraft that do the stringing.

The ferry

The QE IV sails from Gallows Bay, just east of downtown Christiansted, to Charlotte Amalie in about 2 hours 10 minutes — about $70 one way, $120 round trip. The working schedule has been an 8 a.m. departure from St. Croix and a 3 p.m. return, Wednesday through Monday (no Tuesday), with check-in closing 15 minutes before sailing. Slower than the planes, cheaper than most of them, and the upper deck is its own kind of crossing. Verify the week you travel at qe4ferry.com.

On the ground

The left-side rule

The USVI drives on the left — in normal American left-hand-drive cars, a Danish-era habit the islands kept. It sounds harder than it is: the roads are two-lane, the pace is slow, and by day two you'll stop narrating it to yourself. A U.S. license is all you need; see driving on the left.

Rental cars

If your home is outside walking distance of a town — most of ours are — rent a car. Avis, Budget and Hertz operate at the airport along with local agencies like Centerline; Budget also keeps counters in Christiansted near the seaplane ramp and at Frederiksted across from the pier. Winter weeks sell the island's fleet out, so book the car when you book the home; our renting a car guide covers the details.

Taxis and tours

Taxi vans meet arriving flights and stage in both towns. Fares are per person, set by the V.I. Taxi Commission — no meters — so confirm the total before you ride; ballparks run about $15 per person airport-to-Christiansted and about $10 to Frederiksted, with shared vans covering the cross-island corridor for a few dollars. Drivers also run island tours by the hour, which is the easy way to see the whole 22-mile loop before you've made friends with the left side of the road.

Buses and ride-share

VITRAN's public buses link Christiansted and Frederiksted for $1, roughly every two hours on weekdays — fine for a slow errand, not for a beach schedule. And no, there is no Uber or Lyft anywhere in the USVI; a small pre-booked local service helps fill the gap, but the visitor playbook is rental car first, taxis second.

Where you're going anyway

All of it — the seaplane base, the ferry dock, the boardwalk restaurants — funnels into Christiansted, and our homes spread out from there: beachfront on the East End, walkable places near town, west-end escapes by Frederiksted. Tell the team how you're arriving and we'll make sure the car, the keys and the first groceries are already solved. One local company, booked direct.

Questions people ask

What charter airlines fly to St. Croix?

The island has its own charter house — Bohlke International Aviation, based at Rohlsen Airport since 1959, with Citation Bravo jets and a Mitsubishi MU-2 on the field and larger aircraft through its San Juan sister company M&N Aviation. Tradewind Aviation charters Pilatus PC-12s to St. Croix, and San Juan operators like Air America Caribbean quote on-demand island trips. All charter pricing is per trip; get a quote.

Is the St. Croix seaplane still flying?

Yes. Seaborne Airlines flies a Twin Otter seaplane between Charlotte Amalie harbor and the Christiansted Harbor seaplane base, about 25 minutes across. One aircraft covers the route in 2026 while the company rebuilds its fleet under new ownership, so days and times vary — confirm the current schedule before you plan a day around it.

What's the cheapest way to get to St. Thomas from St. Croix?

The QE IV ferry — about $70 one way or $120 round trip, roughly 2 hours 10 minutes from Gallows Bay to Charlotte Amalie. It typically leaves St. Croix at 8 a.m. and returns at 3 p.m., with no Tuesday sailing. The 25-minute flights on Cape Air or Fly The Whale cost more but turn the crossing into minutes.

Do taxis on St. Croix use meters?

No — rates are set per person by destination under the V.I. Taxi Commission, so the correct move is to confirm the total before you get in. Vans meet flights at the airport and wait in Christiansted and Frederiksted; published ballparks are about $15 per person from the airport to Christiansted and about $10 to Frederiksted.

Is there Uber or Lyft on St. Croix?

No. Neither operates anywhere in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Between rental cars, commission-rate taxis, taxi tours and a small local pre-booked service, visitors do fine — but plan on a rental car if your home is outside town.

Which small planes fly between the islands?

Cape Air's nine-seat Cessna 402Cs (with the new Tecnam P2012 joining), Fly The Whale's Cessna Grand Caravans, Seaborne's Twin Otter on floats, and Vieques Air Link's Britten-Norman Islanders on the Puerto Rico side. Every seat is a window seat on all of them.

Do I need an international license to drive on St. Croix?

No — a U.S. driver's license is valid, and the rental cars are ordinary American left-hand-drive vehicles. The only adjustment is that the USVI drives on the left side of the road, which takes most visitors about a day to stop thinking about.