New Horizons II has a coupon if you rent a car from Budget for the week that will save a couple $50. If you do a search on this board you will find lots of positive reviews for New Horizons II. It also depends upon where you want to go. The New Horizons II trip goes to the Baths on Virgin Gorda, Marina Cay for lunch, Guana Island for a snorkel and then to hang out at the beach on Jost Van Dyke.
I looked into several of the motor boat trips for our first trip coming up in April. We decided to go to Jost Van Dyke on the ferry to spend an entire day there, so we choose a different trip to The Baths with a place called Stormy Petrel/Pirate Penny. They also have very good reviews on this board. The Stormy Petrel trip has two snorkel stops instead of one like New Horizons. They go to The Baths, then Cooper Island for lunch and a snorkel, then either to the Indians, the Caves or Peter Island- the location of the last snorkel stop depends upon the water/wind conditions.
When I checked, both trips cost $125 per person, plus $20 custom fee, plus your lunch, and you should add a gratuity too. Prices may have changed a little since I checked before this years busy season started.

The phone number for Stormy Petrel/Pirate Penny is 340-775-7990. This is one web site for them http://www.connectionsstjohn.com/piratesstormy.html

There is also a company called Limnos that has good reviews too. They go to The Baths and The Caves for snorkeling. They include a cold cut lunch with their trip and I believe are priced a little lower than the other two. Here is their web site.
http://limnoscharters.com/BVIPage/BVIPage.html

If you are looking for a trip for two to four people the above mentioned places will all take a per person reservation. If you have more than 4 in the group then a private charter would probably be a better way to go because you can pick where you want to go and how long you want to stay at each place. I found out that there are a lot of options for private charters - which we could not afford with only two people going. I calculated the cost of a private charter to be between $600 and $700 for an entire day to the BVI.

Captain Nautica I didn't look too much into because I liked the look of the other boats better.

Have fun on your trip.

Thanks for the info...I'll check out Stormy Petrel/Pirate Penny. I do agree the boats look a lot more comfortable.

We just did a trip on NHII and had a great time. I learned from this board that the trip would be a highlight of our trip. It cerytainly was. There were 11 of us on the trip and must say they took good care of us. We were the first to the Baths and beat the crowds. Lunch was at Marina Cay (great Mahi sandwich and the best painkiller of the day) Snorkeling nearby at Caminoe island was stunning and then to the Soggy Dollar on Jost for a great time.