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I will be coming to St. Thomas in February (from Pittsburgh PA). During our stay in the islands, we will be going back and forth between the USVI and BVI on a sailboat. I'm looking for the location and office hours of the INS office in Charlotte Amalie. I tried e-mailing the office, but their e-mail address that's posted on their website is no longer active.
I know where the office is in St. John, but we may come directly back to St. Thomas.
Thanks
Marnie: Do you mean where do you clear Customs on St Thomas? On the waterfront of Charltte Amalie- where the Tortola ferry docks. No Customs in Red Hook- only Cruz Bay. I'd clear in Cruz Bay, if I were you!
I f you are returning to Red Hook, you must clear in STJ. If you plan to come all the way into CA harbor and have not cleared in STJ, you will clear at Edward Wilmoth Blyden Terminal AKA Tortola Wharf.
Ronnie
Thanks for the info. Last year we cleared in STJ, but it was a little crazy getting into Cruz Bay on a dinghy, so we thought we may just spend the last night in the BVI, return the boat in the morning, then clear customs in Charlotte Amalie. I thought this would be an option since there are ferries that run directly from West End Tortola to Red Hook. It didn't look like the ferry stopped in St. John, but maybe they have to. We are doing a pre-sail stay in St. Thomas and considered ferrying over to Tortola for the day, but the customs is a pain so we're going to wait until we set sail.
Thanks again
I am confused? Are you chartering out of the BVI? If you are turning the boat in on Tortola, the ferry will definitely stop at customs in St John for the Red Hook ferry. It may not stop in St John if you are going to town. You would clear at the ferry terminal on the waterfront then. Don't worry, they are not going to let you sneak back in.
Sorry, our plans are confusing. We're chartering out of St. Thomas, but will be doing a few days on St. Thomas before setting sail. We were considering ferrying over to Tortola for a day during those first few days. I looked up all the ferry schedules, that's how I knew there were ferries that went directly from West End to Red Hook. The schedule never mentioned stopping in St. John, so I didn't know how else people cleared customs. Anyway, after thinking about clearing customs each time going back and forth, it's too complicated, so we're not going to the BVI until we take the boat out. That way we only have to clear once each way. But it got me thinking if it was possible to wait to clear customs until after we return the boat. Then we could avoid anchoring in STJ, and do some shopping in Charlotte Amalie since we'd be using that customs office.
