Dave,
My wife and I have for years been taking friends on a charter to the Baths and then to Cooper Island (Lunch ) and the Indians or Peters Island for snorkeling.

We do this thru "The Charter Boat Center" in St. Thomas, tel. 340-775-7990. It is an all day trip as they pick us up in St. John, however it is a great trip they treat you right and the beverage the serve is always top shelf.

If you have the time try it, it is a great trip and the snorkeling is as good as it gets.

Boats are great, plenty of room and the crew is great.

They run out of Red Hook. When or If you call ask for Corey.

Enjoy

RM

How many people go on these excursions? I have 2 different groups (12ppl) & (9ppl.) I really would like this to be private. Just our groups Thanks

I took 5 adults on the Winifred http://www.sailwinifred.com and had an absolutely fabulous time! Captain Sharon Allen caters her schedule for cruise ship passengers, leaving Red Hook Marina at 9:30am, sailing to St. John for around 90 minutes of snorkeling (led by her first mate, Billy), makes a nice, light lunch on the sailboat and complimentary drinks throughout the day (Beer/cocktails/rum punch). This is not a "party boat" by any means, but is really enjoyable. We got back to Red Hook around 3pm with plenty of time for some quick shopping, ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery, and a trip back to the other side of the island. I highly recommend the Winifred.

Hello Dawn,

Many are 6 packs... 6 guests maximum. There are some larger boats that can accomodate larger groups. New Horizon comes to mind http://www.newhorizonsvi.com. There is a catamaran trip out of Bolongo called Heavenly Days http://bolongobay.com/Heavenly%20Days.htm. If your groups are sailing separately you can also try www.sailyachtnightwind.com; if together then it won't work out as I believe their max is 18.

Enjoy,

--Islander

Thank you so much for the info. The groups are not going together. They are 2 separate weeks. Our friends are getting married down there & people are coming @ different times.

Thanks Again 🙂

Thank you so much for your quick response. I will definitely look into the info. I do know that I do need for a larger group. But thanks again 🙂

Thanks for all your information. I will contact those you suggested. I am looking for some independent / local operator that caters to Cruise passengers so I do not have to go on some overcrowded excursion provided by Carnival.

All the best...... Dave

These are two sail boats that we have booked for our first trip in April. Both of them accomodate cruise ship passengers. You are very smart to book independent of the ship because your rates will be lower than what they offer. Watch for my trip report in April when I can give you details about the trips.

http://www.ikewittcharters.com/ Captain Pat advertises on this board and he is orginally from my home state of Wisconsin. Really nice on the phone. Says he knows the fish by name. He is going to give us a little snorkel lesson as part of the trip. Changed his start time so we didn't have to get up so early in the morning after our first night on the island.

http://www.alauntcharters.com/usvi_daysail.htm Captain Ron and Carol King. I have been told that the food if yummy. The condo owner that we are renting from recommended them to us. I called just the other day and they are the ones that re-opened a restaurant called Latitude 18. I have talked to Carol several times and she was always very friendly and pleasant.

I reached both places by phone. Calling seems to be a better way of getting a hold of people in the Virgin Islands rather than e-mail. E-mail seems to be on island time too.

I will be interested in geting your feedback from your trip. This will be our 5th cruise, and I never book with the ship. I get far more value booking directly.....

Have a great trip in April!

If you want to go on a daysail which only carries 6 passengers, but you have more people, you can ask the captain's of the boats if they will sail in tandem. It happens all the time and the captain's generally have no problem doing this. You can find daysails by going to the top of this page and putting your cursor over St Thomas and then clicking on Daysails which will give you the links to many of the local charters.

Actually there is only 4 adults now, possibly 6, but that is the maximum.....