From a previous post I started speaking about traveling with newbies and friends....it strikes me amazing that the majority of people on this forum travel in "packs". My hat is off to you all. I can barely get my hubby and I down there as often as we do. I struggle with traveling in groups. How do you do it? I think my travel agent background burnt me out as far as groups go. You are all amazing tour agents and your group should pay you a commission. LOL! At least in rum!

A sailboat catamaran will not be able to make that trip. You need a power boat. I don't know of a power cat that does it unless Limnos has a special charter.

mfinn,
May I make a suggestion that perhaps you tried to plan too much intoa very short period of time with regard to working with ferries, boat rentals, etc. Shorten it down and relax on STJ and enjoy your friends and snorkel at your favorite beaches and endulge in beverage at your fav. bars. I'm not trying to offend or anything...just getting stressed at your itin. and trying to figure out why you would fly down to this beautiful area and try to do too much.

I agree with EE- and, by extension, Eagles Landed. There's no chance that a sailboat will make it to Virgin Gorda and back with time for you to see the Baths, let alone Jost Van Dyke. People who want to get from STT or STJ to Virgin Gorda, and back, in one day, have to do it on a powerboat of some form. There are no other options - unless you want to fly.

Your options are:

1. Private Powerboat Charter such as Born to Rhumb, Nauti Nymph, Lionindasun, etc
2. Group charter such as Limnos, New Horizons, Pirates Penny, etc
3. Public Power Ferry

4. charter plane

Forget sailing. You'll get around STJ, that's all.

Just wanted to say .....welcome back EL :)........now back to the question - you will need a power boat to do both islands as sailing is not an option to go to the baths. I would call Trevor, his number is on his website - www.bestofusvi.com and see which private charter he suggests after viewing his site.

Pia

You can also check out Captain Nautica at www.captainnautica.com. They have regularly scheduled trips to the BVI (but not now to the Baths) but also do private trips which might work out perfectly for you.

Thanks to everyone for all of the helpful info.! My husband and I will be on the island for ten days and the rest of the group, seven days, so we would like to be able to see some of the other islands while we are in the Caribbean. We have been to St. Thomas and St. John four times, but only on cruise ships, so we are ready to go out and see some of the surrounding BVI's since it's impossible when you're visiting STT on a cruise ship.

I heard back from a few companies. We may just go to JVD for a day and not worry about going to the Baths. We are more about spending a day on the water, relaxing and having fun than being stressed out by trying to stick to a stringent schedule. I spoke with Scubadu, NHII and Lion In Da Sun. We may go with Scubadu over to JVD, Joe seems like a great guy. NHII said they would take us to both the Baths and JVD on their group tour for less money than going to JVD, but after reading everyone's posts, I'm not sure if that's a great idea.

Again, thanks for all of your input!

Eagles, talking about traveling in packs. My 2 summer vacations were a group of 9 and a group of 11...all close friends or family (sometimes I think that's worse).

It seems that I end up being the travel agent, tour director, the photographer, cook, maid, etc. It's tough, I'll admit that, but the memories are worth it. But, next time, just myself and husband and I'm not doing ANYTHING!!! lol

mfinn: The trips that do both the Baths and JVD are like college survey courses. You will get just a taste of a lot of places. This is great as an overview, or if you want to maximize your time spent on one day. A one island trip such as a catamaran to JVD, is a more scholarly approach: in depth with more time to spend seeing a smaller area.

When we have visitors, we usually recommend the survey course first. The next visit can include the graduate work! 😉

There is so much to see and do in the VI, it will take you many visits to do it all. You have to decide how much touring time and how much relaxing time you want to spend...

I agree with EE.
NH and others are good at what they do but we ended our trip wishing we had spent more time at the Baths or White Bay. You spend a fair amount of time getting from place to place and can't really socialize while doing so. Pick a destination and then select the best way to get there.