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Me and my husband will be staying at the Westin and wanted to go on a day trip snorkeling trip to the BVI's do we need passports since we will be traveling by boat???? and also we were thinking of coing with cruz bay watersports??
You have a couple options for going to the BVIs. One is the ferry and another is going on a group sailboat tour, and finally, you can charter a boat. Chartering is expensive - you have the cost of the charter $495, plus $20 a person for customs fee, plus about $150 for gas. But, it's a great way to have privacy and tailor your tour to your own personal desires.
Enjoy!
At this point, you do not need a passport to travel to and from BVI, nor do you need proof that you've applied for them. The passport rules for water-based travel will take effect Jan 08.
thank you for the info.
Blu, are you sure about this.
That's what the Department of State website says and also what US Customs on STT told me. I've gone from STT to BVI twice in the last year, each time along with people without passports, and had no problems either time.
Others on here have reported the same.
I have noticed that the boat operators will ask for passports as a matter of course, but if you tell them that you don't have a passport, that should be fine as long as you have the required paperwork - drivers license and raised seal birth cert, visa, citizenship papers, etc.
Of course, some boat operators may decide to require passports, but that's the business rule, not a government mandated rule.
The plan is for sea access passport rules to take effect jan 2008. That's been the written rule all year, and it hasn't yet changed.
At present, US citizens may enter the British Virgin Islands with an original birth certificate accompanied by a valid photo ID such as a driver's license, although a valid passport is preferred. http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1079.html
question on the ferry's. Are they very crowded going thru customs? If we do take a ferry, it will be with two children, a 7 year old and a 7 month old. We'd like to go to the BVIs while on St John, but I'm not sure I want to put them, or me for that matter, thru long lines and stress.
I just got back from st. john and a sailing trip to the BVI's with my family that has a 40ft sailboat in cruz bay. We had called and found out that because my friend didnt have his passport that he would need a notaried copy of his birth certificate , application status copy from passport .com and ID. WE didnt have any problems when we went over.
Have a great trip
