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Hello everyone, who would you recommend taking a day excursion with to the Baths or the Virgin Gorda? We will be in STJ July 14th-22nd and were looking to go over that way. Some recommendations would be great, Thanks!!
Check out www.captainnautica.com to see if this would appeal to you. I've taken several of their trips with visiting friends and family and they're truly a first class operation.
You didn't say if you were staying on STT or STJ. They're based on STT but regularly pick up on STJ for people staying there.
Hope this helps.
The Limnose was great also. This is a slower, but much larger boat. We thoroughly enjoyed our day!
Sorry to add but were staying on STJ, I will check out the 2 recommendations you both added, Thanks!
Don't forget to check out New Horizons II out of Sapphire Beach Marina on St. Thomas - they do stop on St. John to pick up passengers, as well.
We went with them on their trip to The Baths, Marina Cay for Lunch, snorkeling off of Guana Island - then last stop White Bay on Jost Van Dyke. Fantastic trip - great day. Powerboat that will get to The Baths quicker than many of the other excursions. And is able to fit in alot during just a one day trip - due to this type of boat.
Have fun planning your trip - decisions, decisions, decisions!
And don't forget to look at Stormy Petrel/Pirate's Penny. I think there are reports on all of these tours on this site.
You can always take the ferry, if you want a less expensive option.
Thanks guys, we have made out reservations with StormyPetrel/PiratesPenny. Very anxious to take this trip, heard such great things about the Baths but out of 4 years going to STJ every year never made it.
I realize that I might be in the minority, but the Baths are not that exciting. Very crowded to get to one great photo op at the end.
My husband and daughter stayed on the beach instead of doing the walking tour with the group and had a great time. There was another foursome with our group that really enjoyed the BATHs, but I think they had a lot more painkillers than me. I also did not enjoy our day trip aboard the Breakaway boat- I am posting a review of my trip to St. Thomas and have further comments about this in this review, but I would not recommend this type of day trip. If you want to go to the BATHs or anywhere else-such as the Soggy Dollar, take the Ferry. Smooth ride- and much more reasonable for actually more comfort, just the absence of sippy cups- but more time at your destination- so you can get your drinks there.
Doesnt it take longer if you take a ferry? And if you do take a ferry, does it take you to the baths or do you pick up another boat?
Dear CoCo de mer. We will be in St. John July 8 - 15. We rent the services of Stormy Petrel every year atleast 2 times a week. You will love them. By the way I noticed your forum name. Have you ever stayed at Coco de mer villa?
Yes I have stayed there and we had a great time there, since its booked for our time of stay this year we are staying at the Westin.
CoCo: IMHO, there is a huge difference between public transportation and a crewed day charter. If you *only* want to get to the Baths and pick your way through the rocks, I guess a stinky ole ferry is okay.
But, if you would like a tour of the BVI with highlights pointed out by delightful crew, beverages served as you wish, a couple of snorkel stops, a lunch stop, and a guided tour of the Baths then a crewed charter is for you.
I guess the choice is like going Greyhound or first-class air.
P.S. Having read Tamra's separate review of Breakaway, I have to say about Pirate's Penny/Stormy Petrel: They only take 10 (as I recall), they go to Cooper Island for lunch, and they don't have any sippy cups (?)
Again, these things are about your expectations. A crewed charter is NOT just a visit to the Baths, it is a day long tour. You cannot see everything in depth. If you have never been to the BVI, you get to circumnavigate Tortola and see the lay of the land. I would suggest that if you really want to only see the Baths and nothing else, you might want to stay on Virgin Gorda so you can visit when the day trippers are not there.
We had a great day on the Breakway. Very nice boat and we were very lucky that with the crew there were only 10 of us. The Breakaway is a large fast boat, the New Horizons is a smaller boat and that day they had twice the amount of people on their boat.
We had a great day of going to the Baths, snorkeling, eating at Marina Cay and a trip to the Soggy Dollar Bar. I thought it was well worth it.
We had a wonderful day on the Stormy Petrel/Pirates Penny trip. I wrote a couple reviews about it. Follow the links below:
https://www.vinow.com/wwwtalk/read.php?4,53488,53546#msg-53546
We did the New Horizons II trip and just loved it. Really, a highlight of our 4th trip to STJ. We were there June 1st and there were NO crowds at the Baths; I imagine July will be the same. Our guide told us that during the high season you can hardly get through the Baths but we had no problem. The crew was wonderful and the boat was not crowded. Lunch was delicious and snorkeling fun. Worth every penny in our opinion. The BVIs are spectacular.
Thanks to everyone who responded, we definately are going with Stormy Petrel/ Pirates Penny. As far as our day trip over to JVD we will take the ferry. Were coming from Philly 7/14-7/22, anyone else going to be in STJ during that time?
Hi Coco! Darn! We'll be leaving the Westin just as you're arriving. Sounds like you may have a timeshare villa for a week there?
Another idea to the baths,had you not booked Stormy Petrol is the boat out of the Westin's dock. I think it is called the Adventurer? there's a watersports place on the Westin beach, or the concierge can help you book other stuff from the convenience of the Westin since you'll be there. Have a GREAT time!
Hey there, stay a extra week :)! We just booked it due to they had the availability, we dont have a timeshare.
