Blue Tang Yacht Charters

lbjpryan · Post by **lbjpryan** » Fri Jul 23, 2010 4:50 pm

Going to be on STJ 8-7 through 8/14 and am considering Blue Tang Yacht Charters for a day trip. This is a special trip for our family (Surprise trip for our 10 & 11 Year Old kids-newbies to STJ) so we decides to splurge on a nice day trip.

Found Blue Tang via the web. Boat seems awesome, bit pricey. What attracted us was the ability to get to multiple places in one day (Caves, JVD, STJ remote areas, etc).

Anyone with any experience with this group?? Alternatives. Thanks in advance.

Gromit · Post by **Gromit** » Fri Jul 23, 2010 5:01 pm

Just about ANY charter that you book as private (meaning just you and yours on the boat and paying the full fee) will let you design your own itinerary for the day.

Depending on how much you want to do in once day and how far you want to go will influence the choice over a power vs sailboat.

That being said there are lots of options out there: Palm Tree charters is another power boat option (plus Capt Brandi is pretty cool guy!) to look into and of course there are several sailboat options.

If you PM Pia on this forum she can point you in all kinds of directions (as she does this on island part time).

If money is an option and you;re OK with just going to Jost then the ferry is an alternative at $60 pp will get you about 5 1/2 hours on Jost for some fun.

Xislandgirl · Post by **Xislandgirl** » Fri Jul 23, 2010 5:04 pm

I think that you will find that you can access all those places with plenty of boats in one day, and I would suspect that you will spend less on gas too.

It looks to be a beautiful boat but that price is so big for me. There was a post on another board that talked about a disappointing trip back in 2008, saying that the boat was showing some wear, but I think I remember reading that the owner at that time was trying to sell, so perhaps improvements were made.

GraysonDave · Post by **GraysonDave** » Fri Jul 23, 2010 5:59 pm

I haven't used either one of those, but here is another option so you can compare prices. http://www.stthomasboatrentals.com/yachtcharters.html

If cost is a concern you can do the same trip on a smaller boat. I can vouch for a good trip on palm tree charters.

SOonthebeach · Post by **SOonthebeach** » Sat Jul 24, 2010 12:14 am

Can't vouch for Blue Tang- no experience with them- but we're headed out with Palm Tree (Captain Brandi) for a second time when we're there- he's great! We're also going to do a separate JVD trip via the ferry.

We'll be there the same time as you (8/3-8/14) and will be with our kids- 6 and 9- maybe we'll see you around. We're def planning on being at the BB gathering on 8/8!

tedprosser · Post by **tedprosser** » Sat Jul 24, 2010 10:53 am

You are talking about an apple and a grapefruit here!
The Blue Tang is a 51ft Sea Ray Yacht. I have been on this boat in the last 12 months, I saw no wear and tear, she is VERY well maintained.
Palm Tree Charters runs a 26 ft Glacier Power Cat ( I have heard nothing but Great things about Capt John and his boat)
A 51ft boat and a 26ft boat will be a very different experience on the sea and how she handles the water, and frankly the comfort of the passengers.
If you just want to run around the water and island hop, go with Palm Tree Charters, if is a great way to get around and a great value.
Blue Tang and Magic Moment Charters ( see yachtmagicmoments.com) are Luxury excursion. If you are wanting luxury , comfort and money is not a driver, Go all out rent Blue Tang!!

Capt Ted

SOonthebeach · Post by **SOonthebeach** » Sat Jul 24, 2010 11:33 am

No wonder I haven't been on Blue Tang! Can't afford those big boats

Went out on Magic Moments several years ago with friends (they paid) and it was TOTALLY different than Palm Tree. Couldn't agree more with tedprosser. Depends on what you want. We get more than what we need with Palm Tree!

GraysonDave · Post by **GraysonDave** » Sat Jul 24, 2010 12:05 pm

Yes, Ted is certainly correct. Original poster noted a concern about cost - that's why Palm Tree and others have been thrown out there for consideration. Same destinations can be reached at a smaller cost.

That being said, I may have to check all the sofa cushions as well as my change jar to see if I can spring for a big boat ride next time. That would be awesome!

lbjpryan · Post by **lbjpryan** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 2:43 pm

Thanks for all the input...likely going to use PalmTree. The others look fantastic, just can't bring myself to spending that much. Thanks again

pipanale · Post by **pipanale** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 9:13 am

Blue Tang motored past us when we were coming back on the Wayward Sailor yesterday. Very nice looking boat. Tarn from the WS commented on it. It's high-end and looks very nice. From what I understand, you get more or less whatever you want when it comes to food, itinerary, etc...

We're a little more poor and rustic in nature.

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