Water taxi to and from Solomon Beach

dflannell · Post by **dflannell** » Mon Aug 12, 2013 2:16 pm

Will be visiting the island with my family including a 2 year old for 10 days in mid September. Was wondering if anyone knew of someone willing to run our group back and forth from the ferry dock area (in front of High Tide) to Solomon Beach for a reasonable price. We are not interested in renting a dinghy and thought it made more sense to pay someone to drop us off in the morning and pick us up late afternoon. Our group cannot make the trip via the walking trail. If anyone knows of a boat captain who might be willing to undertake the job, please let me know.

loria · Post by **loria** » Mon Aug 12, 2013 5:01 pm

how many are in your group? have you considered renting a dinghy and seeing a few different beaches?

DonnaM · Post by **DonnaM** » Mon Aug 12, 2013 6:11 pm

Have you tried Dohm's water taxi? 340-775-6501. We have used them instead of the Red Hook ferry and I know they go to Jost Van Dyke too so I would think they would do it.

ToonMann · Post by **ToonMann** » Mon Aug 12, 2013 9:23 pm

I suggest you contact the friendly folks at Noah's Little Arks with your question. They run the dinghy concesssion on the beach in front of the Beach Bar. They might have some ideas.

http://www.noahslittlearks.com/Noahs_Li ... /Home.html

TM

toes in the sand · Post by **toes in the sand** » Tue Aug 13, 2013 7:08 am

If walking is not an option for your group, will all members of the group be able to disembark from a boat and swim to shore? Of course you have to swim back to the boat and board it at the end of the day. I think that only small craft would be able to put up on or near the beach.
You can taxi to Caneel, easy walk to Honeymoon and swim to salomon.
How many in your group?

toes in the sand · Post by **toes in the sand** » Tue Aug 13, 2013 7:08 am

If walking is not an option for your group, will all members of the group be able to disembark from a boat and swim to shore? Of course you have to swim back to the boat and board it at the end of the day. I think that only small craft would be able to put up on or near the beach.
You can taxi to Caneel, easy walk to Honeymoon and swim to salomon.
How many in your group?

dflannell · Post by **dflannell** » Tue Aug 13, 2013 2:51 pm

There are 6 in our group including our granddaughter who will be 21 months old at the time of our trip. We have traveled to the island many times and have been to many of the wonderful beaches but have never made it to Solomon. Our son, who will be on the trip, was there a couple of years ago and made the trip via the Lind trail, but that won't work for the older and less fit members of our group. I'm just looking for someone to water taxi us over and back and we could reduce the group to 3 adults and the granddaughter by having the son and son-in-law walk the trail.
I will try the Dohm taxi suggested and will also talk to the folks at Noah's. Thanks to everyone. I was hoping to get a response from a boat captain who might be available.

Pia · Post by **Pia** » Tue Aug 13, 2013 3:54 pm

I book charters for a living - I do not know anyone who would offer this service - if they take your booking they can't then book themselves for the rest of the day ( or it would be difficult) private charters are typically 8am/8:30am to 4:30pm then they need time to refuel, collect payment, clear customs etc so either they would need to meet you by 7:15am to collect you, load you, take you around, drop you off and then return to Cruz Bay in time for their day charter and then at the end of the day, after being out with guests all day return, to pick you up around 5:15pm and get back to Cruz Bay and unload around 5:30pm/5:45pm - it makes it a really long day for them (remember they have to prep the boat before they even start in the morning)

Now having said that - if you make it worth their while they might consider it - let me know if you want me to call around - but also keep in mind you will be stuck there all day - no bathroom, no chairs, no food, no drinks etc.

Pia

PA Girl · Post by **PA Girl** » Tue Aug 13, 2013 7:05 pm

The walk in from Caneel isn't too bad. The road is flat and stable. We carried our then 4 yo back out and while not entirely pleasant, it was ok.

Along the lines of what Pia said, you would probably need to book someone for the entire day and you would might need to swim part of the way.

We use dohms to get back and forth from STT. Expect to pay the minimum plus a waiting fee for having the boat tied up for the day/part of the day.

Would you consider booking a charter for the day and just spending most of it at the beach, it might be less expensive?

dflannell · Post by **dflannell** » Wed Aug 14, 2013 7:19 pm

Thanks again for the thoughtful replies. We may simply go the dinghy rental route. Are we allowed to "beach" the dinghy at Solomon or do we tie up at a buoy, assuming there are buoys there and available? It seems I recall someone saying that a dinghy is allowed to be tied up on the beach at some locations and that perhaps it depends on the size of the dinghy.

Thanks again and this forum is a wonderful resource. My wife and I have been to STJ several times over the past 25 years and have been there with our kids a few times as well. This will be the first trip for our son-in-law and of course the first trip for our only grandchild. Our son has been to Solomon on an earlier trip he and a girlfriend took without us, and he still says it's his favorite of all the beaches. We were at Honeymoon beach on our very first trip to the island many years ago back when parking wasn't an issue at Caneel, but didn't make it over to Solomon.

I hope some members of the forum group are on island during our visit from September 14-24. Would love to meet some of you in person at the Beach Bar, Woody's, Across the Street or our son's favorite, Castaways. I was on the island a few weeks ago with a couple of buddies and it was so sad to see Café Roma's ruins, although it looked like work had started on cleanup during our visit. We have our fingers crossed on the September weather. If anyone is interested in meeting up for a drink during our stay, please let me know.

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