Looking for a day trip to The Baths from St. John

TropicAtHeart · Post by **TropicAtHeart** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 11:32 am

We went on the yacht Breakaway a few years ago to BVI and enjoyed it. They came over from St. Thomas to pick us up at Cruz Bay. We went to Virgin Gorda then were bused to The Baths to hike & swim. Then onto the Indians, Willie T for lunch and Norman Island.

Now, I believe they let you swim from the boat to the Baths and also go to some other places.

The problem is we are bringing others with us that prefer to arrive at The Baths from land (one is scared of swimming, but is fine for the shallow water at the Baths.

We like the idea of new snorkel spots, besides the Indians, and the new itinerary goes to Diamond Reef. Also, like the idea of going to Marina Cay for lunch. We don't really care about Jost van Dyke because none of us are drinkers and it seems that the whole place will be only that, or is my impression wrong?

Any suggestions? There will be 4 of us, all adults. We don't think a private charter is reasonable enough and enjoy being on a large boat (fast) like Breakaway that can get us to places quickly so we have more time to explore/snorkel. Our only concern is the need to swim to the Baths for the tour, instead of arriving by hiking down.

TropicAtHeart · Post by **TropicAtHeart** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 11:37 am

I want to clarify that 3 of us love to snorkel and the one will just stay on the boat for those times. But, I want the one who can't snorkel to be able to explore The Baths like we did years ago. We hiked down to it, followed the guide and then went to the beach for a bit.

Ksea · Post by **Ksea** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 11:43 am

Have not been to the Baths yet, but have been to JVD. I only had one drink there! Had water after that. It is gorgeous! I love the hammocks under the palm trees near the Soggy dollar bar. We had a nice casual buffet lunch there. We walked over to Ivan's which I think is a must see. We chatted with Ivan for a while and had a great time. The beach/water is beautiful. It was June and the beach was not crowded at all. On the way back to the ferry we stopped at Foxy's for a short time. I have to say that was one of my favorite days. The boys did some snorkeling at White Bay and enjoyed it, but they are novices. Just my 2 cents

alw1977 · Post by **alw1977** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 11:50 am

TropicAtHeart -

We did Breakaway last year, and it has changed a little from what you described. I can certainly understand if your friend is scared/unable to swim in, but Breakaway provides "noodles" and fins to swim in with and will assist any nervous swimmers to shore if they ask. They did it for someone on our boat.

Also, the Jost day part of the trip only lasts one hour or so, so don't worry if you're not big drinkers. You can just lime away for an hour or buy some souvenirs and the Soggy Dollar Bar.

Oh, and when you're at the Baths, they give people the option of snorkeling the Baths or exploring them on foot.

TropicAtHeart · Post by **TropicAtHeart** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 11:57 am

alw1977, so you're saying you must swim to get to the baths on this tour? Then, you can either hike thru by following a guide or snorkel the deeper areas on your own?

Also, what was lunch like at Pussers on Marina Cay?

Could you compare the snorkeling at Diamonds as opposed to the Indians. I've never snorkeled at Diamonds, only at the Indians. Indians was fun, but had to swim around the jelly fish carefully (it was July). Also, waves were a bit rough, but they allowed us to snorkel anyhow.

alw1977 · Post by **alw1977** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 2:12 pm

Tropic, we were there in July 07. Our itinerary on Breakaway was as follows: STJ-The Baths-Camanoe snorkel-Marina Cay-Jost-STJ. I think where you snorkel depends somewhat on sea conditions, captain's choice and/or where other tours are. If you have your heart set on snorkeling a specific spot, I'd double-check because I think it changes, no matter what the online itinerary said. Ours certainly said something different than Camanoe.

Oh, and I enjoyed the lunch. I can recommend the Chicken Roti and the painkillers.

And yes, you had to swim from the boat to the beach at the Baths. I'm not a great swimmer but I'm in decent shape. I used fins and had no problems either way. A 7-month pregnant woman in our party swam it no problem. The crew pulled in one lady on a boogie board.

TropicAtHeart · Post by **TropicAtHeart** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 2:16 pm

Thank you Ksea and alw1977 for your comments. If anyone else has any boat/BVI snorkel excursion suggestions please post them.

Travelhappy · Post by **Travelhappy** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 2:32 pm

http://www.newhorizonscharters.com/

New Horizons II was mentioned and recommended on another forum. Looks like a fun day. I think the boat is a little smaller than Breakaway, but it's still a group charter.

Poohwear · Post by **Poohwear** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 2:44 pm

There is a very nice locale called "Top of the Baths" which you can taxi to right from the ferry. It is a restaurant, public swimming pool, gift shop, lounge out in the sun area with a path down to the Baths (a long walk down and and seemingly longer and hotter walk back up). Trekking back, I kept that pool in mind...so nice to get rinsed from the salt water. It makes a nice day and then you can taxi back to the ferry. The tours to the Baths are too whirlwind for me, not enough time to get the great photos, snorkel and explore...so we did this on our own!

http://www.b-v-i.com/baths.htm#Top%20of%20The%20Baths

RickG · Post by **RickG** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 2:52 pm

I'll chime in on the non-swimmer at The Baths point: Our friend Big Red is a non-swimmer and he found having a noodle along with his personal flotation on the swim into the Baths quite stressful. This guy is a bigger than life character who happens to be uncomfortable in water. This was on a NHII trip - the crew was great and helped him out, but he was VERY uncomfortable with the exercise going in and coming out. Its a long swim for a non-swimmer.

If we were to do that again with him we would take the taxi from The Settlement to The Baths.

Cheers, RickG

alw1977 · Post by **alw1977** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 3:06 pm

Oh, and just for clarification, we booked through New Horizons II (well in advance) but were put on Breakaway. I think what boat you're on depends on if there's a private charter that day, how many people have signed up, etc.

Rick - is "The Settlement" the area where you clear immigration on VG (Spanish Town, I think)? If so, I can see taking a taxi to the Baths, but how do you get back to the boat? I don't remember them stopping by "The Settlement" on our way out.

TropicAtHeart · Post by **TropicAtHeart** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 3:14 pm

Very informative suggestions!

Poohwear, how much di it cost to take ferries to get from St. John to Virgin Gorda and then back? Also, do you remember how much it was for the taxi to Top of the Baths? And, how long did you have on Virgin Gorda since you were on your own. I bet the ferry rides seemed long or are they just as fast as Breakaway which seemed to really move past all others. Maybe that's why they can get to three stops in one day.

IslandAddict · Post by **IslandAddict** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 11:15 am

Just went with New Horizons II on Monday. Very easy swim to the baths, they have noodles, kickboards, fins to make it easier. An older couple were on the boat and had no trouble with the short swim. Lunch at Pussers was good also. Soggy Dollar is more of a wade than a swim as they tied up very close to shore, shoulder deep at most.
Have a great time!

TropicAtHeart · Post by **TropicAtHeart** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 2:55 pm

What do you do with your snorkel gear/fins when you hike thru the Baths with the guide? Do you just carry all of it after you've swam to the boulders. My wife and I bring our own gear. I want my parents to be able to hike thru the Baths not just snorkel, but they wouldn't like having to carry everything. Does the boat personel watch your stuff while you hike? I assume the exploring is guided like it used to be? We'll be going in July and the last time we were at the Baths in July some of the boats had to really watch out for jelly fish on behalf of those who had to swim to the baths. We hiked down from the Top of The Baths.

alw1977 · Post by **alw1977** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 3:08 pm

We left our stuff on the beach by the Baths, but I'm not really sure if anyone watched it. We actually used the fins provided to us by the boat, so I didn't really care if they were stolen or not... the only thing we carried through the Baths was our camera. Not sure what others did with their gear. It's not like you have hours to spend at the Baths. Some people chose to snorkel, some to do the group tour of the Baths, others wandered off on their own. We were probably only there for an hour, if that.

We were there last July too... no jellies at that time for us!

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Looking for a day trip to The Baths from St. John

Looking for a day trip to The Baths from St. John