Ocean Runner

[Tom In Mi.]

Hi All!

No, its not the Lurker. His better half here, with a question... Has anyone rented a boat through Ocean Runner?? We almost did last year and decided at the last minute not to. Is it easy to navigate around the different islands, or would we be better off getting a

captain

? We would rather not do that, but if it makes things easier we just might. Any input would be greatly appreciated!! SIX WEEKS FROM FRIDAY AND WE'LL BE THERE!! YEE HAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!

Lisa

[Maryanne]

Whenever we visit STJ, we rent through Ocean Runner---at least onece but usually twice because it is so much fun. Always the highlight of every trip. They are really helpful and explain everything. They give you a good map, and yes, if you are comfortable boating, you can easily get around. You can also hire a captain for another $100 (plus tip; we usually give the guy another 100). We've done it both ways. I prefer the security of having a captain because we are not the most experienced boaters, but we've also done fine on our own.
Definitely do it....it's a blast to have the freedom to flit around to all the other islands.

[Tom In Mi.]

Cool Maryanne!! We'll make it a point to do that. Island hopping is always a blast! We want to check out the Willy and snorkel the caves.....now, captain or no captain, will have to think about that one.

[Betty]

Renting a boat from Oceanrunner is the highlight of my husbands trip. I would suggest making a reservation for a boat before you go. They will allow you to change dates while your down there with availablity if the weather looks bad and there is a 24 hr cancelation policy.
My husband boats in Maine, and it is very tricky navigating there on the rocky coast, in the Islands it is a sandy bottom and a lot easier but you need to know basic navigation rules.

It is also fun to rent a dinghy from Noahs Little Arks http://www.bookitvi.com/nla.htm No experience required

[JD]

Ocean Runners gives you a half hour or hour more time than through the service at the Westin....I think their bimini tops are larger too than at the Westin service...the only complaint is that even if you get there at 8am sharp, it takes like 20 min. to fill out all the paperwork, etc. and it doesn't seem fair cause its taking out of your on water time....none the less, you might ask them if you're convienent to Cruz Bay, if you can take care of as much of the paper work on the afternoon of the day before you go....if you have a decent amount of boating experience in the 16' to 26' range, I would definitely rent without a skipper....just my preference....the maps are fine and the trips between islands are closer than you think. After going to Tortola and Jost we decided to head back to Cruz Bay by going the long way around to the east and south sides of STJ....it is spectacular scenery but can be quite a bit rougher and some in your party may feel a bit too bounced and end up with a sore bum.....and it uses a significant amount of fuel in addition....we had the 21' Mako with the single engine as it was just the two of us but if you have four and are concerned about any rough conditions then get a 24' with twin engines.....Its a costly day but worth every penny.....highly recommended.

[ccasebolt]

We made our reservations in person rather than over the phone and they gave us the paperwork & customs forms to fill out ahead of time. It saved us a bit of time on the day of.

We've done both - with captain and without. I'd do either, but one advantage of having a captain is that you don't have to worry about "drinking and driving" - you'll have a designated driver

[Bob & Anita]

Ocean Runner is a good outfit. You don't need a captain if you can handle power boats fairly decently. We don't own a powerboat but Bob knows how to operate them; we've rented from OR two years ago without a captain and had no problems. It is very easy to navigate in the VIs, everything is line-of-sight navigation and they give you a chart. We brought our portable GPS with the Caribbean BlueCharts loaded onto it and Bob put in all the common waypoints into the GPS (Indians, Caves, Baths, Willie T’s, Foxy’s, etc). We really didn’t need the GPS since you can use line-of-sight, but it was nice to have it. We have a list of waypoints (lat/long) for the VIs if anyone wants them, just PM or email us.

We rented last year from 6-PAC Scuba, who doesn’t rent their boat without a captain. But since we did some scuba with them they gave us the same price for the day with a captain as OC did without a captain. Because it was windy during the week and the Drake Channel was having some seas we decide to go with the 6-PAC Scuba boat rental with a captain, instead of OC without. It ended up being calm the day we went and Bob wished we rented without a captain since he prefers to drive (a big part of the pleasure of boating to him). But, having a captain is helpful in they can get to places faster since they know the way to go, they can drop you off at a snorkel spot and then pick up a mooring while you are snorkeling, which saves you time. Some places (Indians) you have to wait for a mooring to open, so with a captain he does the waiting while you are snorkeling. If you go the BVI then the captain will clear customs for you while you stroll around. Another benefit is Bob doesn’t drink when he captaining; having the captain allowed him to have a few rum drinks. Even with all these benefits, Bob still prefers to captain his own boat and Anita is indifferent as long as she doesn’t have to do anything with the boat.

[laurie]

does oceanrunners have a web site with rates? thanks in advance. laurie

[Bob & Anita]

does oceanrunners have a web site with rates? thanks in advance. laurie

http://www.oceanrunner.vi/

[laurie]

Thankyou Bob and Anita,,,as I came up with no hits when i googled it. Laurie

[Tom In Mi.]

Thanks everyone, very good info from all. We are leaning towards going with a Caption because none of really have any boating experience so why ruin a fun day worrying about what your doing & where your going.
Thanks again...Tom & Lisa.

[Ron_L]

Geez... You guys are killing me!

First I read about how much fun it is to go on a day sail with Captain Phil, so we booked him for Tuesday of our week. then, after reading about Noah's Little Ark I proposed that to my wife and the girls and we decided to rent a dinghy for a day (probably Thursday). Now you're talking about how great it is to rent a boat! We can't do both, so now we have to decide on wither a dinghy, which limits us to the North Shore, which isn't bad) or a boat, which opens up a whole lot of places to go!

You guys (and gals) are a bad influence!

Oh well... At least we have time to decide!

[Tom In Mi.]

Ron, it's only money (easy for me to say), live it up man!!!

[Ron_L]

Thanks for the advice, Tom! I've already spent my bonus from last year and I haven't even received it yet (gotta wait for the earnings announcement before the results are official ).

I keep telling myself that it's the last fling with the whole family... Of course, if we enjoy STJ half as much as the rest of you, we'll be doing this all over again in a couple of years (next year is our every-other-year houseboat trip on Lake Cumberland).

[Tom In Mi.]

Ron, We also have done the houseboat vacation on Lake Cumberland, we were checking into it for this summer but when I checked State Docks prices I almost feel out of my chair. Man they have really gone up since we last went. On the other hand what a TOTAL BLAST with the right group of people, another trip one will never forget!
Tom