USVI-On-Line

Hi everyone,

I wondered if there is a day trip out of STJ that takes you to the
Baths as one of it's stops? I would need it to be on a reg. speed boat, high speed or pontoon type. For some reason I get sick on "a traditional sailboat" but not the others. We are going over in June. If anyone has info. I will appreciate reading it.


Sherry in SC

I have researched this in the past.
Virgin Gorda is quite a long way from St. John. You can't do it on a sailing trip.

You can hire a speed boat service like Bad Kitty or you can figure out how to do it by ferry.

It's my understanding that if you do the ferry service, you have limited time on the island because of the need to be back to the ferry in time to get back to St. John.

We looked into the speed boat service last year but scrapped the idea because of the cost. We were figuring roughly $180+ per person for 6 on the boat.

There is so much to do on St. John that I ended up glad that we didn't take a full day away to do it.

Good luck on your search.

Thanks for the quick reply !

OUCH on the cost ! Don't think our group would go for that kinda $$....just to visit some bigggg rocks. Rather spend it on STJ.


Thanks again,
Sherry

That's exactly what we figured.
By the time you add the fuel cost along with the rental of the boat for the day, it was just not in our budget last year.
Some day I will see the baths.... for now, I will be thrilled each morning to wake up and visit a different St. John beach.

Have fun Sherry!

It can be costly...but also priceless. We rented a big, fast boat from Ocean Runners 3 years ago and had them talk us into a Captain for the day to handle eveything. We are boaters and have bareboated before, but it was a good move to get a captain. As luck would have it, we were given Captain Ben of Sadie Sea fame(among others) and had a great time with our 2 kids, another coulpe and their 2 sons(Friends from Michigan that had been to the island with us for a few years). Ben was great taking us to the Baths....Marina Cay-Pussers for lunch and a fabulous ride along the north shore of Tortola until we got to the Soggy Dollar bar for our $$200 per person Painkiller...well we figured it was $200 per adult for the trip...too bad we can't charge the kids.

We've done this trip 3 times now with Pirates Penny/Stormy Petrel out of STT. On our last trip we stopped at Monkey Point for snorkeling then went to the Baths. We ate lunch on the boat and then spent the rest of time of snorkeling at the Indians. We had a private charter (the whole boat) with booze & soda provided and this what we do. Our next trip is in May 2013 and there are 7 of us going (maybe and starting in August each person is putting $25 a month into a "kitty" held by the most trustworthy of the group! When it is time for us to fo to STT we will have $1,750 in the kitty which pay for the private charter. Two of the three trips were funded this way and it has worked great each time. Enjoy STJ!

I'm glad I went to check it off my list...but it's just not somewhere I feel the need to go to again...Some people love it, and some people are like, Eh.

BREAKWAY CHARTER does it too we had a blast

You could always try New Horizons? They pick you up on St. John. We did this back in 2003 while staying at Caneel. It was fun, but a long day. http://www.newhorizonscharters.com

We gave a New Horizons trip to newbie newlyweds and they enjoyed it.

Breakways and New Horizon are the same company they have 2 boats

On our first trip to St. John (June, 2001) we took a BVI trip on a big catamaran. It took us first to Virgin Gorda and the Baths, and then stopped by Norman Island for snorkeling on the way home. It was not a charter, at least not in the sense that you had to assemble your own group. It was a boat that went out on a regular schedule - all you had to do was sign up at one of those little shacks in Cruz Bay, and then show up at the appointed time.

We dithered over the cost, but we were so glad we did it; it turned out to be one of the highlights of our vacation. It was a great big boat with maybe 30-40 passengers. Not as romantic as a smaller boat, but so much more comfortable. And big enough to have a huge buffet lunch and a continuous open bar for the entire trip to VG, so we were feeling no pain by the time we got there. The Baths were interesting, but our favorite part was snorkeling the caves at Norman Island.

Unfortunately, I have no clue what the name of the company was or if it is still in operation after all these years. But if you can find something similar, I highly recommend it.

Dreamshark, thank you for your reply. We have been "dithering" on the price of this trip and almost talked ourselves out of it. After reading your reply, we are going for it Wed, October 17th. Thanks for the push.