USVI-On-Line

We have narrowed our choices down to Palm Tree Charters, Island Roots and VIBE. We want a full day trip around STJ/BVI. Four adults and one child. Who have you used before, why would you recommend them? I just can't decide. I have heard good things about all of them. This will be a first time trip for my parents and I want them to have a GREAT time.

Also, if you had to pick for a trip to The Baths for the parents, would you choose: Bad Kitty, New Horizons or Stormy Petrel - or someone else?

Thanks for your help. This is the one decision of the trip - everything else will be our normal decide when we get there routine.
2 months to go.

Hi Pia,
Yes. We have spoken. We just can't decide. I was hoping to get some opinions of others. I was planning to decide and let you know on both by tomorrow. Thanks for checking on us. I know that others like Palm Tree, but I thought that I might get some honest opinions on the others.

We went out with capt John in February and were very pleased without choice. Will expand tomorrow as am on phone. We had our 7 yo with us, a great day.

Pia - yes, wouldn't that have been too wierd?

PAGirl - Would love to hear more tomorrow about your "boat day".

I have been reading this forum for close to 10 years...I have learned so much from everyone here. We are usually so laid back and make decisions as they come up, but this time, with the parents, I need to make sure we know what we are doing.

i don't think you can go wrong with any of your choices-- i have been out with capt john and he does a great trip-- and he is a lot of fun-- so if he is available, consider it-- and he will taylor to what you want to do (as i am sure most will)-- so , in short, you probably will have a great day no matter what!

Both Palm Tree and Island Roots are Capt. John. LOL! I will put a vote up for Island Roots. One of the bonuses of Island Roots is that you can leave from Coral Bay. Leaving from Coral Bay you almost go completely around St.John. Leaving you go around the East end and over to BVI's for check in at customs. When you come back to St.John you go back to Cruz Bay to check in and then travel the South shore, around Rams Head and into Coral Bay. Another bonus of leaving from Coral Bay is there is plenty of parking.

We just went out with Palm Tree last week. 4 adults and 2 teen girls. Had a great time! Captain John is a lot of fun, knows the waters well, and does his best to make sure your group has a great time. We started with a north shore tour where John pointed out various sights of significance and told a few fun stories. We then ran over to Tortola to check into the BVI. He took care of everything while we enjoyed the day and relaxed on the boat. Next was a trip over to the Indians. The water was a little rough, so the Captain chose the best navigation route possible to minimize all of the "bumps". We really wanted to snorkel the Indians. Again - the water was kind of rough, but we were able to enjoy the view and get back to the boat safely. Next was a trip to Pirates Bight for a Bushwacker and an incredible view. After a little sand time, we were hungry, so a lunch at Willy T's was next. Captain John worked as our "server" to make sure we got quick drinks and lunch (which was really tasty!). After lunch, we went close by to snorkel some much more calm waters. The coral was bright and abundant and we saw the largest Baracuda of the trip there - probably 4' long! We then left that area and headed back toward JVD to give our teens a look at Sandy Spit. They really thought seeing the "Corona Island" was fun. We finished up with 45 minutes at White Bay - just enough time for a drink from Soggy Dollar for wife, a Bushwacker from One Love for me, and a beach walk for the girls. Back to St. John for Customs and final goodbyes ended our great day around 5pm.

I'm sure any of your charters will be a blast. Good Luck! Have Fun!

Check out Isle Mon and Captain Kevin. I have been out with Kevin when he had Born to Rhumb 5 or 6 times and he is a fabulous captain. I would definitely go out with him again this year, but our group is too big for his boat. islemon.com

I may be bias but I love me some Captain John!!! So do my boys and my friends and my husband.... I have never heard one complaint!

We had a great trip with Captain John in 2011 and have another booked this November! I don't know the others so I can't comment. We did the Baths with a private charter in 2009 so I can't comment on those choices either! Can't go wrong with Palm Tree Charters!

[quote="Joppa"]Both Palm Tree and Island Roots are Capt. John. LOL! I will put a vote up for Island Roots. One of the bonuses of Island Roots is that you can leave from Coral Bay. Leaving from Coral Bay you almost go completely around St.John. Leaving you go around the East end and over to BVI's for check in at customs. When you come back to St.John you go back to Cruz Bay to check in and then travel the South shore, around Rams Head and into Coral Bay. Another bonus of leaving from Coral Bay is there is plenty of parking.[/quote]

Yep, I'll second this, although it sounds like you can't go wrong with either Captain John. Here's what I said about Captain John Stewart from Island Roots on another thread:

"I can't say enough good things about John Stewart. Such a great guy, our BVI trip with him on Saturday was the highlight of our trip so far. Everything was smooth and easy. I watched other captains at customs filling out forms and gathering passports, but Captain John had all that taken care of before we even got on the boat. We were in and out faster than any other boat there. His directions on where exactly to snorkel, what specifically to look for and the best routes to take really helped us maximize our day. We had newbies as well as experienced snorkelers with us and he did a great job addressing both. His local knowledge is great and he always seems to find the best spots to moor/anchor. This was our second trip with him and I know it won't be the last."

lovestj wrote:Pia - yes, wouldn't that have been too wierd?

PAGirl - Would love to hear more tomorrow about your "boat day".

I have been reading this forum for close to 10 years...I have learned so much from everyone here. We are usually so laid back and make decisions as they come up, but this time, with the parents, I need to make sure we know what we are doing.

Ok, now that I have a real keyboard.....

We went out with Palm Tree charters in February, three us - me, hubby and our 7yo son. We have done 10+ boat days over the years and this was our son's second full day on the water. He is a great little adventurer so I had no concerns about him being out a full day.

What I liked about our experience with Palm Tree Charters, John and Sue, who handles the bookings and communications -

Going in winter, I knew rough water might come into play. Sure enough, the seas were BAD leading up to our trip. Days ahead of time, Sue dropped me an email and started the discussion about how the seas may impact our trip. The possibility of cancelling came up. I liked the fact that they were concerned about our enjoyment first, the possible loss of a day's revenue second. Turns out, we caught a break and the seas weren't too bad.

Communication with Sue allowed us to plan ahead. She asked about our desires. I told her what we didn't want to do (White Bay), what we really wanted to do (Sandy Cay and Cooper Island) and said we were open to John's suggestions. That morning, John was frank with us about the water conditions.

My husband isn't a fan of snorkelling in open water so we skipped Leinster, the Caves and the Indians. We took our time along STJ North Shore and Capt John pointed out some of the interesting boats like a wooden sailing yacht, which delighted our son who imagined it was full of pirates.

Our first stop was Norman Island. It was our first time there and a lovely place. We snorkelled around the rocks and saw a nice variety of fish. We then worked our way to Cooper Island for lunch. We had been to Cooper years back. The new owners completely remodeled the place. Lunch was great and the wine list has a lot of good selections for crazy cheap prices. We stopped at Sandy Cay on the way back and did the trail around the island. Cooper Island is sort of a haul so picking that as a lunch destination (our choice) did limit the number of stops we could make.