Marguerite

How do we get to the Virgin Gorda baths from St Johns? How long of a boat ride, how much, and should we make reservations before we get there? What are some other good day trips? How far is Peter Island? .... Thank you!

debette

If you will go to U.S. Virgin Islands under this forum under post titled"Best charter/tour from St. Thomas" you can find my comments on our trip June 2000 from St. Thomas to several of the islands including the Baths. We left St. Thomas and picked up a newlywed couple at St. John(Cruz Bay) and they joined our group of 7 making total group 9, we were charged $100.00 and the meal at Cooper Island was extra. We got to the Baths mid-morning before it got crowded, and that was after one stop already. We had an absolute wonderful time. We snorkeled off of Peter Island after lunch so I could not tell you travel time directly to if you were just to leave St. John. It is worth every penny, lots, lots, lots of fun. Have a great time.

Glen

Debette,<BR><BR>I searched some for your "Best tour..." posting, however, without knowing the date, it is a bit like searching for a needle in a haystack.<BR><BR>When you say "they" charged you $100, who is the "they"?<BR><BR>I am interested in making a similar excursion in July so any help would be appreciated.<BR><BR>Glen

pete

We did a similar $100 per person all day trip from St. John to the BVIs as debette above. We booked on "Stormy Petrel" at the Gallows Point gift shop/concierge on St. John. The boat is a power boat, and there were about 10 paying people (5 couples), plus the captain and a mate. The $100 was an all day trip, left St. John around 8 or 9am, stopped in Tortola just for customs, went to the Baths for a couple of hours, then lunch on Cooper Island, then snorkeling off Peter Island, and then back to St. John by 4-5pm. It was great, and the smaller boat was fun (boat was fully equipped standard cabin cruiser type (I don't know boats well), maybe 30-35 feet long, with a toilet below deck). The small group was a lot of fun, we snorkeled as long as we wanted to. I think the same company runs another boat too (similar in size, can't remember the name though). Of the other couples, one was from St. Thomas and came over on the ferry, the other was staying at the Westin on St. John and had booked through them. There are also some bigger boats (40+ people) that run out of the Westin. Once you get to St. John, ask your resort concierge or villa manager for suggestions and assistance booking. There are pamphlets all over the place for daysails to all the BVIs (Jost Van Dyke, Virgin Gorda etc), sails around St. John, sunset sails, booze cruises etc. etc. The only key is to make your reservation when you first start your vacation, since they sometimes fill up, that way you'll have a lot more flexibility in your schedule.

denette

Glen,<BR>the original post titled "best charter/tour from St. Thomas" is dated 2-12-02, and we rented the Stormy Petrel out of Red Hook from Day Marine Services, tel.#1-800-866-5714 or 340-775-7990, this was in June 2000. They have another boat, Pirates Penny, they both hold 11 people. Cost per person was $100.00. We left Red Hook and picked up a newlywed couple at Cruz Bay in St. John, we stopped off at Spanish Town for customs($15.00 per person-cash), and then went to Baths, then on to Cooper Island for lunch, was appox. $10.00 for sandwich/salad whatever your preference, co-captain calls your order in ahead of time and it is just moments after you sit down they bring you your meal, burgers/conch sandwichs served on homemade bread. The boats allow you to bring a cooler and snacks if you desire. In our case, we had three children so it was so practical to take their snacks/juice boxes. Sometimes when we vacation we do so with extended family who has two diabetic children, so a cooler with their special drinks/food is essential,(another good reason for a cooler), but a soft-side one works great for this purpose.We had an absolute blast, it is worth every penny. We were fascinated by our captains(Debbie) knowledge of the area and enjoyed her stories. Unfortunately she was leaving at end of summer 2000 and going back to states to go back to school, but she had been down in Virgin Islands for awhile and was so knowledgable about the islands. She was great, we tipped the captain and co-captain when we got back,they made the trip just perfect. When we got back to Red Hook, we went upstairs over the dock area to Sopchoppys and had calzones/pizza that were really good, as we sat and had drinks/food as the sun started to set. My kids still talk about the day, it was a wonderful experience. If you need more detailed info. about anything please email me and I will try to help, I brought back many brochures/publications to my friends.

maggie

Thank you very much. This is exactly what I wanted..... Marguerite

pete

Thanks Denette, I couldn't remember the name of the other boat run by the "Stormy Petrel" group--it is "Pirate's Penny". We saw it anchored at the Baths while we were there, and it looks like it's the same size & set up as Stormy Petrel (small groups).

pete

oops, forgot to add that the $100 was included all drinks (water, sodas, beer, liquor (cocktails)), so if you don't have specific food or drink needs, you don't need to bring your own cooler. They have a big cooler filled with the water, sodas & beer, and they'll make cocktails for you if you want. People on our boat didn't really drink much alcohol (mostly waters & sodas, I think everyone had a beer on the way back to St. John at the end of the day), so it's not like a booze cruise with really drunk people.