Jennybg

My husband and I are going to St. John the week of July 4th. We are staying in Treasure Ridge villa and need your help! We would like to take a trip over to Jost to check out Soggy Dollar and maybe even see the baths of the BVIs along the way. Not looking for too much more than a relaxing day of snorkeling, sunbathing and painkillers of course! I have been doing research and all the options for this type of excursion are overwhelming! There's the ferry, a catamarin, a yacht, etc. Could anyone give me some advice on maybe an good experience you had and which company you used? Thanks for your help. -Jennybg

KVR

We used New Horizons II and had a great day. We went to the Baths, Iguana Island for snorkeling, Marina Cay for lunch and Jost Van Dyke/Soggy Dollar Bar.

Here's their web-site if interested: http://newhorizonscharters.com/

LittleSalty

We skipped the Baths, but spent the day on Jost. We just took the St. John ferry over to Tortola (for customs) and then on to Jost. Then we headed back on the ferry in time for happy hour at Woody's on St. John

soggydollar

we have gone to JOst by private boat with family(expen sive but fun), by boat company with others, and by ferry. we much prefer the ferry, you have the whole day(JVD), get to choose the order of which you do things, snorkel, swim, painkillers, etc. and only $40 pp round trip.

LittleSalty

I leave for Tortola in 103 days, for Jost Van Dyke in 106 days, and St. John in 110 days. Woooooo! Just had to share

soggydollar

lucky you!!! my favorite places!! where are you staying at each place??

owa

I'm in the process of trying to find a day sail to the BVI's for my family of 10 in August. I have found that most boats have a limit of six passengers. I did find one that would work at $250/hour!!! Even if I do Horizons, it will cost me over $1000. My goal was to get them to the Baths, and then go to other snorkel spots. Maybe we should just take the $40 ferry. Soggydollar, was the ride OK? I plan to take a day trip from to Tortola to JVD in May. That will give me a chance to see if just going to JVD would work for our family. Owa

LittleSalty

Tortola: Mongoose Apartments
Jost: Sandcastle
St. John: Caneel

soggydollar

salty-have you stayed at sandcastle before?? while in tortola, be sure to check out quito and the edge, fri and sat nights at cane garden bay. a really fun bar-the whole place is dancing and swaying to the reggae!
hi owa
we just did the ferry from west end tortola to JVD in Jan. it was a little wavy, we got a little splashed. but everyone was laughing about it. no one appeared seasick! it was about a 20 minute ride.
we have also taken the ferry from stj to jvd (with a stop in road town for customs). we enjoyed the ride. it is just a ferry, a good ride, nothing memorable, just liked the idea of having the entire day there on our own. they leave at 3 pm to make customs in stj by 4 pm. Jeena

owa

LittleSalty, We are staying at Mongoose also. Have you stayed there before? If not, l'll let you know about it when we get back in May. Caneel is our favorite resort. You are going to have a great trip.

Jeena, would you spend the extra money and go to the Baths? Thanks, Owa

soggydollar

owa
everytime we booked an excursion where the capt offered your choices, they always said if you want to add the baths it is very rushed. i think it may be an hour or more ride. so i would do the baths alone (via ferry) instead of adding it with all the other stops. if you book an excurstion, snorkeling at the indians is really great. the caves at norman island, okay.
we have not done the baths because i love jvd so much that we always end up there.
maybe next year...

LittleSalty

We only visited the Sandcastle on a day trip, but this time we're staying for 3 nights. I love the idea of walking out the door right onto White Bay! We haven't stayed on Tortola yet-I'd love to hear a trip report about the Mongoose. Also, the beach bars on CGB sound great!!