BVI vs USVI?

[corporaljason]

5 days.

[maytrix]

Don't bother meeting the friends, unless you meet them somewhere. They could take a ferry to JVD and you could meet them there for lunch or something.

Doing it any other way, you'd just be giving up a day. 5 days is a very short charter.

[corporaljason]

yeah I didnt think about that.....I'll just tell them to take a ferry over and we can meet up. Dont want to waste a day.

[maytrix]

Yeah, Jost Van Dyke will be the best place to meet them most likely. Then its just a stop for both of you and can be part of the plan rather than going out of the way.

[Teknav]

Short of a swim across the channel, getting to Jost Van Dyke is not so easy from St. John; even though you can physically see it!

Mauritz

[maytrix]

There's excursions from St. John that go to JVD. I know the Westin has them, not sure you need to be a guest for it either and I'd be surprised if there weren't other options out of Cruz Bay.

[Teknav]

Westin's St. John private ferry will take non-guests as well, as long as you pay their modest fee. I didn't know that their ferry went to JVD.

Mauritz

[maytrix]

It's not their ferry - that I believe just goes to St. Thomas. But I know they offer trips to JVD and even the Baths. I'm sure other places on St. John do as well. I'm pretty sure the day trip boat to JVD leaves from the Westin, although it could leave from Cruz Bay. We've never been on it, but friends who stayed at the Westin did it.

[RedHerring]

I have a sort of related question. Planning my first Carribean charter, and looking at the airfare costs, Calgary to Puerto Rico is $400 cheaper than Calgary to BVI, which goes via Puerto Rico anyway. Am I correct in assuming that a ferry service from Puerto Rico to Tortola exists, and is a reasonable option, compared to the aforementioned $400 per head for the 50 miles hop?

[maytrix]

No, there's no ferry. You could ferry from St. Thomas, but not from San Juan.

I'd suggest looking at various airline options. Cape Air and Seaborne are the two best options from San Juan to BVI. Seaborne tends to be less, but if you have 5 people, you could buy a cape air commuter book and get round trip from SJU (San Juan) to EIS (Tortola, BVI) for $280/person. They both partner with a number of different airlines as well.

[cranki]

We cleared out of Jost Van Dyke and sailed to Cruz Bay where we were able to check in and out with 1 visit. After lunch and shopping in Cruz Bay we sailed around and grabbed a mooring in Francis Bay then dinked over to Cinnamon Bay (great beach). Next morning we snorkeled Waterlemon Key and then cleared back into the BVI's at West End. It was a bit of a PITA but still a good adventure.

FYI we didn't all have to go into the customs offices. We sent a team of 2 each time with all our passports for 2 families.

[zboss]

You can always do a one way charter. You pick up the boat in Virgin Gorda and drop it off in Fajardo, PR. You can hit all the BVI, most of the USVI, and the Spanish Virgins... all downwind!

I forget the name of the charter company but they are new. I think they offer discounted one way charters if you go upwind.

[Rubikoop]

Originally Posted by Teknav

Short of a swim across the channel, getting to Jost Van Dyke is not so easy from St. John; even though you can physically see it!

Mauritz

What?

There is ferry service between St John and Jost everyday except Thursday unless something has recently changed.

http://www.vinow.com/general_usvi/in...-jost-van-dyke

[Rubikoop]

Originally Posted by cranki

We cleared out of Jost Van Dyke and sailed to Cruz Bay where we were able to check in and out with 1 visit. After lunch and shopping in Cruz Bay we sailed around and grabbed a mooring in Francis Bay then dinked over to Cinnamon Bay (great beach). Next morning we snorkeled Waterlemon Key and then cleared back into the BVI's at West End. It was a bit of a PITA but still a good adventure.

FYI we didn't all have to go into the customs offices. We sent a team of 2 each time with all our passports for 2 families.

Are you saying that US Customs&Immigration granted entry without physically seeing all persons requesting entry? What year was that? Did the people that stayed onboard have LBO cards or some other unique circumstance that allowed a variance in normal procedures?

[Rubikoop]

Originally Posted by zboss

You can always do a one way charter. You pick up the boat in Virgin Gorda and drop it off in Fajardo, PR. You can hit all the BVI, most of the USVI, and the Spanish Virgins... all downwind!

I forget the name of the charter company but they are new. I think they offer discounted one way charters if you go upwind.

I believe you are thinking of Sail Caribe.