I know this is an old thread but since the question might come up for others i thought to provide an update. There have been some changes you might want to know about.
I am anchored in Lindburg bay right now on St. Thomas. I have been down here since before
Christmas and have had a couple of people coming and going from the airport. Everyone coming in has used St. Thomas airport rather then Tortola even though it is nearby to avoid the hassle of transferring from one airport to another, there are few direct flights into the BVI's. that is a shame because Tortola ( the beef island airport) has a great anchorage at Trellis Bay that is very convenient for the cruising Sailor to use.
Anyway, here is the deal. I have had two arrivals of folks to join me, and 2 departures. All have come into Brewers Bay, and departed there of from Magen's bay via taxi. My dad is flying in tomorrow, so I just went ashore to the Best Western close to the airport to check things out.
I went in to the remains of the dock that appears on the
google earth image. The concrete walk leading to it is still there, but there I no way to walk up to the
hotel without jumping over a guard rail and climbing up a steep bank.
As was suggested earlier in the thread, my intention was to go to the bar and buy a drink then walk over to the airport. Additionally I thought I might look into a room for my dad for his last night here since he has to be at the airport very early to fly out.
I went up to the desk, but they had several checking so I went down to the bar to wait. I asked "Dominica" the bar
tender about landing people ashore. Not only did she say no, but there was a discussion of the authorities being involved if i tried. She immediately called the manager, and was very agitated. I told her I would be glad to talk to the manager, and left the bar to go back up to the front desk. She did become more relaxed when I reminded her I had not sought confrontation, but had come asking how to get a guest ashore. Apparently it has been quite a sore subject.
I went to the desk and the manager made it very clear that under no circumstances could anyone be brought ashore, and that it did not matter if they were guests of the
hotel or not. I asked about the other Best Western (there are two of them in the bay) and she said she did not know about them, but that they were more expensive. I asked her where I could put guests ashore and she said Crown bay was the nearest place.
She also said the port authority had some objection to their landing guests ashore.
So I jumped the guard rail, climbed down to my dingy and explored the area. Lindbergh Bay Park is in the corner of the bay nearest the airport. I tied up to the rocks there and timed the walk to the terminal. It is an easy 6.5minute walk, going slowly as one might carrying bags. The one draw back I that the sand beach does not extend to the park, but has a
water sports business behind it. There is room to get folks into the dink, but not ideal.
So Lindbergh bay park is the ticket to avoid a cab ride.
I have anchored at Brewers Bay for two arrivals, both took cabs and paid $12-15 per person for a cab ride of less then 3 miles. The beach it's self is nice, and you can cable your dingy ashore if you want to take the bus from the university into town for
shopping. I spoke with a man at the university who told me their dock was not open to the public, but that it might be an option after hours.
Sorry for the long post, just wanted to update this for the sake of anyone searching out this thread in the future.
BTW, if you want to verify the status of this in the future the Best Western next to the airport is known as the "Carib Beach Resort" they are at 70c Lindbergh Bay and their number is (340) 774-2525.
Here is their web site, where I saw what looks like a dock;
http://bestwesterncaribbean.com/saint-thomas-hotels