Catamaran to the Baths (i.e Patouche)

Hi,

I am looking for someone who has done this to find out how difficult the swim to shore and then back to the catamaran is.... We have a wide range of ages and I want to make sure they will be capable of the swim.

When the catamaran stops from shore and anchors/moors how deep is the water? Do you swim in with water shoes on or can you walk in? How close do you actually get to the rock formations? Could you stay on the boat while others go explore?

Are you likely to beat the ship crowds that hiked in if you go by catamaran?

Thanks for any tips and advice. We are looking at booking with Patouche, so I was hoping to hear from someone who had done his Baths tour, as well.

I would like to know this as well.

Well, if nobody answers, I will be back to report about in about a month. We booked it. :)

Hi,

 

I am looking for someone who has done this to find out how difficult the swim to shore and then back to the catamaran is.... We have a wide range of ages and I want to make sure they will be capable of the swim.

 

When the catamaran stops from shore and anchors/moors how deep is the water? Do you swim in with water shoes on or can you walk in? How close do you actually get to the rock formations? Could you stay on the boat while others go explore?

 

Are you likely to beat the ship crowds that hiked in if you go by catamaran?

 

Thanks for any tips and advice. We are looking at booking with Patouche, so I was hoping to hear from someone who had done his Baths tour, as well.

We've not sailed with Patouche but if they drop you directly at the Baths there is a mooring field off shore and it's a decent swim in unless they offer a dink to those who are not strong swimmers.

Joe will answer questions via email, and you can also find reviews on tripadvisor.

We've not sailed with Patouche but if they drop you directly at the Baths there is a mooring field off shore and it's a decent swim in unless they offer a dink to those who are not strong swimmers.

Joe will answer questions via email, and you can also find reviews on tripadvisor.

Thanks! We are very excited about this excursion- whether we can all swim to shore or not!

Yes, that's a great way to visit the Baths!

Thanks! We are very excited about this excursion- whether we can all swim to shore or not!

I was dropped in quite a bit of water when I did it privately. I would say about 15 feet of water. I did not do it with Patouche, but I am doing another excursion with him in a month. The trip to Jost Van Dyke,is what I am doing and that drop off is in water that is just waist high or so.

The Baths is a great excursion and even better when you do it by water. The company I did it with, made sure the one person ho did not swim well had a swim noodle and a waist type buoyancy belt.

I was dropped in quite a bit of water when I did it privately. I would say about 15 feet of water. I did not do it with Patouche, but I am doing another excursion with him in a month. The trip to Jost Van Dyke,is what I am doing and that drop off is in water that is just waist high or so.

 

The Baths is a great excursion and even better when you do it by water. The company I did it with, made sure the one person ho did not swim well had a swim noodle and a waist type buoyancy belt.

Oh great, thanks for the info!! Did you swim in with water shoes or go barefoot?

Well, if nobody answers, I will be back to report about in about a month. We booked it. :)

I need more time to write a complete review... but I would suggest to all those booking an excursion with Patouche to be very careful. We received the Bait and Switch and it was blamed on the fact we were only in port from 7am-3pm. This was a known factor upon our request for a quote and upon our booking. We did not get the sailing catamaran for the Baths tour that is discussed on the website and the quote/literature sent to me by Joe. Rather, he picked us up in a power catamaran for a full day excursion (without a restroom). There are other significant factors to which I will elaborate on in my full review, but I wanted to get the message out as soon as possible for any of those who are already booked or thinking of booking to 'buyer beware'.

I need more time to write a complete review... but I would suggest to all those booking an excursion with Patouche to be very careful. We received the Bait and Switch and it was blamed on the fact we were only in port from 7am-3pm. This was a known factor upon our request for a quote and upon our booking. We did not get the sailing catamaran for the Baths tour that is discussed on the website and the quote/literature sent to me by Joe. Rather, he picked us up in a power catamaran for a full day excursion (without a restroom). There are other significant factors to which I will elaborate on in my full review, but I wanted to get the message out as soon as possible for any of those who are already booked or thinking of booking to 'buyer beware'.

Did you write a complete review? We are booked with him in the very near future and I would love to hear your experience. Thanks!

I need more time to write a complete review... but I would suggest to all those booking an excursion with Patouche to be very careful. We received the Bait and Switch and it was blamed on the fact we were only in port from 7am-3pm. This was a known factor upon our request for a quote and upon our booking. We did not get the sailing catamaran for the Baths tour that is discussed on the website and the quote/literature sent to me by Joe. Rather, he picked us up in a power catamaran for a full day excursion (without a restroom). There are other significant factors to which I will elaborate on in my full review, but I wanted to get the message out as soon as possible for any of those who are already booked or thinking of booking to 'buyer beware'.

I would also be interested in this review as we were considering Patouche for a future cruise. I have now inquired about pricing twice over the course of two months and received no response from him. I was starting to wonder if choosing him would be a mistake based on his level of customer service thus far........That said, anyone have any suggestions for another company that would take us to the baths via water only? We hate being on a bus in beautiful weather :p

My friend and I went on the Bath's Tour excursion in December. Because of the port time for NCL Escape (7am-3pm), Joe uses a powerboat instead of a Catamaran. There were 12 in our group (different bookings), the powerboat was docked about a 5 minute walk from the cruise port and there was lots of room to spread out. The boat has shade, Joe provided various beverages and the snorkelling equipment he provided was in good shape. We were the first boat to arrive at the Baths and we were moored about 40 feet out from the beach. The water is quite deep there but Joe had a dingy to take non swimmers to shore and also he swam in with a few people and offered assistance. We had ample time to explore the Baths and swim. Once the crowds arrived we boated over to Cooper Island and snorkelled there for a bit. Water was calmer and shallower. We had lunch at resort on Cooper Island (food was very good), relaxed on the beach and motored back to the cruiseport around 2pm. Joe was a little gruff at first but i would recommend his charter. He was very safety concious, had alot of interesting knowledge about the islands and area and his boat was in great condition. There were people ranging in age from 7-75 and all had a great time. I wouldn't give up on the email, as it took me a few times to get a response from him as well.

I need more time to write a complete review... but I would suggest to all those booking an excursion with Patouche to be very careful. We received the Bait and Switch and it was blamed on the fact we were only in port from 7am-3pm. This was a known factor upon our request for a quote and upon our booking. We did not get the sailing catamaran for the Baths tour that is discussed on the website and the quote/literature sent to me by Joe. Rather, he picked us up in a power catamaran for a full day excursion (without a restroom). There are other significant factors to which I will elaborate on in my full review, but I wanted to get the message out as soon as possible for any of those who are already booked or thinking of booking to 'buyer beware'.

Did you ever write a full review? I would love to read it as I was considering this trip when we cruise there in December.

We wanted to do the Catamaran excursion to the Baths/Virgin Gorda and Cooper Island. However, when I emailed Patouche our information and told him we would be in port from 8-4, he already told me we would be taking the Maverick, the power catamaran that looks nothing like a catamaran. This was very disappointing so I contacted Aristocrat Charters. They don't even offer the Baths excursion because of our port time.

Now, I don't know what to do. We had our hearts set on a catamaran excursion to the Baths and the snorkeling was a great bonus!! Our other option is to go with Aristocrat on a real catamaran and see Salt, Peter and Cooper Islands which would only be snorkeling, but we'd get to see sea turtles and the shipwreck and would be given lunch on board for $5 less p/p than Patouche. However, I just can't imagine visiting Tortola and not being able to see the Baths. What to do...what to do???

My friend and I went on the Bath's Tour excursion in December. Because of the port time for NCL Escape (7am-3pm), Joe uses a powerboat instead of a Catamaran. There were 12 in our group (different bookings), the powerboat was docked about a 5 minute walk from the cruise port and there was lots of room to spread out. The boat has shade, Joe provided various beverages and the snorkelling equipment he provided was in good shape. We were the first boat to arrive at the Baths and we were moored about 40 feet out from the beach. The water is quite deep there but Joe had a dingy to take non swimmers to shore and also he swam in with a few people and offered assistance. We had ample time to explore the Baths and swim. Once the crowds arrived we boated over to Cooper Island and snorkelled there for a bit. Water was calmer and shallower. We had lunch at resort on Cooper Island (food was very good), relaxed on the beach and motored back to the cruiseport around 2pm. Joe was a little gruff at first but i would recommend his charter. He was very safety concious, had alot of interesting knowledge about the islands and area and his boat was in great condition. There were people ranging in age from 7-75 and all had a great time. I wouldn't give up on the email, as it took me a few times to get a response from him as well.

Thanks for the helpful report - I know Joe and others have been working to find ways to service folks that are in port on these shorter and earlier 8 hr visits on the NCL ships and the power cat makes that trip possible. One nice bonus is that when the cruise excursion arrives at the Baths you can head out to Cooper for a great lunch and snorkeling there. And Joe is a great guy and takes care of his guests and the vast majority of reviews are very favorable. His longer daysail that is geared to land visitors is also very popular with stops at several snorkel spots and the Baths.

Kuralu and Aristocat Charters are also excellent outfits as are others, it's just difficult to be able to see all of the highlights on a shorter port day. But this sounds like a great day - thanks again! :)

Did you write a complete review? We are booked with him in the very near future and I would love to hear your experience. Thanks!

I am pretty sure I did write a full review and post it. Not sure why I can't find it now. I wonder if somehow it was removed? Hmm.

Did you ever write a full review? I would love to read it as I was considering this trip when we cruise there in December.

???

I have a funny feeling the post was removed, because I can't find it. Not sure why, it included nothing but facts.

Here is recap:

I am posting this for the benefit of other cruisers who are considering the Baths excursion with Patouche Charters.

In a nut shell, what we booked and what we received were completely different.

When I originally emailed Joe, I told him we had a group of 16 on the NCL Getaway coming to Tortola from 7am to 3pm and that we looking for a private catamaran excursion to the Baths. He responded saying he could absolutely take care of us and “see below for more info”. The attachment he included was called “Private Baths Cooper” and was a full description of the excursion, cost, etc. It indicated the boat to be the 50’ sailing catamaran “McKenzie Elin”. The time varied on the document (saying 9:30-4:00), I then reconfirmed that our time in port for this excursion to make sure he could accommodate us. At no point did Joe mention it would be a different boat. There is a complete description of the excursion with bow trampolines and hoisting the sails, etc. The excursion indicated this boat included a stop at Cooper Island for lunch. When we booked on his reservation page we used his form and chose the drop down for “private sailing catamaran”. Also, when I questioned if there was shade aboard, he simply said there was a lot and to go look at pictures on his web site; again never mentioned anything about a boat change. The web site indicates the Baths is done via the sailing catamaran.

We booked and paid half over a month in advance. Shortly after our cruise ship sailed out of Miami, Joe sent me an email letting me know that Cooper Island was still closed for the season, so there would be no lunch available and we better eat a big breakfast. I only got that email because I checked in with free WiFi from St Thomas (the day before our arrival in Tortola). I responded that I had hoped he would at least have some snacks, as we had a few teenagers on board and 7 hours is a long day to be out on the ocean without eating anything.

Joe met us and we walked out to the boat… which much to our dismay was not the sailing catamaran as outlined on his website for this excursion and in the brochure he sent me. It was a power boat originally designed for sport fishing. There was no bow trampolines, no sails, no bathroom and no crew. I questioned him right then about the boat change. He said it wasn’t logistically possible; his sailing catamaran was on the other side of the island and we would never have time to go there because our boat was in port such a short time. He said he never thought about mentioning it, as it wasn’t a thought in his head to use the other boat. Also, Joe explained he did not do snacks for us as the wrappers would just blow away. He said he had been taking other cruise passengers on the same excursion in the previous weeks and just told them all to eat a big breakfast and it had been good enough. Odd how if this was a known problem he had been dealing with for weeks, he didn’t communicate it until after our ship had sailed. If I hadn’t checked my email, we wouldn’t have known to eat a big breakfast. The final blow came when there was no bathroom facility. We had people on board that needed to have access to a bathroom (not for vanity). The only option we had was change our destination to Norman Island and Jost Van Dyke (Soggy Dollar Bar with facilities and food). I was literally sick to my stomach. I had arranged this excursion for 16 people (family and friends) and we all had read the information Joe sent and expected his 50’ sailing catamaran. We all did our best to put it behind us and enjoyed our day.

Now all that being said, Joe is very knowledgeable about the area and had lots of stories. He was nice enough, although a bit rough around the edges. We did enjoy chatting with him throughout the day. He had plenty of beverages and beer for the group. The 2 places we visited were very nice and beautiful. However, we all had planned on a beautiful sailing trip and guided tour of the Baths. He was aware of our logistics before we booked and should not have given us the information for the sailing catamaran.

Did we have fun? Yes, we were on vacation and made the most of it. We had a great time, but sitting at the Soggy Dollar Bar for several hours with 6 teenagers versus sailing and touring the Baths… it just isn’t the same.

Hope that helps.

I would love to visit the baths this way. But I'm only traveling in a group of 3 and don't really want to pay to charter a private boat. Are there any companies that organize group tours like this?

I would love to visit the baths this way. But I'm only traveling in a group of 3 and don't really want to pay to charter a private boat. Are there any companies that organize group tours like this?

Parouche, Aristocat Charters, Kuralu and others are great independent outfits that provide a variety of excursions, no need to pay for a private charter.

I have a funny feeling the post was removed, because I can't find it. Not sure why, it included nothing but facts.

 

if your review was appropriate for posting it would not be removed later. It's unclear what happened here as it is very confusing, but we would highly Joe's excursions, especially with the powerboat because you can cover so much more area in a short time.

I keep seeing the name Joe mentioned. Which company does he work for or own?

We are very interested in a catamaran ride to the Baths but are only in port from 7 to 3pm. The trip that was described going to the Baths first and then another island with lunch sounds good. Which company offers this trip? Website?

Just beginning to plan our day in Tortola and this sounds like a good option!

I keep seeing the name Joe mentioned. Which company does he work for or own?

 

We are very interested in a catamaran ride to the Baths but are only in port from 7 to 3pm. The trip that was described going to the Baths first and then another island with lunch sounds good. Which company offers this trip? Website?

 

Just beginning to plan our day in Tortola and this sounds like a good option!

Joe is with Patouche Charters and goes to the Baths and does lunch on Cooper Island. No one does an actual catamaran charter to the Baths with cruise passengers due to the time constraints. It will be the Maverick, which is a power boat and is pictured on his website. We ended up booking this excursion for our December cruise because we wanted to see the baths.

Aristocrat Charter's excursion sounded like so much fun but due to the catamaran, he doesn't go to the Baths and only goes to other islands and does snorkeling.

Just to clarify, all of the charter companies do take catamarans to the Baths, just not cruise passengers. They take people who are vacationing on the island because the tour lasts much longer than the time cruise ships are in port.

Hope this helps.

http://www.patouche.com/