New "excursion" option...

I don't know if this has been suggested before but dh and I found a great alternative to the usual excursions on St. Thomas/st. John. We were just there for 10 days and after having done all the usual [ daysails, powerboat excursions, etc], we wanted to do something just laid back and fun for the day where we determined our schedule and our locale.

Take the ferry over to St. John and rent a dingy from Noah's Little Arks, right there on the beach at Warfside Village. From there, you can take the dingy all the way up the north shore of the island [to Watermelon Cay] and beach hop all the way back down. Be sure to stop at Cinnamon Bay and Trunk Bay - the two prettiest beaches imho - but also stop at Honeymoon and Hawsknest.

Daily rental for a dingy is $130 [total] and for 1/2 day is $75. They will provide you with a map [and it's very easy to navigate] and is alot of fun. DH and I had so much fun when we did it last week that we rented another one a couple of days later! Great fun and you can spend your day how you want to - and operate under "island time"!!

It was sooo much fun and the beaches in St. John are truly spectacular. So much so that we're looking at moving there within the next year or so.

How many people do the boats hold? We are a family of 5, 2 adults and 3 children under 15, would I need 2 or 3 boats?

You would only need one dingy, but go for the 14' one - I think it might be $10-15 more than the 12' one we rented. It's a GREAT way to get a lot of bang for your buck! DH and I enjoyed it so much the first day we did it again two days later!!

This looks like great fun! I might just do this while we're at St. Thomas.:D

Sounds great - obviously they give you instructions on operating the dingy? how is docking it at the various beaches? About how many beaches could you to in a day and what is the length of time for a 1/2 day? Thanks for any info.

Peggy

Sounds great - obviously they give you instructions on operating the dingy? how is docking it at the various beaches? About how many beaches could you to in a day and what is the length of time for a 1/2 day? Thanks for any info.

Peggy

You don't dock it, instead you just drive it up on the beach. Here are two websites I found about it.

Half day is 8:30-12:30 or 1:00-5:00

http://www.bookitvi.com/nla.htm

http://www.divelowkey.com/watersports.htm

Thanks for the websites - I was thinking a dinghy as being the old fashioned metal type boats! These sites clear that up for sure!

Peggy

Oh Boy!! I wanna do that next time I go to St John. :D

Ive stayed on St John for 10 days, so I know how great those beaches are.

Question: How fast can you get to waterlemon key? Waterlemon is north of Francis Bay. Im considering this in the event Im only in StT for one day during my next cruise.

How do those dingys handle if there is chop? That might be something to consider. Ive sailed around St John and it can get a bit rough on a sail boat. :eek:

We've rented dinghies on two different trips to St. John. As others have stated, its a real blast... IF the weather/water conditions are calm. Our first time was on a great day a couple of years ago, and we made it out to Waterlemon in about 30 minutes or so. Then we stopped at several others on the way back: Francis, Maho, Cinnamon, Trunk, Hawksnest, and Honeymoon. A fabulous, fabulous day!! This past January we tried it again, but the seas were very choppy, plus it was very windy. As soon as we got around the point out of Cruz Bay, the waves started pounding us! The front of the dinghy would dip after going over a wave, and the next wave would wash over the front, as the wind blew the spray off the top of the wave right into our faces! We trudged on, determined to make it back to Waterlemon, which is our favorite snorkel spot, but it got even rougher as we rounded Mary Point. We finally decided to turn back and head for the sheltered beach at Francis. After resting there, we tried to tie on to a mooring ball at Henley Cay, but the current was so strong we decided not to get out, for fear we'd be washed away and wouldn't be able to get back to the dinghy. So we headed back, stopping at several of the North Shore beaches. By the time we got back, everything in the dinghy was soaking wet, and there was so much water floating inside the thing that it looked like we were sinking! It was still a fun day, but we were disappointed that we didn't get to Waterlemon, and we could have done without being slapped in the face with sea spray every few seconds...

And there is one beach were you can actually dock: Caneel has a dock at the resort that you can use. The others you have to drive onto with the dinghy or tie onto a mooring ball and swim in. (The tieing-on and swimming-in parts are easy enough, but the getting-back-in is an adventure in body pulling, leg flinging, and generally graceless butt yanking over the side.) They give you a map, and make you watch a short instructional video, but its very easy to operate and navigate. The extent of my prior boating experience was "captaining" a paddle boat at the local state park, and I think I managed the dinghy just fine. (The wife may have a differing view, however.) Anyways, if you're there on a calm day, definitely do the dinghy!! Its great fun! If the ferry ride over is rough, or you see a lot of white caps in the sound, skip the dinghy and hike over to Salomon or take a taxi to your favorite beach.

Thanks 2feathers for the very detailed info - sounds like great fun if the weather is cooperating - do you think it is possible to just show up there and rent that day, or are reservations needed in advance? My DH and I just bought snorkel gear and that is what we really want to do - SNORKEL!

Peggy

Peggy, we didn't have reservations either day we rented. We just walked up and they had several dinghies available. Both times were in January (2004 and 2005) during high season, so I wouldn't think you'd need a reservation. It seems to be a pretty well kept secret... You can also rent dinghies from Crabby's in Coral Bay on the other side of the island, but that probably wouldn't be something you could do on a one-day stop during a cruise. Have fun!

You don't have to have reservations but if you go during "high season", I probably would make them to be safe. The best dingy rental place we found was Noah's Little Arks, right on the beach there where the ferry docks.

You can drive the dingy right up on the beach at most of them, including Trunk & Cinnamon.

It's a GREAT way to spend the day! Give it a try when you're there.

I think if the waters are calm, that might be exactly what we do - sounds easy enough and can cover a lot of territory - thanks for all of the info - if the waters are rough, go to plan B and take taxis.

Peggy

Oh, forgot to ask, how many people can fit in the dinghy?

Peggy

They have two sizes of dinghies. We've only used the smaller ones, since there were only the two of us, and we only took our snorkel gear and a cooler. I doubt you could get more than two, three at the most on the smaller ones. There is probably room for more, if you don't have a lot of stuff to take along, but the motor is fairly weak, so the weight might make for a slow dinghy ride. I don't know how many people the larger dinghies are supposed to hold, probably four or five or more, but the motor is much larger to handle extra weight. Maybe others have taken more passengers or rented the larger dinghies and could give you a better idea about that... Sorry. Not much help there.