Tortola to JVD day trip

I am looking to do a charter/day trip to JVD from Tortola. Does anyone know of a company that is currently operating tours? The ferry times don't mesh well with our needs.

Laura

bvi360.com

kuralu.com

patouche.com

aristocat

or

Julian's water taxi in CGB

What time do you arrive and depart Road Town?

bvi360.com

kuralu.com

patouche.com

aristocat

or

Julian's water taxi in CGB

 

What time do you arrive and depart Road Town?

Thanks have emailed bvi360 with no response. Am awaiting response from patouche. Thank you for your help, I've since emailed kuralu and aristocat as well. :) We are there from 8-6. I'll assume all aboard is 5:30. So the 9-4 option works better than having to take the return ferry at 2. We've previously been to CGB as well as the Baths so are looking for a relaxing, chill out day.

Laura

Thanks have emailed bvi360 with no response. Am awaiting response from patouche. Thank you for your help, I've since emailed kuralu and aristocat as well. :) We are there from 8-6. I'll assume all aboard is 5:30. So the 9-4 option works better than having to take the return ferry at 2. We've previously been to CGB as well as the Baths so are looking for a relaxing, chill out day.

Laura

Yes too bad there isn't a 4PM return ferry...

Have you considered Smuggler's Cove on Tortola? Nicest beach and a great spot to lime. Patricia serves up some ecxellent grilled food and has a small bar and cold beers (2/$5 Red Stripes!). There are free lounges and gorgeous water colors and views of Jost and Sandy Key. Great snorkeling but it's just our favotite spot to relax. Not that crowded, and much, much nicer than CGB.

Just a nice, relaxing day on a beach that is nicer (and closer) than White Bay. Just a suggestion...;)

Enjoy your day on our favorite islands wherever you decide on!

Forgot to mention the Long Bay Resort has day passes for access to their pool & pool bar. $20 fr the pool, $45 includes a burger and 2 drinks. Small pool bar but nce. The beaches are free and you can also just enjoy Long Bay, just grab a couple subs and drinks on the way or have lunch at their beachside cafe.

Nature Boy is a short walk from there, Smuggler's a short drive.

Just another thought...I'll go away now :p

Smuggler's Cove is our second choice! I have read it is a trek to get to there, is it easy to find a taxi back or do you recommend arranging a pick up with the driver who brings up? Better yet, is it easy to find a taxi there from the dock? I know most of the taxis will be headed to CGB. A 4 pm ferry from JVD would have been perfect.

Thank you for all your help!

Laura

The last mile or so from Long Bay to Smuggler's is unpaved and a bit rough and so it's not a spot that people will drive by and find. That's the beauty of it - you have to make a little effort to ge there (no effort at all really just know of it) so it's much less traveled than CGB which is the most traveled. There are some beautiful villas within a very short walk of Smuggler's and you will see other cruisers there who are in the know as well as locals. But generally very quiet.

Taxis are available at the dock for transfer to Smuggler's, the roundtrip taxi cost is $32pp for 2ppl, $24pp for 3 or more. I would have a driver return at a predetermined time or you can call from there. And there are taxis coming and going. You may even want to have the driver drop you at the Long Bay beach for a few minutes just to walk it (but you can't walk from Long Bay to Smuggler's very easily). Nature Boy is a small spot on the beach just beyond Long Bay where the road gets rough and goes up hill. Long Bay and Smuggler's are often featured in magazines, in fact they were in a recent issue of Caribbean Travel & Life and if you check their site you will see them.

We went there 2 days in a row our last stay on Tortola, just a gorgeous beach and water and Patricia's grill - cheeseburger, dog, grilled/jerk chicken, and potato salad(!) - can't beat it. We enjoyed the view of Jost and watching 2 little local kids learning to "body surf" - we still crack up at that!

There are no real facilities there (just portapotties and the ocean!), if you want more stuff you'll want CGB, or maybe Brewer's Bay which is not as crowded as CGB but has a small beach bar and camping facilities.

We are booked with BVI360 for a tour sunday. When I wrote them to book it, it took a couple days for them to get back to us. The price is $70pp. Looking forward to this tour!!

We are booked with BVI360 for a tour sunday. When I wrote them to book it, it took a couple days for them to get back to us. The price is $70pp. Looking forward to this tour!!

I am waiting to hear from them still but having read some reviews about them on here I am somewhat skeptical.

Pantouche and Kuralu are both booked. Pantouche does have a boat for private charter but it is more expensive than our cruise fare.. :D and since this was a last minute, previously unplanned trip we'll pass.

Laura

The last mile or so from Long Bay to Smuggler's is unpaved and a bit rough and so it's not a spot that people will drive by and find. That's the beauty of it - you have to make a little effort to ge there (no effort at all really just know of it) so it's much less traveled than CGB which is the most traveled. There are some beautiful villas within a very short walk of Smuggler's and you will see other cruisers there who are in the know as well as locals. But generally very quiet.

 

Taxis are available at the dock for transfer to Smuggler's, the roundtrip taxi cost is $32pp for 2ppl, $24pp for 3 or more. I would have a driver return at a predetermined time or you can call from there. And there are taxis coming and going. You may even want to have the driver drop you at the Long Bay beach for a few minutes just to walk it (but you can't walk from Long Bay to Smuggler's very easily). Nature Boy is a small spot on the beach just beyond Long Bay where the road gets rough and goes up hill. Long Bay and Smuggler's are often featured in magazines, in fact they were in a recent issue of Caribbean Travel & Life and if you check their site you will see them.

 

We went there 2 days in a row our last stay on Tortola, just a gorgeous beach and water and Patricia's grill - cheeseburger, dog, grilled/jerk chicken, and potato salad(!) - can't beat it. We enjoyed the view of Jost and watching 2 little local kids learning to "body surf" - we still crack up at that!

 

There are no real facilities there (just portapotties and the ocean!), if you want more stuff you'll want CGB, or maybe Brewer's Bay which is not as crowded as CGB but has a small beach bar and camping facilities.

Thank you so much for your help! I can't wait to be there!!

Laura

We used BVI360 and they used a small boat just adequate for 20(on the way home they brought another boat to split us up). We had no life jackets on small boat...just noodles.I think they had a few floatation belts. There was no snorkel gear for anyone to use at the snorkel stop:(When we arrived at JVD we were in 10 feet of water and had to swim up to the shore with our bags! Not good. I used a noodle and with my DHs help I made it to shore. My DH finally used a cushion to put our stuff on to float to shore. They did have cooler of beer and other drinks which was nice. The captain and his helper did not help us at all! JVD was delightful and we had a nice day. The swim back was better because the boat had turned and it was a bit shallower. Lots of people's things were drenched and one lady had to help her husband who was a bit disabled. She thought she would drown! Needless to say it was quite an adventure. Hopefully you will get put in closer to shore or someone will help you get your things on shore.

Yikes!! Sorry to hear that, thank you for the info. We will look into the other options. Really the transfer of boats doesn't sound safe either. That is what I was concerned about too. How would we get our non water safe items to shore, I get the Soggy Dollar idea- but other items we may not want wet.

Thanks for posting a reply!

We are booked with BVI360 for a tour sunday. When I wrote them to book it, it took a couple days for them to get back to us. The price is $70pp. Looking forward to this tour!!

Let us know the review of BVI 360. The reviews have been so mixed lately. A few months ago, I heard a lot of great things. Lately, less so. Thanks!

Very strange they didn't back in and leave you off in 2 - 3 feet of water, I've never seen a boat leave people off in deeper water than that unless they asked for that. Earlier reviews were very positive on bvi360...

save yourself some frustration and just book the ships tour to jvd if they offer it. costs a little more but worth knowing you are going to get there and the ship won't leave without you. last two times i went to jvd through the ship was great. tried booking on our own once and the company went under before the cruise and we were left scrambling.

save yourself some frustration and just book the ships tour to jvd if they offer it. costs a little more but worth knowing you are going to get there and the ship won't leave without you. last two times i went to jvd through the ship was great. tried booking on our own once and the company went under before the cruise and we were left scrambling.

Thanks but I avoid the ships tours for a couple of reasons...one being time the tour is 4 hrs long..so that leaves about maybe 3 hrs beach time at a maximum. We're in port for 9 hrs, I've been to Tortola before..I'm not interested in shopping. I just want to go to the beach..lol

Laura

Hladygirl with 9 hrs in port Laura has so many options, and taking an excursion through the ship has always seemed so "plain vanilla" to us, especially on an island like Tortola. And even more so when you've been there before.

Outfits can go out of business, and if I'm not being assured (getting responses) that the excursion is available the week before I sail I make other arrangements, especially if I haven't committed to something with a down payment. There are different options for JVD but you have to be willing to spend much of your time getting there.

Great spot though when you're staying on Tortola and aren't rushed to make it back to the ship. We often enjoy waving bon voyage to cruisers when staying in the islands - the happy hours are just getting going! I often recommend folks fly into STT sometime and ferry over to Tortola and spend part of your time there then on STT. Makes for a great vacation because you have two totally different experiences with little travel time between them.

We asked to go closer, but he had an inboard motor and couldn't take the chance, though I had been assured we could just wade in(in writing). Other boats were getting brought up to shore and had their things at least carried up on a raft. We got NO HELP! They sat and watched as we all just worked it out amongst our selves.

Blue Water Yes..no plain vanilla for me!! I booked the cruise 10 days ago as a last minute idea. I knew when booking a month away from sailing my options might be limited. Hence we were late for the game making reservations. I'm not about to charter a private boat which costs 300 less than our entire cruise. Its silly to me at this point. I've not heard back from a few on the list.

Plank I'm sorry you had such a crappy experience. I have not heard back at all from BVI360, so suffice to say I'll not be using them.

Nor have I heard back from aristocat (for which I've read very positive reviews).

For anyone running a small business communication is key..False promises are a huge No-no.

I'll just be going to the beach most likely Smuggler's or Brewer's..I can always take the ferry to JVD but it isn't quite the experience I was hoping for-travel or timewise.

Thanks to everyone for their help!

Laura

ps this is the second of my ideas for this trip I've had to change.. no biggie, I'm not going to get all stressed out it is after all a vacation!

I am looking for a reputable company for a shore excursion to JVD for the day. Our cruise ship excursion is booked. Has anyone used a company in the past that is reliable?

Hladygirl with 9 hrs in port Laura has so many options, and taking an excursion through the ship has always seemed so "plain vanilla" to us, especially on an island like Tortola. And even more so when you've been there before.

 

Outfits can go out of business, and if I'm not being assured (getting responses) that the excursion is available the week before I sail I make other arrangements, especially if I haven't committed to something with a down payment. There are different options for JVD but you have to be willing to spend much of your time getting there.

 

Great spot though when you're staying on Tortola and aren't rushed to make it back to the ship. We often enjoy waving bon voyage to cruisers when staying in the islands - the happy hours are just getting going! I often recommend folks fly into STT sometime and ferry over to Tortola and spend part of your time there then on STT. Makes for a great vacation because you have two totally different experiences with little travel time between them.

once again blue water is always right and everyone else is always wrong!

Hladygirl,

Laura expressed the wish not to do the ship excursion that's all, so get over it already. Many of us travelers prefer going on our own when we can

And please stop stalking me on these threads. That's two different discussions tonight you've had something nasty to say about me (for no reason) and that is enough.:mad:

You are the first person I've ever used that icon for...

Laura hope you enjoy your day at Smuggler's!

I am looking for a reputable company for a shore excursion to JVD for the day. Our cruise ship excursion is booked. Has anyone used a company in the past that is reliable?

Email kuralu, patouche, ot aristocat to see if they have availability. They are 3 of the premier operators out of Tortola that stop on Jost. Joe at Patouche also has a smaller bost you can charter to Jost or to the Willie T.

You can also take Julian's watertaxi out of Cane Garden Bay, that is a short ride and he will drop you off on White Bay and return to pick you up there or at Foxy's in Great Harbor. Not sure of the price but probably $50pp at least + taxi to CGB.

Good luck cruzincarib2!

Laura hope you enjoy your day at Smuggler's!

Thanks for your help! I can't wait!!:D

Laura