doing the baths on your own in Virgin Gorda/Tortola

This is a thread for tips and precautions about doing the baths on your own!

We read all the info from this board about doing the Baths on your own all the tips and info was very helpful. I did additional research on the Baths and because of timing I just felt better this time to book the Baths trip through the cruise line. My gut was right. however the cruise line was booked for this tour so we adventured out on own with details and ferry schedules in hand.

Here are some facts!

Fact #1 you can depending on your ships arrival and departure do them on your own.....BUT!! make sure you check out whether or not it is a holiday on either island, We were there the day after Easter, a BIG BIG holiday for them. There was a parade on Virgin Gorda, it all put the island at a stand still! there was a large parade on the only road to get from ferry DOCK to baths. (YOU CAN NOT WALK THIS) It delayed the process of leaving the island by 2 hours!

Even the tour from the ship was caught off guard by this. And 177 people were stuck at the Baths while the time to board the ship ticked on.

Fact #2 on holidays the locals will fill up the ferries! BEWARE they crowd on and push without any line consideration. the crowd almost pushed the Premiere of Tortola (like a president of an island) right into the water. the locals had no idea who he was. they just thought he was old and slow!

Also if the seas have been a little rough so will the ferry ride, take seasickness precautions!! even if the seas weren't a little rough this ride tends to be a rough one because of the speed to and from. locals were even getting sick, 1 local had to be ambulance off the ferry!

fact #3 ferry boats break down! make sure you leave at least a 2-3 hour return window to make your on board time!

fact#4 Speedy ferries do take credit cards.

fact #5 The baths are easier to navigate than anyone really let on.

the footpath down to the baths is very easy to walk. plenty of places to step aside and rest if necessary.

regarding footwear water socks are not necessary. You could do it barefooted many did, tours even went through the baths in street clothes not bathing suits. If you don't want to take a dip in the plunge pool at the very beginning of the baths you wouldn't have to get wet, but maybe a little on your feet. you could easily remove sneakers to travel through a portion of the caves that have ankle deep water.

the little beach on the other side of the baths is quaint, no services. also regarding tight squeezes. Large people had no real problems squeezing through the tight places. if you are able body you will do fine.

fact #6 regarding cameras, bring your regular camera and or video cam. there is no real threat to them becoming wet. not anymore than if you brought it to the beach.

fact#7 do not depend on securing your personal and or values in the advertised Lockers available, most of them were broken hence unusable.

and you can only open them 1 time so they are not a locker you can take out or put things in and out of with out purchasing another token. 2.50.

fact #8 there are taxi's from the ship pier to the ferry dock if you don't feel like walking about 2 miles. the cost was $3 a person, and in our case we did not have any extra time to walk it!! the taxi literally flew us from the ferry dock back to the pier in the nick of time! if we had to walk it we would've missed the ship! the ship knew there were min. 10 Pearl passengers aboard the 5 o'clock ferry that was delayed because of the festival. 177 passengers were also delayed but arrived before us because they were dropped off directly at the ships pier. The ship personnel were, untying ropes, taking down gangway items, they were preparing to set sail without us! I HAVE NO DOUBT THAT THEY WOULD HAVE LEFT WITHOUT ALL OF US! They scolded us for being late, even though 177 others were also late. 2 young persons ran like the wind from the ferry dock back to the pier before we knew you could take a taxi. The taxi riders all stayed at the gangway to make sure they waited for the runners. We were prepared to put up a stink to make them wait. my BIL stood on the gangway for the longest time not allowing them to push it in! he finally saw them at the end of the pier and stepped in but we all had to insist that they wait! Really poor customer service on there part.

The part that really bugged me was that we were not allowed off the ship that morning on time there was a 45 minute delay. which made a very large group of do it your owns miss the earlier ferries. And yet no grace on time on the back side of the day! And it truly was not the fault of the passengers, which they knew because of there own tour! and they know exactly how many people are not on board also!!

My advice to make this not to be missed trip to the baths stress free would be to book it through the ship you are on!

Great Post... We were planning on doing it on our own also. Now I am having second thoughts. We arrive on a Thursday at 7am and our ship leaves at 3pm..

Can I ask what cruise line you were on?

Thanks for the great tips.

Laurie

Great Post... We were planning on doing it on our own also. Now I am having second thoughts. We arrive on a Thursday at 7am and our ship leaves at 3pm..

 

Can I ask what cruise line you were on?

 

Thanks for the great tips.

 

Laurie

Laurie, lil nemo experienced special circumstances that shouldn't prevent you from doing the baths on your own. The schedules for the ferries are posted on the websites for the 2 companies (Smiths & Speedy) and you can easily pick a schedule that meets your needs. To be safe, google your date and Vigin Gorda, Tortola, etc to see if any holidays conflict. I would not do the baths through a cruise line as almost every tour allows only 1 hour here which is not enough time to enjoy the baths.

thanks... i just googled for 04/2008, not much going on except for the 24th..

i am still waiting for a reply from speedy & smith.. our ship is only in port till 1pm.... :(

WE were on the Pearl, and we were suppose to be there from 10-6:30 but in ship time that really means 6:00 AS THEY ARE SETTING SAIL WAY BEFORE 6:30 and require you on board 1/2 hour before sail time. we always left port right on time, but they weren't as good with letting us off the ship promptly. some would say that isn't the cruise lines fault, customs etc.

Honestly if you have any doubts on time constraints I would book this through your ship!

It is a not to miss tour, but it's not worth missing your Ship.

Great Post... We were planning on doing it on our own also. Now I am having second thoughts. We arrive on a Thursday at 7am and our ship leaves at 3pm..

 

Can I ask what cruise line you were on?

 

Thanks for the great tips.

 

Laurie

An hour will give you plenty of time to explore the Baths.

It isn't enough time if you want to snorkel or swim on the beaches. But to see and walk through the baths an hour is plenty.

Laurie, lil nemo experienced special circumstances that shouldn't prevent you from doing the baths on your own. The schedules for the ferries are posted on the websites for the 2 companies (Smiths & Speedy) and you can easily pick a schedule that meets your needs. To be safe, google your date and Vigin Gorda, Tortola, etc to see if any holidays conflict. I would not do the baths through a cruise line as almost every tour allows only 1 hour here which is not enough time to enjoy the baths.

2 weeks after I emailed them about taking visa/MC they finally responded the day after we returned from our cruise. don't hold your breathe

you can find the ferry schedules on line. times etc.

We never book cruise line tours, but I really recomend with your time to see the Baths with a cruise line tour.

thanks... i just googled for 04/2008, not much going on except for the 24th..

 

i am still waiting for a reply from speedy & smith.. our ship is only in port till 1pm.... :(

Laurie, lil nemo experienced special circumstances that shouldn't prevent you from doing the baths on your own. The schedules for the ferries are posted on the websites for the 2 companies (Smiths & Speedy) and you can easily pick a schedule that meets your needs. To be safe, google your date and Vigin Gorda, Tortola, etc to see if any holidays conflict. I would not do the baths through a cruise line as almost every tour allows only 1 hour here which is not enough time to enjoy the baths.

Thanks for your help. :D I think that if we go in the morning and get back around lunch time it should leave plenty of time. We do want to swim and use the beach. I still need to check the ferry times out first tho.

Laurie

It might help some to know that we spotted several women sporting topless bathing attire right at the first beach before the Bath tunnels start. If you have young children you may want to be aware of this as one of the young ladies is featured prominently (unbeknownst to me at the time!:eek: ) in one of our photos!

drat wish this warning had come sooner, there would've been a few in our party interested in that!! "_

It might help some to know that we spotted several women sporting topless bathing attire right at the first beach before the Bath tunnels start. If you have young children you may want to be aware of this as one of the young ladies is featured prominently (unbeknownst to me at the time!:eek: ) in one of our photos!

NiniB-

What is going on in Tortola on the 24th of April? I couldn't find any info. We will be there that day and wanted to visit the Baths.

I will be cruising with my 10 month old infant but my husband, myself and my mom would love to see the baths. Is this something that is doable with an infant or should we just wait until next time??

Thanks in advance!:)

I feel very strongly that to do the baths onyour own you need to know what is going on at the island for the day!

here is a website to help you. pay attention to festivals, it will increase local traffic to the island, filling up the ferries. and making it extremely difficult to keep a time line for getting to and from

http://www.ultimatebvi.com/information/holidays/

NiniB-

 

What is going on in Tortola on the 24th of April? I couldn't find any info. We will be there that day and wanted to visit the Baths.

I would think as long as your comfortable carrying your child over and under items for 20+ minutes you'll be okay.

I will be cruising with my 10 month old infant but my husband, myself and my mom would love to see the baths. Is this something that is doable with an infant or should we just wait until next time??

Thanks in advance!:)