TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands CA to RT Ferry Question

Hi All -
I'm new here. I've been trying to get all my questions answered first by reading past posts, but am at the point now where I need to start putting my unanswered questions to all of you experts.
We are two families of 4 adults and 4 teenagers each. We are chartering a 46 ft Lagoon (Bruno) from BVIYC in Road Town. We are arriving at STT on June 24th at 12:05pm. We received a 10 days for 7 deal, so our charter actually begins on 6/24 (before we even get there) and ends on 7/4. I'm trying to figure out the best/quickest ferry for us. If we arrive at BVIYC by 4pm, they will do our boat briefing that day. This is ideal so we can get out of the marina as early as possible on Sunday, 6/25.
I see that RT Fast Ferry is not the best option for the trip from CA to RT being that their only afternoon ferry would leave at 4:15. It looks like Smith's Ferry Service offers a 2pm and a 3:30 pm option but stops at the West End first. Additionally, Native Son offers a 1:30 and 2:30 option and also stops at West End first. I'm not sure if we can count on these offerings holding true or if schedules will change between now and then. Is it safe to expect that (providing there are no significant flight issues) one of these 1:30 - 2:30 options will get us to BVIYC before 4pm. I realize we have customs to deal with and taxis. How much time should I expect to spend getting from the airport to BVIYC? We won't be checking bags. Also, our flight back home just got changed from 3:35pm to 1:10pm (BOO!)on 7/4 so I guess we now need to take the earliest ferry out of RT back to CA. Looks like RTFF at 7am is our best option for this. Anyway, I'd appreciate any advice and feedback you can offer. This is our very first trip to BVI and our second charter. We bareboat chartered in the Whitsunday Islands, Australia in 1999. I will likely be posting soon for help with our itinerary. I'm trying to have it mostly figured out before I put it out there for suggestions. Thanks in advance for your help! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" />

Arrive STT. Taxi to CA ferry is less than 10 minutes. (Prearrange Taxi with Kevin Campbell 340-643-0025 a couple days before... Text works great). Kevin will me you at The Blue Marlin at Baggage Claim... Can't miss it...

Do Not make ferry reservations.... Once there, get on next ferry to leave...

You will need early ferry back... probably no later than 9am

Enjoy

Headed down in the morning to get on Sea Tiger.... Follow Facebook "SeaTigerBVI".

Like Deepcut said, arrange taxi service with Kevin ahead of time and let him know your objectives. He will get you on the correct ferry as quickly as is possible.

On the way back, were it me I would consider a private water taxi to take away a bit of the departure stress. Especially if you're not planning on spending your last night at the charter company dock.

Thanks both of you for your tips and advice!

Yes, we are now planning on spending our last night in BVIYC's slip since the airline decided to change the departure time on us. They've done this 4 or 5 times now, it's so aggravating!

Yeah, that stinks. You could stay out your last night somewhere nearby like Cooper or, our last night preference, Great harbor, Peter, but it would require either a really early motor back to base if you're using the ferry or a more leisurely departure with a water taxi.

A private water taxi would be a little more money than the ferry, but if it allows you to actually enjoy your last night on the boat out on the water, vs. the base, it might be worth consideration.