TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Why no ferries from CA to road town today?

Friends flight today delayed and rerouted now won't get in to stt till 4. I have been to all sites I can think of for later ferries and can't seem to find any to road town from Charlotte or red hook am I missing something? We leave on charter tomorrow and we have a sleep aboard tonight does anybody know any ferries today that leave at five or five thirty from St Thomas to road town or west end, thank you

Quick search:

https://www.aquaticrentalsvi.com/ferry-service-tortola-bvi-stt-virginislands

https://www.bviports.org/ferry

5pm Aquatic Rentals Red Hook to West End
5:30 Native Son CA to Roadtown

I finally did find aquatic but went to native son and 5/2 was grayed out, thanks I'll tell them

I would contact Native Son via phone.

I agree with calling them. Their website has always been buggy. They showed no ferry in Dec and they were actually running.

From what I've experienced you cannot book same day tickets online...I tried this on the airplane last time and it was a no go but when I got to the ferry there were spots...thankfully!

Don’t book in advance. There is no need post covid. If your flight is delayed they will not refund the ticket. They will give you a credit only.

I think that's it thanks!

Just FYI, we did not book in advance returning from Road Town to St. Thomas last Saturday and both the 10am and 11:30am ferries were completely booked when we arrived at 9:15am. We had to go to West End to catch the Aquatic Rentals 11:30am ferry, which was not full at all. Worked better for me because my condo is closer to Red Hook than it is to Charlotte Amalie but did cause some stress to my friends who were flying out that day. Luckily they made it with time to spare.

I probably should have clarified what I posted. We do book in advance leaving since we control the time. I have not however had a full ferry however I avoid the weekends. Saturday is shopping day. The locals head over in the morning to shop in STT.

Aquatic seems to have less chance of being full if ever from what I have seen . My daughter landed at 4pm in St Thomas last trip, she did not advance book for the reasons George stated and I told her just to go straight to RH (Aquatic) and not take chances with CA ferries because it was relatively high season. Also it was easier to get her at West End.

Caribbeangirl, your comment is concerning to me: in 20 years i’ve seen countless delays, cancellations, and breakdowns— but never encountered a sold-out ferry. Does it happen more some seasons/days/times/carriers than others? The reliability or utility of ferries vs, say, water taxis has been debated here, but i’ve never had to plan for the sold-out contingency.

Any data points will help. Thanks.

There used to be multiple ferries running - to the point they aggressively hustled passengers. Since Covid, only one ferry does each run, which is announced a month in advance. The ferries are making much more money, since they also have not reduced their Covid fares.

The only way to avoid sold-out ferries is to adjust your travel around their schedules, which you may not know when you book. Or take Aquatic Rentals, which is a good operation.

One option is to fly to Beef Island, which is always our choice. Tickets may be less expensive than you think. Ratman just bought a Delta ticket back to Memphis for $296.

We just returned on the AA to MIA. Definitely getting used to this option!

Pyrat Pistol,

I don't usually travel on a Saturday because it is the busiest day. It just worked out this trip with my friends' schedules that they needed to be back to Colorado by Sunday so I traveled with them. I have not experienced 2 different ferries sold out before and I typically do go by ferry. I have also done the American Airline flight from Beef to Miami when we were leaving the BVI and going back to Colorado instead of St. Thomas and it was fantastic. Would definitely be my first choice if we didn't have a place in St. Thomas. We have also gone the water taxi route through Chill Out Charters and that was really nice, but has gone up in price quite a bit so we usually just use the ferries since we are pretty flexible.

As others have pointed out sold out ferries are very rare post covid. I have not had it happen once. Avoid leaving Roadtown on Saturday morning and I don’t think you need worry. If you want a bit more insurance wait until your flight departure to STT ontime looks assured and do the online booking before takeoff.
G

George, I think the ferries have caught on to that. Seems like some do not allow same day booking online.