TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands STT Crew Pickup & Laundry

Hi. I know this is more of a USVI question, but I'm asking here because the USVI form is not very active and there is a vast amount of knowledge here. We will be on a privately owned boat in the USVI / BVI for the first couple weeks of June. Our crew (children and friends) are coming for a week and flying into and out of STT. I need a place in STT where we can dock or grab a mooring ball to pick them up when they arrive and also drop them off and do laundry at the end of their visit. Any suggestions?

Waypoints at Frenchtown Marina may have a transient mooring available. They are only 8 minutes from the airport and have a convemiently located dinghy dock, but no public laundry facility. It's a great option for your pickup.

If you need laundry on the return, check out Crown Bay Marina for a slip.

We’ve stayed at Crown Bay Marina when changing crew. There was a store there for provisioning and a small laundromat. But I don’t think the small grocery store is there anymore. Not sure what their rates are now and it was slightly difficult to pull into the dock, requiring throwing a line around a pylon at the stern. We had never encountered that type of med moor before so it was a challenge. They may have changed that configuration because it was over 10 yrs ago.

We've used Crown Bay for pickup/dropoffs many times. The grocery store has been kaput since IrmaMaria but there's a Pueblo in easy walking distance. You can also pickup/dropoff at the fuel dock for a small fee.

Also you may consider the IYH marina at Redhook. It's a longer taxi ride to the airport, but taxis are much faster than boats. Redhook has lots of restaurant choices, plus an excellent if pricey grocery store (Moe's).

Both locations have laundry and chandleries.

We have a similar trip planned out of USVI, but we are planning on having our kids ferry over (or possibly water taxi) and meet us at Soper's Hole. We will do laundry there as well. Then spend a week or so in the BVI and a couple of nights on our way back in the USVI.

We have done a variety of drop off/pick up in the USVI. Here is my 2 cents.

If we are planning on sailing St. John and the east side of St. Thomas we will usually have crew meet us or drop crew off in Cruz Bay using the St. John/St. Thomas ferry. There is a ferry that goes from Cruz Bay, St. John to Crown Bay, St. Thomas. This one will drop you off much closer to the airport. It is a little more expensive but it saves on the taxi cost from Red Hook where the other ferry drops off. Here is the link to the Crown Bay ferry: https://www.interislandboatservices.com/ferry-trips/crown-bay-to-cruz-bay/. You can now pay for the NPS mooring balls online rather than having to go over to the pay station. I have attached the QR code you can use to pay once you have tied up to a ball. The NPS mooring balls for St. John are still managed through Recreation.gov. The new balls that I mention below are managed through VIPCA and Boaty Ball.

If you want to check out some of the bays in St. Thomas you can drop your crew at Lindbergh Bay. They now have VIPCA mooring balls (paid for via Boaty Ball) there which makes it even more convenient. It is $10 for day use and $35 for overnight. We typically spend the night at Druif Bay (also known as Honeymoon Beach), Water Island and then take our departing guests over to Lindbergh the next morning. It is a pretty spectacular send off...you literally drop them off on the beach by dinghy and they walk up to the airport. If you are thinking about spending the night at Druif, contact me directly about a mooring ball. It can be a little tricky to anchor in there with all the permanent boats and the rocky bottom. Druif has a fun restaurant/bar right on the beach called Dinghys.

If your friends don't want to have a beach drop off you can get a slip for the night at Yacht Haven Grande. This is a very nice marina with a pool and docking is much easier than at Crown Bay.

If your friends don't want to take the ferry from St. John and you don't want to go to the east side of St. Thomas you could always grab a ball in Muller Bay which is the bay outside of Red Hook. VIPCA has also just installed balls in this bay and you pay for them using Boaty Ball. It can be choppy in there but they can easily find a taxi from Red Hook to the airport for about $20 a person. There are also now VIPCA balls at Lindquist (which has a lovely beach) and Sapphire. Sapphire would be easier to find a cab and has a couple bars and restaurants.

Lots of good information here. One additional option is to anchor/moor in Druif Bay on Water Island and use the Water Island Ferry to transport your crew to Crown Bay Marina. We use Yogi's Taxi from Crown Bay to the airport - (340) 626-5695. We use Your Choice Laundry in Crown Bay Marina for drop off laundry. They also have large machines for DIY laundry.

If you just want to touch and go, the Crown Bay Marina fuel dock is a very easy stop.

Cheers, RickG

Thanks so much for all the information. This is incredibly helpful. We may have use of a Jeep on St John which will make the provisioning and laundry much easier since we can do it there while the boat is on her home mooring in Coral Bay. I'm on the fence about whether to have the kids and their friends use the ferry or do pick up / drop off. They are 18 to 21 years old and know how to get around on island so the ferry / taxi is no problem, but the drop off / pick up seems like fun experience. We may pick them up and have them ferry back from St John when they leave. It would be fun to send them a map pin on the day they get there and say "find your way here" .

In the distant past ie pre Irma) we did a crew change and laundry at RedHook.

Coral Bay is our home anchorage. It is easy enough to pickup / dropoff crew in Coral Bay. Getting to Cruz Bay from Coral Bay by taxi will need arrangements with taxi drivers. FYI:
Dawn's Island Vibes - 340-643-9671
Kedija Prentice - 340-513-8562
Kenneth Marsh - 340-244-9411
Owen's Taxi and Tours - 340-626-6274

You can do laundry at Florence Richards on Centerline Road. Dropoff/Pickup is expensive. There are other options in Cruz Bay. Provisioning on St. John is quite hit and miss. There are three options in Coral Bay, one on Centerline Drive, and three in Cruz Bay. Tuesday and Wednesday are the best days to shop.

Cheers, RickG