TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Ferry Mess Again Today

The ferries were a mess again today. Nobody was running from West End to Charlotte Amalie, so we scrambled to take Native Son to Red Hook, and luckily, it was running late.

I saw the green ferry catamaran hull pulling into CA dock about 2pm today when I was driving home.

That's just a mess and has to get fixed! On Sunday? Locals need the weekend ferries for shopping trips to St. Thomas, and for tourists, it's a huge turn around day, I'm starting to smell a conspiracy <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/cloud.gif" alt="" />

The Road Town Fast Ferry was the only one going into Charlotte Amalie. It doesn't stop at West End like Smiths & Native Son.

You're LUCKY if you made your flight!

Looks like Native Son has pressed the Lady Virginia into service on the Tortola runs. Saw her leaving West End at 12:30 yesterday. Usually she is tied up at CA to serve the cruise ships.

We saw the Lady Virginia come into West End on Fri., but she was sitting in her usual spot on the waterfront today.

You are giving them way too much credit <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" />

Sorry to say this but I have 16 people on two catamarans coming in late July and they have to have some certainty in their return trip to St. Thomas so they can get home for important matters. This will most likely be the last time I do this. It has been yearly since 1981. I imagine that I along with my friends spend upwards to $70,000.00 yearly in the BVI and that will stop. I just can't feel responsible for their travel yet in the past I had "no worries". Wake Up BVI

Time for a sticky thread for gathering folks to share water taxis.

that much money involved and that many ppl have you ever considered a private charter from bvi to stt? I have heard there are some from red hook? that was a long time ago though anyone else know?

this has been going on for years. was just there a in early june. native son pulled through again. obviously a way of life. make sure you ask for one more vac day to get back to work . . . . if that's the way you plan to go by ferry that is

I had no problems yesterday(sunday). We landed at 1:45, Kevin was waiting for us and already had reserved us seats on the 2:45 RTFF and we were on Tortola by 4. Kevin is the way to go. Before you land he already has the ferry situation figured out. We are at Tamarand Club until monday, then we get on our catco boat.
Cheers
Hophead

Please post the best and current contact number for Kevin.
THANKS

Kevin's # is
340-643-0025

Email is
kevintaxi101@yahoo.com

Anon, with 16 people take a water taxi, not much more then ferries and plenty of certainty.

The ferries are no longer a scalable or practical solution to move airlift passengers between countries. The rigorous safety standards, the security of two independent nations, the price of oil, the cost of trained labor and the cost of modern boats doom the business case. In the BVI and STT combo the taxi politics further doom the practice of the past. The land in STT, that requires some to go through US immigration, get your bags, get a third world taxi, ride a taxi or van, to find and catch a third world ferry boat, then handle C&I on Tortola, to then find and ride yet another third world taxi to your hotel. Yes to some that is great fun and adventure. To so many other that is a BS way to add hassle and risk to family or group travel.

Either get St. Thomas to allow simple ferry transport direct from the airport to a reasonable BVI ferry hub. Or go forward with a major jet port at EIS. The way I read the paper neither set of Islands want the cross border ferries to work? Without the full support and cooperation of both the BVI and USVI the STT as the air gateway is doomed.

Today there is simply no way to determine how many hours a traveler must budget for the cross border airport. If the ferry is part of your flight plan you need to add a day on both ends just in case the ferries do not work out that day.

it seems to me that both the USVI and the BVI need to get the ferry system to work. Furthermore I don't see any reason why it could not work. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" />

tangerine3 & sail2wind

My wife and I are in the above referenced group and if it weren't for the fact that the group is coming in from all over the US, at different times and different days, we would definitely go the water taxi route. Our departure schedule is pretty much the same as our arrival schedule. Given our circumstances, we are in the same boat as most of the rest of the people on this board. I do appreciate the info, the anon post was from a regular on the board, they just weren't logged in when the post was made.

Thanks,
Chad

Flying in and out of STT, Considering the advice to plan a night in St Thomas each way. Does anyone know if the 8:30 AM ish ferry from CA to Tortola has been running most weekdays ?
Or are all the ferry departures a crap shoot ?

They are all a crap shoot. Doesn't change daily, it's by the minute!! We called from hotel and were guaranteed a ferry at a certain time. Taxied over in ten minutes and the ferry was cancelled. Stay at the BW Emerald on both ends and just chill!! Great hotel!
That being said, we are flying straight to Beef this next trip. We put the extra hotel and ferry cost into the airline ticket. Well worth it!!!!

My understanding is the most reliable has been Red Hook, but give CA a chance and see what happens. you can't get too upset over something you have no control over. You will get to BVI, just might not be easy. We have been very lucky and have never been stranded on either side.

I think more people are going to start doing this. Its one thing to plan a day on each end because you want to. Its another to have to just to have a buffer. At most we pay $200 more per ticket to fly into EIS. If you factor out the ferry and added taxi, its not much more at all and we get in by noon on our first day unlike end of day if we went through St Thomas. Just makes the most sense. Although I o till check STT flights just to make sure there isn't a huge difference.

seems inter island transport is and has been a challenge in the carrib- getting to st vincent can take a while for example

When and how do I contact Kevin for a pickup. I imagine he has a good idea of the ferries that are actually leaving for Tortola whether from CA of Red Hook.

I am pretty sure he is just as in the dark, Mark Paulson said he picked them up at the airport, did a drive by at CA to see but no ferry so on to RH...on the upside, Mark said they got a nice scenic tour on the way to RH!

Actually, Kevin has had a great handle on what was running/not running when he picks us up, especially this last time. Coming back from Tortola, we would have been screwed if I hadn't called him and he told us to take the earlier ferry to Red Hook. He was gonna be late to pick us up, but sent one of his friends. Galeaux's crew was in the same "boat" as us, and hopped a ride, too.
You can reach him by email or cell, but give him a couple days notice:
340-643-0025
kevintaxi101@yahoo.com

When we were there a few weeks ago Kevin was on the phone with someone at the ferry who was updating him on when the next boat was leaving. We waited an extra 10 minutes or so for another couple and he got us to the ferry with only a few minutes to spare but they knew we were coming. I emailed him the night before we left and just told him my name, how many passengers we were and when our flight arrived and then I went to bed (we had to leave home at 3am) without waiting for his confirmation. When we arrived he was standing there with a a big smile and a sign with my name on it. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" /> Nice guy. I'd definitely call him again.

oh that's good to know, I am not sure if it was even Kevin who drove them or not, I know he was planning on having Kevin but not sure that they did in fact use him.

and in Glenn and Haleys case they needed to go directly to RH as stopping to see at CA "to see" would have been to tight and made them late for that last RH ferry.

Laura, we were with Mark and his family in the taxi last Thursday. Kevin was off island, but sent his backup Lew to get us. Lew didn't know the status of the CA ferry, but he took us by the terminal and when we realized that the 1:30 wasn't running, we had him take us straight over to Redhook.

My wife and I left Tortola on Saturday for St John, and the West End terminal was a mess with folks trying to figure out how to get back to St Thomas. The 12:15 and 12:30 were running, but both were late leaving.

How is that ever going to scale. Sure you can try and many do get away with the plane, baggage claim, taxi, ferry?, immigration, then taxi again dance. Why would you plan well in advance for that BS?

To me that is the same Russian Roulette planing as traveling in two different airlines with two different tickets. Just because someone thought they had found a deal. Yes, you can save a few bucks on a holiday that costs thousands. KaBoom one hiccup and you are trying to glue Humpty Dumpty together again with little help from the other parties.

Good luck with your BVI plans and the plans of your traveling partners when you BVI bag does not show up at STT baggage claim.

Lost my STT bound luggage last trip. They delivered it to me at west end next day. Actually saved me the trouble of humping it onto and off the ferry, and I just picked it up and left.

Also, regarding "scaling", the thing that doesn't scale is the BVI itself. It is pretty much fully engaged from a sailing viewpoint and you cant add too many more boats to the fleet as the existing anchorages are getting full. I suspect that is behind the stealth pitch for more well-heeled visitors in private jets.

We had that happen one time due to Delta having issues and us having them move us to an AA flight. Worked out well for us as it ended up being direct, but our bags didn't make it.

Wasn't a big deal except it was January and I didn't bring a change of clothes in our carry on so I was wearing jeans and rather hot. Fortunately however our bags arrive the next morning. We just had to take a taxi to the ferry dock to get them.

That was the last time we used the ferry, not entirely because of this, but in part. With prices being pretty similar for us, its easier to not have to worry about this - had we flown into EIS, bags would have been delivered to the moorings base. Needless to say, I always have some extra clothes in my carry on now

Matt, that is a standard no matter where you travel. Going from warm to cold or cold to warm, always bring a change of clothes in your carry on to match your destination. I think we have all found that one out the hard way <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" />

Yeah, it was a foolish mistake, that I am not going to repeat <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

Even when we go from 'warm to warm', we always put a change of clothes and a bathing suit in the carry on. Nothing worse than arriving at your destination with no clean clothes to change into, after a long, trying day traveling..

out first stop is usually Dallas and we change at the airport and arrive island ready <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

My plan was to get into STT around 2:30 and then hire Dolphin to pick us up and get us to West End. It was perfect. Going back, we always book the Island beachcomber, so there is no rush. Just a pain to have to lug the luggage 7 times between Voyage and arrive at the Beachcomber. Best thing we ever did was hire a Sky cap guy at the airport for departure. We waived all of the lines and didn't have to haul our luggage anywhere. He did everything! Cruised through customs! LOVED that!

so ok we fly into Tortola from San Juan, how do we get to Anegada? Guess the ferries are not reliable to go there either????????

How well can you swim?


I always thought the Ferries to Anegada we're reliable?