TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Ferry or Water Taxi? Yeah, I know. This subject has been beat to death.

Our guests arrive in STT on Monday, December 4 at 1:49 PM. We are meeting them at the airport (they are nervous travelers) to travel with them to Tortola. There are four of us total. We are spending the night of the 4th in CGB.

Taxi to Red Hook, ferry to West end, taxi to CGB? Or Taxi, Water Taxi, Taxi? If the second option is better, should we book the land transport with the water taxi company or arrange it separately?

You're probably overthinking this a bit. The easiest and most cost effective is the 10 minute taxi ride from STT to Charlotte Amalie ferry dock and take the ferry from there to Road Town, Tortola and it will be a 15 minute taxi from there to CGB. Not sure why you would go from Red Hook since that's a 40 minute taxi from STT..... this will be a shorter trip. Happy to provide the name of a taxi company and driver on both ends who will make sure to get them where they need to be but again, it's not complicated.... no reason to escort them unless you're already in STT going to BVI. If you want to triple your cost and take a water taxi, be aware that it's a long taxi trip to Red Hook and if it's raining, you will likely have a delay in departing on the water taxi or get wet crossing. Having done both, I've found the water taxi to be no more efficient or time saving - I'd always opt for the larger ferry.

Agree with Thistle on all this..they have plenty of time to catch the ferry...walk them thro the process and the cold beers upstairs..and meet them at Road Town when they disembark..

I'm sure that I am overthinking this

We'll be in St. Thomas already so meeting them at the airport is no problem. Their flight is supposed to arrive at 1:49.

Native Son shows only a 1:30 on Mondays, which we would not make. RTFF shows no Monday ferries on December 4th. Smith's shows a 4:00. If their flight is delayed at all, we're screwed.

That's why I'm thinking about a water taxi. Yeah, it's expensive and I'd just as soon take a ferry, but we'd really like to spend the evening before our charter in CGB.

Thoughts on the ferry schedule?

Aquatic Rentals from Red Hook is a very nice ferry. They stop at West End. It leaves Red Hook at 5.

We're arriving the same day at 2:30 on the direct flight flight from Miami to Tortola.

As long as their flight gets in by 3 you will make the 4 on Smiths. If not cab to redhook for a later ferry.

December 4 2023:

I'm seeing Native Son showing both a 2:00 and a 5:30 departure from Charlotte Amalie.
Smith's is showing a 9:00 and a 4:00 departure from Charlotte Amalie.
RTFF is not showing service that day.

I'm just using the links that BVIPorts.org posted for the ferry companies (https://www.bviports.org/ferry).

Thanks, all. You gave me some much-needed clarity.