dgmermaid

This is fantastic!! Thank you so much. So you felt you had plenty of time to see and do everything? Can you tell me did you book ahead or just purchase your tickets at the ferry dock. Also, can you tell me the cost of your combo purchase pp?

We purchased tickets right at the ferry dock, there were very few people there at 7:45. Normally, ferry roundtrip is $30 adults, $20 children 5-11. The cab fare added $8 to each ticket (that's also round trip). I wasn't planning to buy the cab fare, but glad we did, as we didn't have to worry about it on Virgin Gorda.

Same question from me? Is that feesible to do? Would it be easier to do Spring Bay or are we looking at the same time dilemma?

Well, I can now report from my experience :) We docked at Tortola shortly before 7 and they were letting people off board at 7 exactly. I had a wake-up call setup for 6:30, so our family of 5 managed to snag a quick breakfast at the Garden Cafe buffet and we were off the ship at 7:20. We walked to the ferry dock (it was a brisk 10 minute walk, not bad at all). There were not a lot of people at the ferry dock at the time. We bought Speedy's ferry/taxi tickets combo and the ferry came in at 7:45. They did some unloading and we were on Virgin Gorda by 8:25 or so. We were loaded in one of the open air taxis with other people and made it to Baths in 10 minutes or so. We went down the path to the Baths and then walked through the Baths to Devil's Bay. We had a 5 year old with us, and at times my husband had to hold her, because the water was deep for her. 3 of us had water shoes, I didn't, was wearing flip flops, but it wasn't too bad. You just have to take your time and be careful as you're going through some narrow spaces. We saw a few people with scraped up backs and bruises, and one lady on the ship the next day had a full arm cast, but we were fine, just taking our time. We spent the rest of the morning swimming at Devil's bay. There were a lot of tour groups coming and going, so at times it would get a little crowded and sometimes it would be pretty empty. We left around 12 to go up to the top and then caught a taxi back in time for the 12:40 ferry. There were a LOT of people waiting for that ferry and not everyone got on it, they gave preference to people with SPEEDY's bracelets (glad we bought taxi tickets from them!). However, as our ferry departed, we saw another Speedy's ferry coming in, so I'm guessing everyone made it on time. In summary, it was a very enjoyable experience, I'm glad we got up early to catch the 7 am ferry. If we took the 9 am ferry, it would work, but we would feel much more rushed and not have much time to swim at Devil's Bay.

We'll be in Tortola on the 29th of July, docked 7am-3pm. We want to do Baths on our own. Speedy's has a ferry that leaves at 7:45 and 9, is it realistic to try to make a 7:45 ferry if the ship docks at 7?

If not, 9am going there and 12:40 coming back - is it enough time to get us back for 3pm ship leaving and enough time at the Baths? I was thinking of walking down "against crowds" to Devils Bay first, then making it through the Baths to the other side to go up.

Thanks in advance.

Thank you so much! I guess we'll decide that morning - if there's no wind will go to Sapphire and if not, we'll try Secret Harbor!

Magens is a good choice with a toddler for the reason you noted, and for many it is a beautiful beach and bay and is certainly rated highly for that reason. But it just gets so crowded in the area you want to be to use the amenities, and with 2 ships in port we'd be looking at either Sapphire, Secret Harbor, or Lindbergh Bay.

 

Sapphire is generally very calm but can indeed be affected by high winds and sea swells as can most bays, so to be safe it would be wise to look at a more protected beach.

Lindbergh Bay (aka Emerald Beach) is generally quite calm, and the Best Western Emerald Beach Resort has nicer facilities than Magens with an open-air restaurant and beach bar and much nicer restrooms.

Secret Harbor is also quite calm and another option. There's a beach restaurant at and a dive center that rents chairs as well as umbrellas. Also snorkeling if you do get the desire.

 

So any of these would be great choices, especially for a shorter time. Lindbergh is close to Crown if docked there, while Lindbergh, Sapphire and SH are all a 15 - 25 min taxi from Havensight.

Have a great cruise!

Thank you for the very informative post! We'll in STT on July 28th (I believe there will be 2 other ships in port on that day). We really would love to go to Magens beach, as we have a 5-year old and are looking for the calmest, clearest water possible, but worried about large crowds. We are not really snorkelers, looking for nice, clean sandy beach with calm water - sounds like Sapphire beach would be great, but depending on the wind can be not so calm, correct? Would you recommend another beach or should we just stick with Magens? We are planning to go with Dean Chinnery for a short island tour at 8:30 am and then spend most of the day on the beach. Thank you!