blue_water

😮 wow - that is pricey for a private tour!

Most day visitors experience the historic sites and beautiful beaches of STT first, and head to STJ on subsequent visits. But many day visitors do make a bee-line to STJ and never actually see STT because the STJ just quieter calls to them… The island of STJ offers a nicer shopping experience in Cruz Bay than in Charlotte Amalie, as well as gorgeous beaches, and historic tours. A great itinerary is just hopping one of the safari taxis hauling folks to Trunk or Cinnamon Bay. The driver will invite you to stay on for an hour tour of the historic north shore, then drop you at a beacjph, or back in Cruz Bay. St John Bracelet Co custom-made a Hook bracelet for my wife while we toured the island. You can also hire a private tour guide and see more of the island… Charlotte Amalie boasts the most shops and duty-free shops of course, and there is an interesting history there, just a very busy place. So you have two choices! ☺️

Yes Captain Malcolm is who charted many of the excursions before as well…

I would choose one of the East End beaches like Secret Harbor or our first choice, Sapphire. Honeymoon on Water Island is just too crowded anymore in our opinion, and with 12 hours in port you have so many options that are better. You could also go to a nice beach on St John like Cinnamon Bay or Honeymoon. Nice time in port! If leaving later I’d also recommend dinner at a restaurant overlooking the harbor, Mafolie perhaps… There is a thread with a brief description of the STT Beaches I had shared a few years back if you want to search for that, most if the info is still useful…

Yes the water taxi out of the East End (Dolphin, for example), or a private charter like Calypso out of STJ or cruzbaywatersports.com. But be sure to read up on the current entry requirements…and cost…

An easy meet & greet would be at Pusser’s Road Town Pub, a 10 minute walk from the cruise pier… https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Tortola+Cruise+Ship+Pier,+De+Castro+Street,+Road+Town,+British+Virgin+Islands/pusser's+road+town+pub/@18.4218152,-64.6203533,16z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x8c0576acfe77f291:0x115ffa1119c98d05!2m2!1d-64.6138107!2d18.4227841!1m5!1m1!1s0x8c057182de331997:0x546317d4939344af!2m2!1d-64.6181249!2d18.4198687 https://pussers.com/ Or you could meet at a beach if you’d like? There are a few to choose from…

Yes as Daniel noted, a shared island tour is a great and affordable way to spend 3 or 4 hours seeing the natural beauty of the island with amazing photo ops from the mountain top. It is a good choice for folks with very short port times! And yes there are several other excellent excursion options, whether your ship is at Tortola, Virgin Gorda, or Jost. A day on VG or JVD, on your own or through the ship, a catamaran or power boat adventure, or just a nice day on gorgeous beach away from your fellow cruise mates…The islands of the BVI are one of the few remaining destinations that still offer that secluded beach for the savvy traveler 😉

No we’ve not been there this year but with all the sailing outfits out of Road Town and Nanny Cay there are others. I know ocean Magic Mitch offers private charters and can accommodate you but that would be a power boat rather than a cat. But because it is a powerboat you can actually hit Sandy Spit and Jost, then head east to the other islands. I had checked on the cost of this tour pre-pandemic with Magic Mitch, in 2019 it was $1,000 for up to 6 ppl ($800 + $200 fuel). He has pricing for up to 12 ppl. Captain Malcolm’s special: A tour of the breath-taking Baths; Virgin Gorda, stop at Cooper Island or for a drink, lunch, and a drink then snorkel off the rocks by Cooper, the infamous Willy T floating bar for a drink and/or lunch as kids love to jump off the back of the 2nd-level deck, then finish your day with spectacular snorkeling at the Caves (1 of the top 2 snorkeling spots around - blue tang and stoplight parrotfish) and a stop at Pirate Bite Norman Island. He also had a special boat and price for COUPLES (23’ Contender seats up to 3 passengers): $550 plus $200 fuel includes captain, snorkel gear, and a cooler of beers, waters, and sodas https://www.facebook.com/Ocean-Magic-Mitch-Island-Tours-1673134279639995/ You may also want to check the TTOL BVI forum to see if any other daysail operators are sponsors there, or someone there may be able to help if you post this question there. TTOL is a sailing forum… http://www.traveltalkonline.com/ubbthreads.php/forums/7/1/british-virgin-islands.html

Yes using the cruise line excursion you are severely limited on Tim. That’s why the vast majority of return visitors do the self-excursion whether going to STJ or anywhere. Also no queues waiting for the slower folks in the group…

I know there are often changes but we’re seeing discrepancies between various sites. Is one site more reliable/accurate than others?