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Dinghy rental St. John


poolhalljunkie

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There were dingy rentals right by the ferry dock. Cannot remember the name, but because of the time we got there and left, it wasn't cost efficent. They had 2 sizes and it looked like alot of fun. I'll see if I can find the name. They had a web site and you could book on line. It was a full or half day. As I said the times didn't fite for us.

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I am waiting for a trip report from someone who is there right now trying to do a dingy rental. They are going to try a group called CruzBay.

 

CruzBay is not in the business of renting to cruise ship passengers (I'm guessing they'd get too many no-shows and cancellations, or just don't want the large crowds) so they seem to be more set-up to deal first and primary with people staying at the Westin Resort and other resorts on St John. But they look to be a first class operation, with first-class equipment. So I have made plans to rent from them during my trip- on the Ruby Princess.

 

Their policy was that if you show-up and they have a boat available they will rent it to you...but no advanced reservations.

 

Since I will be there during a holiday weekend, I asked if they could help me assure a boat to rent, and I suggested a pre-paid none cancellation reservation. Deirdre talked to her management and they agreed to help me. I appreciated it!

 

The folks that are there right now, simply decided to go with the flow, and see if a boat was available when they showed up.... if not, they had a "plan B" to rent a car and drive to different snorkel beaches.

 

They have two locations... but the rental boats seem to be stationed at the Westin Resort, which would require a taxi ride from the port where the Ferry lands on St John.

 

Hope this helps :D

 

 

Deirdre

Cruz Bay Watersports, Inc.

Cruz Bay Store

PO Box 252

St. John, US Virgin Islands 00831

Phone: 340 776 6234

Fax: 340 693 8720

Westin Resort St. John

PO Box 8310

St. John, 00831-8310

Phone: 340 693 8000

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  • 2 weeks later...

We've rented dinghies twice before in St. John; both times from Noah's, which is right beside the ferry dock. I believe Cruz Bay Watersports works mostly out of the Westin resort, and have some bigger "zodiacs" (with a center console steering wheel), but I think they have a booth somewhere in downtown Cruz .

 

I doubt that you would have any problem finding one at either Noah's or CBWS. In fact, it may be better to play it by ear, and especially check the weather and water conditions before heading out in a dinghy. The first time we did this it was a beautiful calm day, and we had an absolute blast!! The second time... not so much. It was windy and rough, and we spent most of the time beached at the sheltered bays after being tossed about and having waves slap us in the face!

 

If its a calm day, I highly recommend it! Get some drinks, water, snacks, etc. in Cruz Bay, and head straight out to Waterlemon Cay for some great snorkeling! On the way back you can stop at a number of awesome beaches. But if the ferry ride over from St. Thomas is rough and windy, and you see white caps in the channel between St. Thomas and St. John, its probably best to skip the dinghy and either hike, rent a car, or take a taxi to the beach.

 

It'll be a great day either way! Have fun!!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Glad to hear a few of you have rented before. Can anyone tell me about rules for the boat?

 

Since most of St John is a Nature Park, I'm wondering if you can anchor the boat while snorkeling or if they make you pull it up on the beach for fear of damaging the reef?

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We're considering renting a dinghy @ St. John. How was the snorkeling at Watermelon Cay and the other beaches? Is the snorkeling off these beaches close to the beach, or farther out? Where was the best snorkeling? If anyone has done the Dinghy rental and a snorkeling tour, which do you think was the best snorkeling?

 

I appreciate any info.

 

Jacki

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Mark... Noah's has an instructional video they make you watch, which shows you the rules and tells you which beaches you cn drive onto, and which ones you have to anchor at. I would imagine Cruz Bay Watersports offers similar instruction. The rules are actually pretty simple. There are red and green channel markers at the beaches that you're allowed to drive onto (stay between those markers as you go into the beach), and (if memory serves) there are other markers telling you you can go no closer at the other beaches.

 

JJ... Waterlemon is basically a small cay off the coast of Leinster Bay. There is a very small sandy "beach" at one end of Waterlemon, but you can't drive the dinghy onto it. They have mooring balls spaced out in the water on one side of the cay, so you simply tie the dinghy to an open mooring ball and jump in and swim over. The real trick is getting back into the dinghy when you've finished snorkeling!

 

Waterlemon has some of the best snorkeling on the island. Other beaches you can get to from the dinghy with good snorkeling are: Francis, Maho, Cinnamon (has a cay, and also a small crashed airplane and some interesting underwater stuff to see), Trunk (beautiful, and has the underwater snorkel trail around the cay there), Gibney, Hawksnest, and Honeymoon and Soloman, which have good snorkeling on the rocks in between the two beaches. You can reach the snorkeling spots from off the beach at all of these...

 

I'm pretty sure you can beach the dinghy at all of the beaches listed above other than Waterlemon. I think you have to anchor at some of the smaller beaches like Jumbie, Denis, and Little Cinnamon, if you want to see any of those. Also, you can actually reach a couple of the larger cays, but you have to anchor there and the current was moving pretty good when we were there, so we were nervous about getting out...

 

Again, pay attention to the weather and surf conditions on the ferry ride over, and if its a calm day, I highly recommend doing the dinghy! Have a great time!!

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.The rules are actually pretty simple. Waterlemon has some of the best snorkeling on the island. Other beaches you can get to from the dinghy with good snorkeling are: Francis, Maho, Cinnamon .....quote]

 

Thanks so much for the details. This is just the kind of info I was looking for :D

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Mark... No need for dive flags. Pretty much the only boats that are allowed to come ashore are dinghies, and they have to use the designated areas away from swimmers. So just don't snorkel near those areas and you'll be fine.

 

Junkie... I'm so jealous!! St. John is my favorite place in the whole world! We've been there a few times for land vacations, and also for several cruise stops. Is this your first time there? You're going to have such a good time! Are you renting a villa? What part of the island are you staying on? Renting a jeep? Let me know if you have other questions, and I'll try my best to answer them! BTW... I'm up in Kingsport. Go Vols!!

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2Feathers,Yes it is our first time to St John. We are very excited. We are staying in a place in Cruz Bay. Not sure about renting a jeep yet or not. The place we are staying is close to town. I appriciate all the help. We are going to the bowl game for new years and hoping for the best.

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Junkie... You all will have an amazing trip, I'm sure! From Cruz Bay you can hike to Salomon, Honeymoon, and Cannel in about 30 minutes. Salomon is our favorite beach! Very quiet, beautiful white sand, calm clear water, and good snorkeling! You'll need a taxi to the other North Shore beaches...

 

I would recommend at least renting a jeep for a day or two and exploring the other side of the island. Its very easy to get around, and there is so much to see and do for such a small island.

 

Have fun, and let us know how everything went when you return! And have fun at the bowl game!

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Hey Everyone! I'm keeping an eye on this thread as I'm visiting STT on Disney Magic the first week of Feb 2010. I'd love to ferry over to St. John and rent a dinghy for 1/2 day....but we're only in port 8-9 hours. Please post any recent info, as the timing of cabs and ferries will be critical to planning my trip. Thanks and Happy New Year!

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I've been looking for information online about Noah's little arks. I've found reference to them and even ads. When I click on them, it takes me to a site called "Book-it", but I don't find anything about Dinghy's on the site. Does anyone have a website etc for them? Thanks! We're leaving in 2 weeks so I'm trying to finalize plans.

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We just got back :D

 

We did the rental with CruzBay at the Westin Resort. Thanks to the staff of both

CruzBay and the Westin very helpful and great to deal with.

 

We had lots of fun. But the seas must be very calm. We had a nice day, and it was

still a very wild ride. I like wild, but the waves get big very fast. (photo is in a protective cove)

 

I loved the boat, because I had one when I was a kid. But it would have been better

to drive to beaches in jeep or hire a taxi for the day...if you want to enjoy snorkeling

and the beach.

 

RubyPrincess570asmall.jpg

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We just got back :D

 

We did the rental with CruzBay at the Westin Resort. Thanks to the staff of both

CruzBay and the Westin very helpful and great to deal with.

 

We had lots of fun. But the seas must be very calm. We had a nice day, and it was

still a very wild ride. I like wild, but the waves get big very fast. (photo is in a protective cove)

 

I loved the boat, because I had one when I was a kid. But it would have been better

to drive to beaches in jeep or hire a taxi for the day...if you want to enjoy snorkeling

and the beach.

 

RubyPrincess570asmall.jpg

Glad you had a great trip. We are planning to make it over to St. John from Crown Bay on our own. How did that go for you? How long did it take. Any suggestions? Thank you.

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:D I had 5 pages of notes.... it turned out to be very easy :)

 

We got off the ship in Crown Bay as early as we could, and got a taxi.

 

Then you sit for 10 long minutes as the taxi driver tries to fill up his van before he will leave. :rolleyes:

 

But I didn't see any real problem with rush hour traffic... it was 8:30 and I was expecting more traffic.

 

We drove all the way over to RedBank? RedHook? (already forgot the name?) and thought we'd see more of the island by road, and take the shorter ferry ride to St John as compared to the other Ferry option that was closer to the cruise ship dock but a longer boat ride.

 

Catching the ferry was very easy, very professional set-up and easy to use at both ends. (coming and going). We got there a few minutes before 9:00 and walk right on the 9:00 and it left 5 minutes after we sat down.

 

The cab ride scared my wife (she's afraid of heights and drives like a little old lady)... our driver was not afraid of heights and drove like a pro race car driver. LOL I thougt the taxi ride was a great tour and got to see a lot of the island.

 

Once on St John... we rushed to get in a taxi over to the Westin resort to pick up our boat rental.... Only to be stuck sitting for that long 10 minutes again, while our taxi driver looked for other people to fill up his van for the trip :rolleyes:

 

We had lunch at the Westin Resort and it was amazing! Very beautiful place! We had the bests Lobster rolls (and my wife is from Cape Cod so we know the good stuff).

 

That's my basic trip report. Many days of planning, trip turned out to be easy and no big deal :D

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Mark... Thanks for the update and review! I know you said the water was rough, but can you tell us which beaches you went to? We've only rented from Noah's in Cruz Bay and headed North and East toward the North Shore beaches.

 

Leaving from the Westin, which is a couple of bays west in Great Cruz Bay, which direction did you go, and what beaches did you see? Did you find any good snorkeling? Where was your photo taken?

 

Thanks!!

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Mark... Thanks for the update and review! I know you said the water was rough, but can you tell us which beaches you went to? We've only rented from Noah's in Cruz Bay and headed North and East toward the North Shore beaches.

 

Leaving from the Westin, which is a couple of bays west in Great Cruz Bay, which direction did you go, and what beaches did you see? Did you find any good snorkeling? Where was your photo taken?

 

Thanks!!

 

Renting at the Westin was beautiful

 

We drove out from the bay at the Westin and took a right trun :D

The waves weren't bad, but it was still a very choppy ride.

We stuck our heads in the water in a few different bays and decided that

visibility wasn't good for snorkeling. So we took a 60 minute boat ride out and

then turned around as the waves got a little bigger and took a 90 minute ride

back to the Westin.

 

We had fun! But after great snorkeling at Princess Cay, and with Bonaire

coming up next on our trip... we weren't worried to turn our day into just a boat

trip. We didn't do any beaches because of danger of swamping the boat in the

surf trying to get in or out.

 

We had lunch at the Westin and a swim on their beach right where we rented

the boat, very pretty resort :D

 

RubyPrincess20101182small.jpg

 

RubyPrincess20101213small.jpg

 

RubyPrincess20101184small.jpg

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