Egbert question

[Nrknits]

What time is best to catch Egbert at the main gate?

[PatriciaGail]

We docked at 8:00 and were off the ship by 8:45. Egbert was nearby, on the street outside the port area, "collecting" passengers for his 35 minute trek to Virgin Gorda. Unfortunately, his boat wasn't working properly as we had black smoke pouring from the engines and alarms going off. We had to slow down and it took us one hour to get to Virgin Gorda. We did this on March 6th. Not knowing what the problem was with his boat, we opted to take Speedy's back to Tortola. We did learn that he was able to get his boat repaired while docked at Virgin Gorda so hopefully all is well once again. The Baths were a lot of fun!

[Nrknits]

Thank you, we'll get off the ship first thing, and look for him, thank you for the info

[cruisegoer21]

I'm new to the board and hopefully not asking the same question as others. We've tried to reach Egbert but are unable to get through. I've tried every possible phone number combination that I could find and nothing. My boyfriend and I would really love to use this service and are wondering if we can just get off the cruise ship and find him? Does he make multiple trips during the day back and forth or just first thing in the morning? Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

[ValerieJo]

Just went with Egbert last Sunday. Amazing, not to be missed trip! The Baths are beautiful and the favorite stop on our cruise. Egbert gave me his card with the phone number listed as 284-443-5288. I suggest you try to call from a land line as it seems many cannot get through with cell phone service. Also be sure to meet Egbert just outside the fenced in area. He will be right at the gate waiting.

[cruisegoer21]

Thanks!!! I appreciate the help. I had my mom call to reserve spots for us. :) I'm glad you had fun. We are really excited!!! :)

[cruisegoer21]

THANK YOU! :) Booked with him today!:)

[cruisejoy]

We were in Tortola last week and caught him on the way to the ferry about 10:15 am or so.

[dalitos]

I'm going to post this in a few posts that mention Egbert as many of you have ridden to the baths with him before... do you have pictures to post of the boat, etc?

We are booked with him but want to research him a bit better since we have a 2 year old with us.. I don't want the ride to be too bumpy, even less unsafe, for him. Also concerned that he would drop us off a bit far from the shore.. we are 2 adults, 32 years old, and in good shape, so I guess we will manage to take our toddler to shore with us no problem...?

 

Also when I spoke to Egbert he told me he has 3 boats and would put us in the slowest one, but for what I'm reading here I got the impression he has just one boat, maybe he's referring to other people he works with?

[zazou]

We went with Egbert on March 1. You can find him just outside the gate. Many people will ask if you want to take a boat, just ask for Egbert and they will point him to you.

 

He had 2 boats at this time, the only downfall is that we have to wait to see if he can gather others passengers. It's was more a 50 minutes rides than a 35 minutes but we really enjoyed it, not really bumpy. The water was too rough to go directly to the beach then Egbert give us a 10$/person rebate to cover the price of the taxi and entry price at the gate of the park. Egbert arrange a taxi for us.

 

Our family loved the Baths and what were great with Egbert is that we can stay longer than with the ferry or the cruise ship excursion. It was much fun doing snorkeling without the crowd.

 

here is Egbert (he has is name on his shirt)

 

and both boats (we were on the bigger one)

 

 

Just a word of caution: is little free punch is very strong ;)

[dalitos]

Zazou, thank you very much for the pictures! The bigger boat looks quite nice and stable, I think it will work out for us if the seas are calm. Otherwise the ferry might be a better, safer, option.

[SWK]

I'm going to post this in a few posts that mention Egbert as many of you have ridden to the baths with him before... do you have pictures to post of the boat, etc?

We are booked with him but want to research him a bit better since we have a 2 year old with us.. I don't want the ride to be too bumpy, even less unsafe, for him. Also concerned that he would drop us off a bit far from the shore.. we are 2 adults, 32 years old, and in good shape, so I guess we will manage to take our toddler to shore with us no problem...?

 

Also when I spoke to Egbert he told me he has 3 boats and would put us in the slowest one, but for what I'm reading here I got the impression he has just one boat, maybe he's referring to other people he works with?

 

We traveled on the small/fast boat of Egbert's on 3/31 and it was VERY rough and bumpy. We had a less than positive experience on our return to Tortola and we ended up rushing to catch Speedy's Ferry back in time to reach the ship. With a small child, I would think twice as we had a nine year old and it was pretty rough.

[dalitos]

We traveled on the small/fast boat of Egbert's on 3/31 and it was VERY rough and bumpy. We had a less than positive experience on our return to Tortola and we ended up rushing to catch Speedy's Ferry back in time to reach the ship. With a small child, I would think twice as we had a nine year old and it was pretty rough.

 

Thanks SWK, I also saw your post on the other thread on this board and we are certainly thinking of taking the ferry.

[Gaynors]

Just returned from Tortola (4/5) and used Eggbert. Due to the choppy seas he couldn't take us directly to the Baths but we went to the Marina then took a taxi from there. We traveled with our 7 and 9 year old and even though the seas were a little rough they loved it. It was a great trip and I would recommend Eggbert to anyone wanting to go to the Baths.

 

It was also nice because we decided as a group as to what time we would come back that way you weren't set by the ferry schedule. As it was we were glad, since it was Carnival in Virgin Gorda that day and they had a parade down the main road, the taxi was late getting to us and had to take a round about way back to the marina, Eggbert waited for us (since you don't pay him until you get back to Tortola I could see why :D) the ferry wouldn't have :eek:

 

Watch out for that rum punch he brings though boy is it deadly :D.

[annpharm]

I used Egbert on 4/6. I personally was disappointed. Reservations don't necessarily help you. It seems like whoever gets to him first gets the larger boat (which my group did get, and it is very nice). He goes by what he calls Plan A(beaching the boat) and Plan B(taking a taxi like everyone else does), our groups impression is that he rarely if ever uses Plan A, which is why we wanted to use him. We wanted to avoid the taxi ride and beat the crowds. His boat is much slower than the ferry so because the weather didn't permit (there was a yellow flag flying on the beach) we had to go with Plan B, which he doesn't tell you til AFTER you are all settled on the boat. The "discount" he gives you covers the cost of the taxi, so it isn't truly a discount.

 

I searched these boards for info on Egbert and it seemed the good outweighed the bad but in the end I wish I would have just gone with the ferries. I don't think he is reliable (check some other recent posts and also because someone from our roll call didn't get to the pier as fast as us and ended up waiting an hour for him to fill another boat to over capacity). If you plan to use him I would be sure to know the ferry schedule for Speedy's and Smith's so you have a backup plan.

 

My group considered the trip to be a success because they all got hammered on the way back. I would have preferred to have gotten to the Baths faster and got my own rum punch at the beautiful restaurant at the top of the Baths. I don't really see what all the fuss is, but maybe that's because there were so many people I couldn't actually explore the Baths, it was merely an annoyingly crowded path through caves to a beach.

 

As for the Baths, I wouldn't want to take small children through the caves, as there is a LOT of waiting in lines and if they aren't the patient type, it could probably ruin any sense of relaxation. JMO!

 

We aren't the type of people to let stuff ruin our good time and while I did have a good time, it was my least favorite island and it had probably the best weather, as 2 of our stops had rain and I still preferred them!

[MIcruiser99]

I don't really see what all the fuss is, but maybe that's because there were so many people I couldn't actually explore the Baths, it was merely an annoyingly crowded path through caves to a beach.

 

Thanks for your review. What time did you get to the Baths?

 

We were hoping to get there right away in the morning when it wasn't busy. I was hoping it got busier later in the morning and into the afternoon.

 

Could you tell me more details on the time/crowds? Thanks!