Tortola Charters

[sdchickie]

We did the group tour. I felt we had just enough time to snorkel, although we aren't the type that want to snorkel for more than an hour or so. I do wish we had more time to explore the boulders. Since you are doing a private tour I'm sure you can let them know how much time you want to spend doing each thing. They are really accomidating and want to make you happy with your day.

Nstar11 - They have a dingy that they will take you to shore in if you don't want to swim. Here's a picture of the dingy, there was a little motor on the back of it.

Here are a couple of the crew making drinks for us.

[dst]

Thanks so much for the pictures, now I am really excited. We will be so excited to spend a day snorkeling and enjoying the day.....

[seahunters2000]

What is the reason - we are not using them until January and are doing a private tour to the Baths but was curious as to why.....

 

 

They have a mandatory boat inspection with the B.V.I. Coast Guard. Just trying to keep things safe.

[awayatsea]

Just got back from a day on White Bay Beach, JVD on a tour from Tortola . After reading many posts we hope the following points will help:

 

1. Tours from Tortola(private or off your ship) anchor in White Bay where the Soggy Dollar Bar is located. Yes, you must swim maybe 50-100 ft to go ashore. Only about 150 souls live on the island. Some small tour boats will dinghy you ashore. Beach has a gradual drop and is safe for children who can swim ashore. Some tours/daysails leave from the west end of Tortola (taxi) some right from the port of Road Town.

 

2. There is excellent snorkeling at a shore reef on the west side of the bay. Stay clear of the narrow channel letting the boats in (red & green buoys).

 

3. Yes, White Bay beach is beautiful white sand and usually no surf. Deck chairs are free. There's also a few beach hammocks.That is why Conde Naste travel labeled it among the "10 best in the Caribbean".

 

4. Yes the "Painkiller" drink ($6) at Soggy Dollar is powerfull. You can carry $$ ashore in a "baggie" in your teeth. Dollars are the BVI's currency. There are small souvenir shops there too.

 

5. Foxy's Bar is in Great Harbor over a steep hill from White Bay. Take a cab for about $5, unless you hike regularly for an avocation.

 

6. Look for small day-sail type tours like we did on the "Kuralu" and you might get a gourmet lunch, open bar, stop at Sandy Spit (a deserted 1 acre snorkeling island ) and only have 12 aboard.

 

7. Don't be surprized if your day trip to tiny JVD is the highlite tour of your cruise. We've been to 15+ Caribbean islands on both private and ship tours and our private daysail to JVD rates as among the best.

 

8. Enjoy! Dan & Cheryl of Awayatsea

[seafun]

Thanks for your helpful information. I'll be there a week from today! WooHoo! :)

[Tak8]

I have to agree. It's a great spot. I went there from St. Thomas. A little more effort, but it was definitely a highlight.

[nabby]

I have to agree. It's a great spot. I went there from St. Thomas. A little more effort, but it was definitely a highlight.

 

Who did you use to get from St. Thomas to JVD? I'm looking at different options for next year.

[awayatsea]

consider using http://tortolacharters.com/reservations/...

Spanky, please be aware that on our recent 10/22 Dawn sailing that a couple groups of charterers were left stranded by Tortola Charters. They are a booking agency not the boat owners and apparently their primary responsibility is to the NCL tours. If they run out of boats going over to JVD you "may" be out of luck. Just a warning. It may have been a one time occurence due to the heavy CC message traffic that created a lot of demand for travel to JVD on our 10/22 Dawn board. Be careful-- that is why we booked "Kuralu" at $110pp instead of the less expensive one you are considering. Good luck, Dan of Awayatsea

[Spanky My]

Tortola charters have returned all my emails promptly and I feel good about using them. I have read many good reviews and I doubt if there were issues it would not be covered many times on this board.

 

I appreciate your concerns but feel very comortable with the price and their responses I have gotten they seem very proffessional . I will post upon my return in early march of how things went using them. Stay Tuned!!!

[oh2cruise]

We are using them in early December and I agree, their correspondence has been very timely and professional! I will post a review of our wonderful day with them!!

[martyap]

We are using Tortola Charters next March. All of our emails have received quick and accurate replies. We are completely confident TC will deliver the services they advertise........Marty

[docandbabe]

Tortola charters have returned all my emails promptly and I feel good about using them. I have read many good reviews and I doubt if there were issues it would not be covered many times on this board.

 

I appreciate your concerns but feel very comortable with the price and their responses I have gotten they seem very proffessional . I will post upon my return in early march of how things went using them. Stay Tuned!!!

 

Not to worry Spanky. I am also on your specific tour (as you know; bottoms up! :p) and my research tells me that there are NO other ships in Tortola on our date of 2/26/2011. Like you, I am very comfortable with them and they were very prompt with accepting my reservations (and with NO MONEY DOWN!).

 

Don

[Spanky My]

My research shows (4) ships in road town tortola on Feb 26th... Here is the link.....http://cruisett.com/ports.php?PortID=605&date=30 Spanky

[Tak8]

When I went to Jost Van Dyke I used VIBE charters. They have a website. They repsonded to e-mails quickly and the trip was great. I have also heard good things about Big Blue Charters. Good luck and enjoy the excursion.

[sblackfl]

Tortola Charters was far and away are best excursion during our cruise. We chose the Jost Van Dyke tour. It was awesome. The boat ride over was enjoyable. After anchoring and getting the items to shore, we snorkeled with Bill and many others. He stayout out with us after many had gone back in. During that time, he actually went down and brought a sea turtle to the surface. He pointed out colorful fish and knew them by name. The Soggy Dollar bar made the best pain killers ever. It appeared all had a great time. In fact it was so good, we have already booked with Tortola Charters for March, 2011.

 

If you are looking for a great time, Tortola Charters is where it is at. You will not be dissappointed. Simply Amazing!!!

[Spanky My]

for your reply... Many of us on our Millinneum cruise on feb 26th in tortola have chosen them for our trip to JOST!

 

Glad to get a CURRENT testimonial about their servises.... Several folks because of my posts on the Feb 26th millinneum cruise haven chosen them!!! It is nice to get a reconformation of what I told my fellow passengers!!

[MissRabbit]

I had a slightly different experience with them a few weeks ago. We had a smaller group going (only 8 of us, all from Cruise Critic), so they switched boats on us. Instead of having the Blue Star, which has angled stair access and a dingy to transport the non-swimmers and your stuff, they had a dinky little boat that was just big enough for the 8 of us. The water access was a vertical ladder hanging off the platform by the motors.

 

The water had quite large swells, which wouldn't have been a problem if we'd been in the boat we were supposed to be in. Instead, it was so jarring coming down on each wave, that our backs and tailbones were killing us.

 

Once we got to the baths, we had to either leave our stuff on the boat, or haul it with us while snorkling to shore because there was no dinghy to transport it as promised. No biggie as we had a dry bag. Now here's where it got interesting. I had been in contact with Bill over the previous months to make arrangements for me. I am quite overweight and had confirmed 2 things with Bill.

 

1. that the boat used had angled ladders for easy access as i would not be able to use the vertical ladders. He assured me that would be the case.

 

2. that since the Baths had quite a number of very small spaces to get through and quite a bit of climbing, that i would be able to skip the guided baths tour and just stay on Devil's bay beach. I'd just see whatever grottos and caves i could physically handle.

 

So as i've already mentioned, #1 was out the window. Fast forward to arriving on Devil's Bay Beach. Our tour guide REFUSED to let us stay behind. He said he was responsible for us (which i can understand) and held up the rest of the group, forcing us to go along. I kept telling him that there was no way we could fit in those tight spots, that I had made arrangements with Bill to remain behind, but the tour guide wouldn't budge. I was in near tears but none of that mattered to him. Now, i *did* end up making it through the Baths, but i was so bruised up, in so much pain and shaking by the time we got to the other side that i was ready to pass out. I had to keep telling myself to keep going cause if i died, they'd never get me out of there. And i kept holding up our group as i was going slow, which i felt terrible about. BTW, the guide doesnt' actually stop during the tour through the Baths for you to explore caves and grottos. It's just a straight through jaunt from one end to the other. You're allowed to go back in them on your own if you wish, though, but i was so exhausted by then, i couldn't handle another minute in them.

 

So we just snorkled in choppy water which tossed me around like in a washing machine (yellow flag on the beach) which has nothing to do with Tortola Charters, but which added to my already miserable experience. A couple hours later, we snorkled back out to the boat and I struggled up the ladder to get into the boat. If i hadn't felt like i'd just climbed mount everest (going through the Baths) i probably wouldn't have gotten up into the boat.

 

Speaking of the boat, we had just left the Baths when the motors went sputter sputter sputter. Seems they had gotten bad fuel the night before and apparently they had been aware of it. Maybe they didn't think they'd be using the 2nd fuel tank, i dunno, but it was nervewracking to say the least. We eventually limped our way back to the ship with about half hour to spare.

 

I'm sure they are a wonderful company. They have a great reputation and dealing with Bill in emails was very quick and efficient. This is why i chose to go with them instead of with anyone else. They were wonderful tour guides as far as pointing out islands along the way and were very friendly. This i will give them. I just wanted to post my experience as a warning that if there are any arrangements you made with Bill, to perhaps email him just prior to your cruise to confirm things are still a go. Had i known it was going to be a dinky boat and that i wouldn't be able to skip the tour of the Baths, as was previously arranged, i would have cancelled my excursion with him.

 

My experience would have been COMPLETELY different had the following not happened:

 

1. They swapped out the regular large boat with angled water entry for a tiny boat with vertical water entry.

 

2. The tour guide didn't honour my deal with Bill to skip the guided tour of the Baths, forcing me to go through them.

 

3. They didn't replace the bad fuel. (even if they hadn't known they had it, which it appears they did, if they had done a check to make sure both fuel tanks were operational, they would have discovered the bad fuel)

 

I was so very much looking forward to The Baths as they looked stunning in photos and videos online. I wanted to wade through the water in the grottos and see Mother Nature at work. Instead, I simply was praying for the time to pass quickly so i could get back to the ship ,nurse my cuts and bruises, take some pain meds and have a nice nap after that exhausting experience.

 

I hope and pray you have a wonderful experience, i really do. I hope there are enough in the excursion for Bill to warrant taking the regular boat. I hope, if you aren't in very good physical condition, that you are prepared to climb and crawl and squeeze cause you won't be allowed to stay behind as promised. I really don't like to say anything disparaging about a reputable company but i really felt strongly about my experience and don't want anyone to encounter what i did.

[Spanky My]

They(TORTOLA CHARTERS) took a boat from Tortola that only was big enough for (8) folks to virgin Gorda ? Really?

 

Just need some clarification as we are going to Jost van Dyke with a larger group and he indicated both boats were similiar in size and hold atleast 30 to 50 so.

 

If your post is accurate I will send another e-mail. But something does not sound right based on the info we have recieved. So let me know...Spanky

[MissRabbit]

They(TORTOLA CHARTERS) took a boat from Tortola that only was big enough for (8) folks to virgin Gorda ? Really?

 

Just need some clarification as we are going to Jost van Dyke with a larger group and he indicated both boats were similiar in size and hold atleast 30 to 50 so.

 

If your post is accurate I will send another e-mail. But something does not sound right based on the info we have recieved. So let me know...Spanky

 

 

yup. there were 2 seats in the bow of the boat, 2 in front of the driver/wheelhouse and a bench in the back for the other 4 people. all the pics i have of the boat are just little bits of the bow that really don't show the size of it. I believe both his "regular" boats are relatively the same size. I don't know whether he just rented out this smaller one for the day or what. All i know is that the 8 of us had a place to sit without any room left over.

 

I'm attaching a few pics. it doesn't really accurately show the size of the boat, but the last pic (of the 8 of us) is us crowded in the bow of the boat. The wheelhouse is the thing on the right, and the back of the boat was not quite as much room as what you see in the bow. That's it for the boat.

 

Obviously, if you're going in a larger group, they'll use their "regular" boats. I would highly recommend, though, that just before your cruise, you call to get confirmation as to which boat it is that you'll be using, just so you don't have to go through what we did.

 

But to be honest, the size of the boat was the least of the issues, for me anyway. If it had been just that, i would have just said "oh well" and enjoyed the day anyway.

[dst]

Very interesting - thanks for sharing your experience. We are using Tortola Charters in January on a private tour of 12 of us. I will be sure to ask Bill some of the concerns that you posted, one being of who/how to bring our dry items ashore......

 

Sorry your experience was not the best but you did get to see one of my favorite places in the world :D

[MissRabbit]

 

Sorry your experience was not the best but you did get to see one of my favorite places in the world :D

 

i only wish i had enjoyed it. I look at the photos of the place now, and it's like i wasn't even there. Trying to figure out how best to explain it. Was so upset and in pain that i really couldn't take in the beauty that was there. I had looked forward to it for so long and now i look at the pics and i know i was there, but i wasn't able to enjoy my surroundings.

 

I wasn't going to email Bill about this as there's nothing that he could really do to fix things, but talking about it today has made me realize that while he can't fix my experience, this might help avoid it happening to anyone else in the future. So i think i will email him, if only to let him know what happened.

 

Have fun in January. Hope you have a fantastic and enjoyable time. I've only been home for a couple weeks now but i'm itching to go cruisin' again.

[dst]

i only wish i had enjoyed it. I look at the photos of the place now, and it's like i wasn't even there. Trying to figure out how best to explain it. Was so upset and in pain that i really couldn't take in the beauty that was there. I had looked forward to it for so long and now i look at the pics and i know i was there, but i wasn't able to enjoy my surroundings.

 

I wasn't going to email Bill about this as there's nothing that he could really do to fix things, but talking about it today has made me realize that while he can't fix my experience, this might help avoid it happening to anyone else in the future. So i think i will email him, if only to let him know what happened.

 

Have fun in January. Hope you have a fantastic and enjoyable time. I've only been home for a couple weeks now but I'm itching to go cruisin' again.

 

 

I understand, when you are so stressed it removes any enjoyment from the situation, did you contact Bill after the trip - what was his reply? I am interested to know how they respond to something like this

 

I think you should book another cruise, that will help you through your depression ;)

[MissRabbit]

no i never contacted him cause there was nothing that could be done about it, really. But i think i should, just to let him know. He was excellent to correspond with prior to the cruise so i don't doubt it will be just as excellent now. I'll let you know what comes of it.

 

And yes I agree, another cruise would be the best medicine. :)

[Spanky My]

Thanks for your reply. Since there are a large Crowd from our ship going to JOST from Tortola,I feel comfortable it will not BE the same boat as the numbers could be 20 or more.

 

That said sorry you had an issue ,but I feel good about Bill/Tortola charters responses and will post when I get back to let you all know how it went.. Spanky

[ericstacie]

We arranged a trip to the Baths; however, the waves were too big. Bill said it was not worth the risk, so we would go snorkling at "the caves". I was very skeptical but he did not pressure us to go in the least. After talking with the fam, we decided to do it, what the heck. It was already in the trip budget and it was better than walking around aimlessly.

 

We had a great time. Everyone had fun, saw some neat stuff, and was allowed to exolore at their own pace. Then we went to a beach with a bar (i snorkled instead) and had more fun. We returned with about 15 minutes to shop, and had a super time, though YMMV.

 

I told the family it was like planning a trip to Paris and the plane taking you to Rome. Not what was expected, but still a great trip to Europe