Noahs Little Arks ??

[illusion]

I was just reading about someone booking a dinghy excursion on St. John out of Cruz Bay called Noahs Little Arks. They are 12' and 14' dinghys. I think it would be fun but was wondering if anyone has heard of them and actually gone. I Have to convince my sister it would be a fun way to visit multiple beaches without taking a cab.

 

I would love to hear your comments.

 

Jane

[Jeanne B]

We spent a week on St John last summer and I wanted to rent a dinghy but we never got to it, always too busy doing something else but I can tell you that they're very popular and we'll definitely rent one the next time we visit St John. You just need to be careful that you don't stop anywhere where you're so close to coral that you're going to step on it when you get out.

 

I've read that they can be a bit of a challenge to get in and out of for some but hopefully someone who has rented them will reply to your post and give you some first-hand experience.:)

 

If you rent one you need to be careful about the time considering you have a cruiseship to get back to by a certain time.

[2Feathers]

Jane... We've rented dinghies from Noah's twice, and I've posted about that before. Both times we rented for the full day and the first time was great! We were able to visit many of the North Shore beaches, as well as make it out to Waterlemon Cay, which is probably the best snorkel spot on the island, but is rarely visited by cruise passengers because its so remote. (You have to either hike or boat to get there...) We had such a blast that we decided to do the same thing on a later visit. However, the seas were very rough that day and the winds were up, and we tossed around for a few hours before turning the dinghy in early. We didn't make it to Waterlemon because it was just too rough, but we did get to Frances and a few of the more sheltered bays. It was still fun, but we were a little disappointed... not to mention tired of being tossed around by the waves and having sea water spray blown into our faces!

 

I guess my advice would be to try and gauge the conditions as you're coming across the channel in the ferry from St. Thomas. If the ferry ride is rough and you see a lot of white caps and feel strong winds, its probably better to just rent a car (which is also fun) or hire a taxi.

 

Noah's gives you a map and instructions about which beaches you can drive onto, which ones you can only anchor at or tie up to a mooring ball and swim in to, and where the reefs and coral are that you have to avoid. Its really very simple... even for me, who had only "captained" a paddle boat in our local lake before taking command of the dinghy and sailing the Virgin Islands.

 

As for getting back into the dinghy... Well, that is a bit awkward. You only have to worry about this when you have to anchor or tie onto a mooring ball and swim in to the beach. (If you beach the dinghy, you simply have to push it back into the water and hop in.) There is no ladder, and no really good place to put your feet to use for leverage in order to step up into the dinghy. And remember, the water will be over your head, so you can't push up from the floor... So you basically have to grab hold of the handles on the sides and yank yourself over and in. The sides are pretty high, and actually sit probably two feet or more out of the water. We never really figured out any special technique to doing this, other than simply trying to build a little momentum, pulling as hard as you can with your arms, and then swinging a leg up and over the side. Not the easiest (nor the most dignified) task when your, um, "center of gravity" is as heavily weighted to the rear as mine. If one person of your group actually manages to pull him/herself back into the thing, that person can help pull the others in with little problem, and you'll all have an extra funny memory of the adventure.

 

All in all, renting a dinghy is a great way to spend the day, and I highly recommend it, AS LONG AS THE CONDITIONS ARE CALM. Have a great time!!

[figmentdj]

Just back. Rented a twelve footer for half a day. The waves were so calm that we were past Waterlemon before we know it. Had to back track to snorkel. Getting in and out is a challenge. We brought a little rope ladder with us and it still takes a bit of muscle. Now that we've done it we'll try it again with some of the things we've learned, i.e the coastline, good spots to snorkel, how to get in and out, bring water, etc.

[illusion]

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply. This sounds like a lot of fun. We are experienced boaters so this should be fine as far as the operation of the dinghy goes. Glad to know they provide u with charts and/or maps of the beaches and which ones u can beach the dinghy. Can't see us trying to get back in from deep water so will just play it safe.

 

Lets hope we have calm seas that day.

 

Thanks again.

[Adeena62]

This sounds like a lot of fun! I'll have to remember this for our next trip out there.

[fbe2228]

I know this is a little late for the OP, but maybe someone else can learn from our mistake...

 

We called Noah’s Little Arks in the morning and reserved a dinghy for the afternoon. We were told that it would be ready for us when we got there. We arrived about 20 mins early, and as we were filling out paperwork, there was another couple there that had just walked in and was also filling out their paperwork. I do not believe that they had a reservation. We walked down to the dinghies and the employee put the other couple into the dinghy that was tied near the shore. Off they went, and the employee went to retrieve another dinghy that was tied just offshore. He towed it in, spent about 20 mins pumping water out of it and then had to fill the gas tank with fuel. I asked what time we needed to be back since we were now 20 mins late leaving, and he replied that we still needed to be back at the same time. We tried to depart in the dinghy, but the dinghy wouldn’t accelerate. Back to the shore we went. I located the employee; he came back down and retrieved another dinghy. More water pumping, more re-fueling. We tried to leave again. This one wouldn’t accelerate either. I have been a boater for nearly 35 years and have operated all kinds of boats including dinghies with similar engines. I knew that something wasn’t right with these dinghies. We went back to the shore. At that point, it was about 45mins into our 4 hour rental. There were a couple of the upgraded dinghies tied offshore that we could have used. We asked if we could just take one of those, and he replied that we could not. The employee drug the dinghy onto the beach and pulled out the drain plug. The plastic hull was full of water. We were not interested in renting a dinghy that has a structural problem, so we asked for our money back. He refunded our money, however it was now too late to rent with another company, so our day and our ferry tickets from St Thomas were a waste. This really was poorly handled since we had a reservation and were told that our dinghy would be ready. To not allow us to take another dinghy just because it is an upgraded one and risk the loss of business is a poor business decision. We should have listened to the reviews and booked with Calypso. Our mistake.