Jost van dyke day trip review 7/21/09

[dolfandude]

I posted this on another thread but figured some might like to see it so I wanted to give it it's own title!:)

 

FYI....... I write my reviews like a diary so I can read them in the future and relive my experiences!

 

We came to St. Thomas aboard the Carnival Glory on July 21st 2009.

We are a family of four. Myself, wife and two daughters, 22 & 18.

We booked the Big Blue back in May for a ½ day trip to Jost Van Dyke and Sandy Cay. Captain Wilson was great with his email communications and phone calls. Some on Cruise Critic suggested I could not safely do this trip without missing the ship! We figured since we had 10 hours on St. Thomas that we could…. And did….with time to spare.

 

We were scheduled to dock at 10am but because of high seas and bad weather the night before we were delayed docking until 11am. I called the Captain around 9:30 from my stateroom and advised him of the situation. I also had a cab booked (suggested by Capt Wilson) and called Ali to let him know what was happening. Here we had a slight problem. Ali had a fare already booked for 11:30 and asked us to wait until noon for him. I was bound and determined to get off the ship in the first wave and succeeded!

 

In fact we were actually the very first people to get to the cabs! Usually the cabs want to wait until they're full before leaving but I asked for one to take us directly to The American Yacht Harbor in Red Hook and they were happy to do it! It did cost a little more and I tipped him well. The ride itself was an adventure.

We arrived at the Big Blue around 11:30 and were met by Captain Wilson and the first mate Jewel.

The weather was overcast with a 70% chance of rain. Seas were 5-7 foot! But nothing was going to stop us from see Jost Van Dyke. For those of you who don’t know, Jost Van Dyke is located about 5 miles north of St. John in the British Virgin Islands. It’s thought of as the last true Caribbean paradise. No high rise hotels. In fact, only one small beachfront cottage hotel! It’s known for its beach bars and lazy days. And I do mean true beach bars. Right on the sea. Sand floors. Open to the elements. Kenny Chesney (the superstar country singer) brought attention to Jost in a song back in 2005. The island didn’t get electricity until 1992!

 

After giving us a quick tour of the boat (he had the drinks I requested and snacks) we were off. The ride was bumpy to say the least but none of us had any problems with seasickness. We headed to Great Harbour to check into customs first. I had furnished the Captain with all our required information the week before and he had all the papers filled out when we first arrived. All we had to do is sign them and give him our passports. It took about 25 minutes to get to Jost Van Dyke. The Captain did a great job of steering the boat across the waves to avoid the big ups and downs! When we got to Great Harbour we headed to the front of the customs office to “ask” permission to visit their island. After this formality the captain told us we could head down the beach to Foxy's Famous beach bar while he submitted our passports and paperwork.

 

Foxy’s is actually rated as one the five best places to spend New Year’s Eve in the world! The legend says that there are so many boats anchored that you can walk across the harbor without getting wet! We ordered some of Foxy’s famous drinks and spent about 45 minutes there. Very laidback folks. Nobody was in a hurry to do anything! But in a good way. Took some photos and bought some tee-shirts and souvenirs. Walked the beach back to the boat and headed for Sandy Cay. Sandy Cay is located between Tortola and Jost Van Dyke. It was about a 15 minute ride. It is a deserted 7 acre island with a beautiful white sand beach and plenty of coconut palms. The Captain anchored the boat about 25 yards offshore in about 12 feet of water and we swam to shore. The water is crystal clear and the bottom was sandy. We felt as though we were the first people ever to walk on the beach. Tortola is only a couple miles across the channel and my girls got a kick out of us being in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” home port. I had brought a “dry bag” for our cameras and it worked great. We took lots of photos! We spent about 30 minutes exploring and relaxing and then made the swim back to the boat and headed for White Bay.

 

White Bay is a picturesque bay with pristine white sand and a place where many boats drop anchor. It’s the home of several more beach bars. We anchored in waist deep water and waded to shore. There are no docks on White Bay. The Soggy Dollar and Ivan’s Stress Free bar being two of the near world famous ones. We hit the Soggy Dollar first and ordered lunch and a Painkiller drink. This bar claims to be the inventor of the famous BVI drink and it was great. A blend of white and dark rum, cream of coconut and pineapple juice and sprinkled with West Indian nutmeg. And some secret ingredients also. We insisted on having Captain Wilson and Jewel join us for lunch. Most of us ordered the jerk chicken sandwich and it was delicious. We chilled there for a while. Very relaxing.

 

Then we decided to walk down the beach to visit Ivan’s. Ivan’s is about a 15 minute brisk walk from the Soggy Dollar and you have to walk up a hill and through a field of ocean rocks to get there so if you go, wear shoes! The Captain and Jewel went back to the boat to take her down to Ivan’s and meet us. When we got there it was empty! No electricity was on. There are no doors to the place. We thought it was closed until my wife walked through and out the back and ran into Ivan! He’s a mellow island man about 65-70. It was just him and us! He made us all drinks and we talked for 10 minutes. He’s good friends with Kenny Chesney and has pictures all over the walls of the bar with him and Kenny. He knew exactly when Kenny was coming back to see him and told me!!!! Sorry but I’m sworn to secrecy!! Took some pictures with Ivan and said our goodbyes to Jost Van Dyke and headed to St. Johns for some sightseeing.

 

We had to be at the Cruz Bay (St. John) customs office by 5:30 and we had about an hour to get there. We decided to tour Cinnamon Bay, Honeymoon Bay, Trunk Bay and the beautiful St. John coastline. We’d been to St. John in 2004 and almost booked a house for a week before we decided on this cruise. We will definitely stay in St. John in the future. Jost Van Dyke is a little too slow for a whole week but we figured that we could stay in St. John for a week and go over to Jost Van Dyke for one night and two days. Get the best of both worlds.

 

Customs went fast and we were in and out in 10 minutes and on our way back to Red Hook in St. Thomas. It only took 15 minutes to get there. We were riding the waves so it wasn’t that bumpy at all. We were back at the American Yacht Harbor a little before 6pm. We said goodbye to Captain Wilson and Jewel and Ali was waiting for us in the parking lot. It only took Ali 20 minutes to get us back to Havensight. Traffic was very light. We did some quick shopping and were back onboard and eating dinner a little after 7pm!

 

All and all it was an awesome day trip. Would we do it again? Of course, absolutely, heck yes! Captain Wilson is very informative and was really concerned about us having a good time in light of the weather and sea conditions. Captain Wilson will take you wherever you choose to go. I researched my trip extensively and knew exactly what I wanted to do but if you don’t, he can suggest something that I guarantee will leave you satisfied and wanting to do it again! It actually only rained on us for about 5 minutes the whole day. We could see St. Thomas getting pounded by rain around mid afternoon. Nothing was going to stop us from having a blast on Jost Van Dyke and we did. We plan on doing it again next year when we cruise on the RCL Oasis of the Seas. I would highly recommend Captain Bradley Wilson and his Big Blue charter boat for an experience that you'll not soon forget. Thanks Skipper!

[Tak8]

I really appreciate the review. I have wanted to get to Jost for a while and your review, although just one experience, helps me to see it is doable in a day at St. Thomas. I'll be there over Christmas 7-6 and plan on booking with Big Blue. One other question. I know you bought lunch. Did you tip at the end? When we did private day sail, the Captain normally said you can tip the first mate if you want.

[CaribbeanBound]

Nicely detailed review. Can we get some idea of the costs?

[ricks2047]

Nice overview. I too must say go visit Ivan. Perhaps the nicest person on the planet.

[kcparrothead]

Nicely detailed review. Can we get some idea of the costs?

 

I, too, would love to know approx. how much this cost.

[stones902]

Sounds like it worked out. Good job.

[k9mama]

Dolfandude, thanks for the thorough review! I am glad that you made the trip and enjoyed it so much.

[dolfandude]

I really appreciate the review. I have wanted to get to Jost for a while and your review, although just one experience, helps me to see it is doable in a day at St. Thomas. I'll be there over Christmas 7-6 and plan on booking with Big Blue. One other question. I know you bought lunch. Did you tip at the end? When we did private day sail, the Captain normally said you can tip the first mate if you want.

 

Yes I tipped the Captain at the end of the day when I paid him for the trip. Also, check out Trip Advisor for more Big Blue reviews. They helped me.

Steve

[dolfandude]

Nicely detailed review. Can we get some idea of the costs?

 

I paid $575 for the 6 hours trip. $100 for BVI customs and $75 for fuel. Plus lunch, Painkillers and souvenirs on JVD. We splurged! It was worth EVERY penny! :D

Next time we're going to have two more couples and split the costs.

Steve

[dolfandude]

Some pictures.

[Tak8]

Thanks for the photos. I'm planning on booking for December.

[dolfandude]

Thanks for the photos. I'm planning on booking for December.

 

I'd suggest emailing the Captain to make sure he'll be "on island" during the time you're coming.

Steve

[dolfandude]

A couple photos from Sandy Cay. It's between Tortola and Jost Van Dyke. We anchored there and swam ashore. It's beautiful.