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Dinghy rental in Coral Bay?

Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2017 2:52 pm
by tochin
Is it possible to rent a dinghy to explore the south side of the island from Coral Bay? I thought perhaps Crabby's watersports would rent them but I didn't see that option on their website. Any ideas?

Thanks,
-=Todd=-

Re: Dinghy rental in Coral Bay?

Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2017 4:50 pm
by hoosierdaddy
I have never heard of anyone doing this. I think it would be great to rent one and visit the Willie T. Although there maybe a issue not checking into customs.

Re: Dinghy rental in Coral Bay?

Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2017 7:30 pm
by Coconuts
HD: "Although there maybe a issue not checking into customs..."

Well, yeah! I once managed to promptly double our international sales, simply by recalling that Canada is in fact a different country. In a similar vein, you really do need to clear customs upon entering the BVI (a service they don't offer at the Willie T, irrespective of what their bartender says), and then back again when you return to St. John. It's not as though they'll say "Oh well, he was only in a dinghy".

All the best,

Kevin

Re: Dinghy rental in Coral Bay?

Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2017 10:46 am
by RickG
Crabby's used to offer dinghy rentals, but no more.

Customs is a sticky issue. The BVI marine enforcement folks look for exactly this kind of thing and are happy to seize a boat. As do the DHS guys tooling around in their go fast boats. To do this you must:
- Check in and out with BVI customs, Sopers Hole Tortola in this case
- Check in at US Customs in Cruz Bay

If your captain has a LBO (local boaters option) or SVRS (small vessel registration system) registration then they can check in on the phone or online, but you will still have to go to Cruz Bay in person. But, you can drive. No short cuts for the BVI.

Finally, I own a 40' sailboat and a 10' dinghy. I would not dinghy that far. You are going against current and almost always against the wind. It would be a wet hard ride going to Norman.

Cheers, RickG

Re: Dinghy rental in Coral Bay?

Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2017 11:06 am
by tochin
Somehow this question got changed into taking a dinghy to the BVI's. That was not the intent of the question. This was strictly a dinghy rental to cruise around Coral Bay, Hurricane Hole, maybe up to Haulover South if possible. Never intended to leave the USVI's.

Thanks,
-=Todd=-

Re: Dinghy rental in Coral Bay?

Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2017 11:25 am
by RickG
Todd, there is no option to rent a dinghy. There are some good kayak options. Check out reef2peak.com; they have rentals on Hansen Bay beach.

Cheers, RickG

Re: Dinghy rental in Coral Bay?

Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2017 11:25 pm
by Joppa
I "heard" that there is a guy that is going to be setting up out at Hansen. He will be teaching free diving and renting dinghy's or skiffs. Reef to peak is also out there and rents kyaks but you can't go very far. The ladies the run Hansen have some kyaks that you can borrow from them for a donation and they don't limit where you can go.

Re: Dinghy rental in Coral Bay?

Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2017 9:02 pm
by RickG
We met Rob from Vital Freediving in January. He is a very interesting guy and I am very interest to try a class with him. But, no mention of kayak/dinghy rental when we were there.

http://vitalfreediving.com/

Cheers, RickG