Dinghy rental in Coral Bay?

Travel discussion for St. John
Post Reply
User avatar
tochin
Posts: 50
Joined: Wed Sep 09, 2009 1:15 pm
Location: Cary, NC

Dinghy rental in Coral Bay?

Post 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=-
Image
User avatar
hoosierdaddy
Posts: 920
Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2009 11:53 am
Location: Indiana

Re: Dinghy rental in Coral Bay?

Post 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.
Coconuts
Posts: 621
Joined: Fri Nov 25, 2011 7:41 pm
Location: Southern NH, USA

Re: Dinghy rental in Coral Bay?

Post 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
User avatar
RickG
Posts: 5396
Joined: Wed Aug 23, 2006 3:06 pm
Location: Coral Bay, St. John

Re: Dinghy rental in Coral Bay?

Post 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
S/V Echoes - Coral Bay - St. John, VI
User avatar
tochin
Posts: 50
Joined: Wed Sep 09, 2009 1:15 pm
Location: Cary, NC

Re: Dinghy rental in Coral Bay?

Post 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=-
Image
User avatar
RickG
Posts: 5396
Joined: Wed Aug 23, 2006 3:06 pm
Location: Coral Bay, St. John

Re: Dinghy rental in Coral Bay?

Post 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
S/V Echoes - Coral Bay - St. John, VI
Joppa
Posts: 433
Joined: Mon Mar 09, 2009 6:07 pm
Location: NH

Re: Dinghy rental in Coral Bay?

Post 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.
User avatar
RickG
Posts: 5396
Joined: Wed Aug 23, 2006 3:06 pm
Location: Coral Bay, St. John

Re: Dinghy rental in Coral Bay?

Post 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
S/V Echoes - Coral Bay - St. John, VI
Post Reply