Caribbean - Travel from Tortola to St. Thomas

I will be taking a chartered boat cruise in November of this year. The charter is scheduled to end at 12:00 p.m. on Sunday the 20th in Tortola, our flight is out of St Thomas at 3:20 that afternoon. I've been told that the ferry is highly unreliable and oftentimes runs way behind. Does anyone have any good ideas for getting back to St Thomas in time to make our flight? I've contemplated flying but it seems terribly expensive.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I have to disagree. In my experience, the ferries in the US and British Virgin Islands (with the exception of the North Sound Express headed to Beef Island) are quite reliable.

That's good to know. So do you think three hours is enough time to get on a ferry, get to St. Thomas and clear customs?

3 hours is a bit tighter than I'd like it to be, but I think you should be fine, provided the ferry schedules cooperate.

The best bet would be you get dropped off at the West End, and taking a ferry from there to Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas.

The second best bet would be getting dropped off in Road Town and going from there to Charlotte Amalie.

The third option from either of these two is getting dropped off at Red Hook, St. Thomas. However, with Red Hook you'll need to plan for an hour's drive to the airport.

Great. Thanks for your thoughts. I believe we are being dropped off on the West End so hopefully, we'll make our flight in time.

Good luck.

I'd contact the following companies.

Speedys - http://www.speedysbvi.com/
Smith's - http://www.bviferryservices.com/
Native Son Ferry - http://www.nativesonferry.com/
Road Town Fast Ferry - http://www.roadtownfastferry.com/

3 hours is a bit tighter than I'd like it to be, but I think you should be fine, provided the ferry schedules cooperate.

The best bet would be you get dropped off at the West End, and taking a ferry from there to Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas.

The second best bet would be getting dropped off in Road Town and going from there to Charlotte Amalie.

The third option from either of these two is getting dropped off at Red Hook, St. Thomas. However, with Red Hook you'll need to plan for an hour's drive to the airport.

From my memory, the Ferry from Tortola going to Red Hook has to stop in St John to clear customs as there is no customs office in Red Hook.

Whatever you do, make sure you are one of the first passengers off. Getting through customs at Charlotte Amalie is an ordeal off the ferry. They are not quick at processing people at all.

Ouch. I forgot about that.

OP, where are you flying to from STT?

We are flying into JFK and from there home to LAX. Do you think it's going to be a problem?

We are flying into JFK and from there home to LAX. Do you think it's going to be a problem?
If you miss your flight, you'd likely be rereouted through SJU... what day of the week is your flight?

If you miss the flight, you might get lucky and rereouted STT-SJU-LAX.

Our flight is on a Sunday. Normally, wouldn't want to fly through JFK but we are using miles and fortunately have First class upgrade the entire way home. Makes the extra miles a little more palatable.

STT can be a mess, particularly on weekends. You're also going to have to taxi from the ferry dock to STT.

Also, the drive from Red Hook to STT is closer to 30 minutes IME, unless there is unusually heavy traffic.

If you're calling the shots on the charter, get dropped off at West End early enough to catch a ferry that will have you in Charlotte Amalie no later than 1:30 pm, or Red Hook by 1.

That's good to know. So do you think three hours is enough time to get on a ferry, get to St. Thomas and clear customs?

Quite simply, no I don't. I would assume a minimum of 3 hours from the time the Ferry departs Tortola, and 3.5-4 hours would be much more comfortable.