We have a 10 day charter coming up at the end of June with Navigare (Marine Max is their BVI partner) and am considering doing our night before on St. Thomas at Emerald Beach resort. In the past we have always stayed on Tortola the night before but I am now thinking we could be on the beach an hour after landing if we stay at Emerald and just wake up and catch the 8:30 to Road Town. Has anyone done this? Does the timing work ok? Also, Navigare is new to us, have any of you had experience with them? I see they are a TTOL sponsor which is great. Thanks! Cheers

Your plan sounds like a good one - Emerald Beach is very close to the airport and your cab ride in the morning to the ferry will be quick too.

Not at all a bad idea..throw in dinner in Frenchtown..preferably " Oceana" and its a great relaxing way to start..

Did this once (2012). Showed up at the ferry dock at CA for the 8:45am ferry only to be told it was cancelled. Got a later ferry, and so didn't get to the marina until around 11:30am. Fortunately, this being our first time, we had booked a checkout skipper for the first couple of days - he was waiting on the boat for us, had accepted the provisioning order, done inventory, and was ready to do briefing on the water, so, after a quick lunch, we were away just after 1pm. However, had we not had him we'd have been on the dock until at least 3pm. For this reason, I wouldn't do it again.

Just one anecdote ....

We did this / took the 7:00-7:15 am ferry out of Red Hook. One of the ticket counter workers asked us: "How did you find out about this ferry?". The ferry boat was mostly empty. We arrived at West End and taxied to Nanny Cay. We arrived before the Horizon Office opened at 8:30 and had to walk around for awhile. Work out great! rrs

Ben Gale, that is my biggest worry, something happens with the ferry. Looking at the schedule it looks like Smiths and Road Town Fast Ferry leave at 8:25 and 8:30, am I seeing this correctly? In the past we never had ferry issues but want to make sure there are some back ups!

We had a similar situation this past December. We stayed at the Windward Passage hotel, which is directly across the street from the CA ferry terminal (we were more concerned about getting kids and a ton of luggage there than with beach time). The hotel was more than serviceable and not too expensive, and we walked to the ferry terminal the next morning and got the first ride to Road Town. A side benefit was trying out Gladys' Cafe, which was a treat.

We also rented from Navigare (1st time). I did a lot of research and phone calling to reassure me it was a real company with real boats, but everything's on the up-and-up. The checkout was efficient, and since it's not a huge operation like Moorings, we got off the dock at a reasonable time (I think 1:30 or 2). The only problem with Hodges Creek marina is that there isn't really anything else there, so unlike Road Town there's not much walking-distance shopping. Otherwise all good!

Yep - that's what I see - it's good to have a couple of options - you'll probably be fine. When we did it (and it was 5 years ago, so I'm a bit hazy on it), I think the initial view was that we'd need to wait for the Noon ferries - not good! However, someone behind the desk managed to convince a boat going to VG to stop at RT on the way, so we were only delayed by about an hour.

Have fun!

Ben