My wife and I are experienced boaters and sailors. We will be staying on St John in March and would like to rent a power boat without captain for a couple days to explore the North shore of St John, and hop over to Jost Van Dyke for a day. What companies would you recommend? We are looking for about a 25 foot center console or small catamaran power boat.
Thanks!

Nauti Nymph rents their 28' and 29' without Captain. I would give them a call and see what they are looking for in experience. I don't believe Ocean Runner is renting without a Captain, but that is worth a call.

If you're looking to explore the BVIs, customs & immigration is a factor. I understand the appeal, but it might just be easier to hire with a captain.

Cheers, RickG

Rick, check that again, Nauti Nymph has a mandatory Capt rule at least 2 years old. If you have a Capt. License or if you have been a regular renter he knows you can go without a Capt

Yep, worth a call to Nauti Nymph, despite what their web site says. I do know folks who have rented from Nauti Nymph recently, but they are experienced with local knowledge. I've been hearing a lot of horror stories about power boat rentals being returned with prop damage and worse.

Cheers, RickG

You can explore the north shore in a rent-me dinghy...

We have bareboated in both power and sail a dozen times since 1991. I'm an ASA Sailing Instructor, and also have ASA Bareboat Certificate. Also a United States Power Squadron member with many of their certificates. Only thing I don't have is a captains license. Think they'd rent a boat to me?

I thought Nauti Nymphs rented out of Red Hook.
Good to know they're in St John

Nauti Nymph and a few other companies will rent you a boat w/o a Capt if you can demonstrate a reasonable level of boating competence - really the only reason to obtain a Captains License from the USCG is to carry Passengers for Hire - working as a paid Captain or boat owner ------ it is expensive to acquire and even more expensive to maintain, unreasonably so, if you are not a working Captain and have the initial sea time to qualify.
It will be extra hard to convince a rental company to rent you a vessel for 'a few days' - they will not want you operating after dark and there are VERY few places in STJ to keep the vessel safely or legally overnight. Give it back to them at the end of the day and tell them when you need it in the morning - why have 24 hr. responsibility anyway??
[altouchet] - I would think you would easily qualify to rent a boat from any rental company here with your experience and a bit of chart reading demonstration.
You don't need the boat after sunset or before sunrise why pay for the vessel responsibility ?

Ocean Runners is Cruz Bay recently changed hands. One of the new owners is Captain Jay Rushing. Not me. They will still rent their smaller boats without a skipper. Jay's a good guy and is refitting the current boats and adding some new ones. Give them a shout. They will want the boat back at their base in Cruz Bay every evening.

Nauti Nymph as far as I know requires a captain now. The are Red Hook based but they are the vendor for the Westin on St John so you can get one of their boats there.

Thanks, and I should have mentioned we intend to return the vessel to the rental company at the end of each day.

We used Ocean Runners in December 2013 while staying at Caneel Bay. They approved me to take the boat on my own based on my experience sailing in the BVI and elsewhere. The cost of a captain for the day was only an additional $60. I decided to go that route so I would not have to worry about my painkiller consumption at the Soggy Dollar. Turned out to be a wise choice!