New Ferry Runs Added

Saw this on the BVI Community page:

Road Town Fast Ferry has two new trips added to their schedule on WEEKENDS ONLY 12:00 pm from Road Town and 5:30pm from Charlotte Amalie. So the departures from Road Town are as follows 7am 10am 12 noon and 2:30pm. From Charlotte Amalie 8:30 12:00pm 4:15pm and 5:30pm...and questions please call (284) 494-2323 or (340) 777-2800

I talked to Bobby of Road Town Fast Ferry today. He said the new weekend 17:30 ferry from Charlotte Amalie is going to monitor the flights and wait on passengers of delayed flights. This should keep tourists and locals from being stranded on St Thomas.

Don't hold your breath - BVI ferries do not have a good historical track record...........

On Sat Nov 29th we got to STT around 3:30 expecting to take the 5:30 FF to Roadtown. Asked several of the guys around the cab stand and they all said we had to go to Redhook. I don't know if it ran or not, if they just weren't aware or if we got snookered on that one. I'm thinking we'll have all the ferry numbers and try calling when we land but I'm sure they'll find a way to defeat me on that (like not answering).

You should have been able to take a Smiths or Native Son ferry out of CA, if not a RTFF. I think the taxi guys may have just wanted a higher fare. It's not hard to have them stop at the CA terminal on their way to check what's still available. This is why we like to use Kevin for STT taxi service. He knows exactly what is available and he even helped line up a Speedy's late ferry for our group when the last Smith's was full and Speedy's dropped us off at RT on their way to VG. Kevin is de man!

beerMe, calling the ferry offices Saturday afternoons has not worked out so well for us. I call the day before, preferably a weekday not at lunch time.

Cheers, RickG

my 10c...we had zero issues this trip with the ferris. we had choices every 1/2 hour sunday morning between 9 and 1030, they all ran out of road town
had three choices when we came in in 1/2 hour increments when we arrived at CA...from 1530 to 1700. not bad.

now the tip....

yes we all know how nice the providence-town II is....big, smooth, comfortable, beer at the bar. but it really can be a bad choice. it takes way more time to load and unload+you have WWAAYY more people in the C&I line to boot. we did a time comparison with the bombi charger (that also stopped at another place. They still would have been 1.5 hours shorter in actual door-to-door time.

On Nov. 9th, the new 5:30 run hadn't been added yet.

Ah, sorry it was actually Nov 29th, corrected that above. As
we passed the CA ferry dock I looked back and saw there was a big ferry there, couldn't tell which one but not the Bonba Charger that was just before 5pm. There was actually someone on their cell talking to someone I think lived on VG who suggested stopping by the ferry to check. The driver didn't seem enthused and there were a couple of groans from others as well. We wanted to do that to but we chickened out, a bird in the hand and all that and I try real hard not to play the ugly American (but my wife has no problem playing the ugly Greek)!

Thanks SeaSea,
I like the idea of having someone you trust helping out. I can probably get his contact info from a search but if you have it handy I'd sure like it! I assume this would usually be a private taxi and not one of the van rides right outside the luggage area?

Kevin's # is 340-643-0025 and his Facebook page is here:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kevins-Taxi-Service/357669961072914

Thanks Rick (I'm Rick too),

Completely understand about calling just before and around lunch time. This June I'll try calling once or twice a day or two out and see if we can hook up with Kevin too!

Yes, Kevin runs a private taxi service. You arrange for him to meet you as you arrive at STT. He stands at the area just past the free rum thimbles with your name on a sign. He isn't part of the large van taxi circus just outside luggage pick-up.

340-643-0025. Best to call or text him several weeks out. Email is kevintaxi101@yahoo.com, but sometimes he doesn't respond very quickly to emails.

Thanks Tradewinds! Such a great service TTOL. Reminds me of the time we were at Anagada and I was looking for someone who boiled/steamed lobster instead of grilled. Within 15 minutes I had two people tell me Neptune's was da place (at least I think it was).

What ferry company is running the Provincetown II ? also is it common for a ferry to sell out so even if you are there on time you cant get a ticket? I am hesitant to buy a ticket before due to the fact you don't really know who runs when other than RTFF. Down there Presidents week so worried about the sold out factor Saturday the 14th of February

Road Town Fast Ferry runs that boat..never buy tix in advance..go to the counters, check schedules and then pay up. Rarely do ferries fill completely up..

I'll add another little trick I learned was not to buy the round trip ticket. You may end up having to wait to use the return portion (a competitor may have a better schedule) or not be able to use it at all. The loss of flexibility on the way back is not worth the small savings IMHO.

I had never seen one run out of capacity either.....until last July when our group of 6 needed to catch the last one out of CA. RTFF was down, Native Son wasn't there, Smith's was running Bomba Charger and a large group of teenage kids arrived at the terminal just before we did, probably a sailing or diving camp. Smith's said they only had 3 seats left! Fortunately, Kevin seemed to be aware of that from the time we left the airport and was on his cellphone the whole trip trying to arrange an alternative. We wound up on a Speedy's cat that first dropped off cruise ship passengers, then continued on to RT before going to VG. I'm pretty sure Kevin talked them into the RT dropoff. Only about 8-10 people got off in RT.

SeaSeaRider, my daughter was probably in that group of teenagers headed to Lifeworks and Actionquest sailing camps. They have crew change over every three weeks and every two weeks all summer long. Kudos to Kevin!

Cheers, RickG

Yep! Lots of kids in various summer programs down there. Looks like great fun! Wish I had known about that as a teenager (although the programs probably weren't around in the stone age!).

Manpot, thanks for the reply. I have been down and taken the ferry 3-4 times over the last few years NP and make it work. This time the wife is down a day after me so I want cover all the bases for her. We will be based in Cane Garden Bay Feb 13-20 looking forward to seeing some folks . Happy hour with Capeye for sure

Thanks for the e-mail address.