Dinghy to Coco Maya

Happy Saturday everyone. We are headed down in a month with our two daughters. Last year, we visited St. John, kept the boat in front of Honeymoon, and used the dinghy to visit Cruz in the afternoons. When we traveled back to the boat after dinner in the dark, I didn't love the trip with daughters who were 11 and 13 at the time. I had a relatively bright LED flashlight, but it was a joke in these conditions - so I just bought a cordless / waterproof spotlight on Amazon for this year that is much stronger. I also used my iSailor app on my phone, which helped since I couldn't really see. My hope is that the LED spotlight will make me much more comfortable using the dinghy at night this year.

My question is whether it is feasible to anchor the boat in Little Dix Bay and have dinner at Coco Maya by dinghy. My app says it is a little over 1.5 miles, but my recollection is that it is rocky in front of the restaurant. Does anyone know if this is a feasible distance to travel back at night and if there is a place to put the dinghy at Coco Maya after the hurricanes? By the way, we will have a 15 hp. motor on the dinghy, so we will be able to plane and travel faster.

Thank you for your feedback. We plan to stay at Leverick the next night, but we would like to eat at Leverick instead of renting a car and heading to Coco Maya (we have done this before and it is also a good option).

Steve

In case you are interested, this is the spotlight I bought. It is really bright, waterproof, and relatively light.

https://www.amazon.com/NoCry-Waterp...sr=8-3&keywords=spotlight+waterproof

It’s not possible to safely make that trip at night in a charterboat dinghy. There is way to much boat traffic and it can be rough. Spend the night at Leverick and cab over. If you have to do the night dinghy option spend the night in St Thomas bay. Keep in mind many local boaters run very fast at night often without lights.
George

Bad Idea DO what GeorgeC1 says.

I wish it was possible to stay in Valley (Big) Trunk overnight. The sand is just too soft. Thank you for replying!

Honeymoon Beach to Cruz Bay is a relative piece of cake in comparison.
I might try that trip in the daytime...with absolutely flat seas...with 1 passenger...in my own dinghy where I trusted the engine.......but absolutely not at night under any circumstances. You have to pass around the reef north of St Thomas Bay (the post-Irma missing buoy marking the reef had not been replaced as of 2 months ago) and then somehow find your way through the reef passage by Coco Maya (unless you head into VGYH and manage to not get off course near the marina entrance and get swamped by the breakers).

Has anyone anchored in Little Dix Bay overnight? I am looking for a good place to stay one night close to the Baths and don't want to stay in the yacht harbor. My assumption is that we will not be able to go on the beach if we anchor in Little Dix Bay. However, we will not arrive until late afternoon, so this is less of a concern.

Thank you!

When we visit the Baths in a month or so we plan to get there early (from Cooper) and leave around 1-2pm for either St. Thomas Bay moorings or Marina Cay moorings.

Steve, we have overnighted in Long Bay, which is really nice - just a couple of bays up the coast. You can tuck up in there pretty good.

BKFitz - Has the 90 min rule on the NPS moorings at the Baths changed? That always felt tight to me.

I don’t know about the 90 minute rule but at noontime last week there were plenty of mooring balls left