We went the day before (the 26th) on the same 10:00am ferry and we would have difficulty making a 1:30pm flight without extra help (Red Cap and TSA Pre-check). Although there were no major problems, the time still disappeared and it took about 3.5 hours from leaving the dock in Tortola to being in the terminal waiting for our flight.

The 9:45 also beat our boat in by about 3 minutes (watched it pull in the harbor in front of us) and we waited about 25 minutes before pulling up to the dock. While I’m sure they play some games (including schedule times), the delay in this case was Customs. . .you could see them doing a walk-around of the boat after it had been on the dock for 20 minutes. We ran into the same problem on the way to Tortola with the boat in front of our ferry having a Customs inspection in St. Thomas (they can only accommodate one boat at the inbound dock) while our boat sat in the harbor for 20 minutes waiting for it to clear before they could pull up to unload and then move forward to load us. We were towards the front of the line to get off the ferry, but with the shuffle off the boat and a few people pushing past us, we ended up 5 or 6 parties back. Combine this with the non-resident line seaming to get priority and add 25 minutes. After all was said and done, it was after 12:00pm before we walked out to the cab line.

We had a 3:30pm flight, so we stored our bags and walked to McDonalds (kid’s choice). Back a little after 12:30, but it was 12:45 before we left for the airport (a few minutes loading luggage and a few minutes waiting for another party to be added). Even with no line at the Jet Blue counter, no line to drop our checked bags and relatively small line at security (queue was only about ½ to ¾ full, but not down the hall like I’ve seen it, but still took 30 minutes to get through) it was still a little after 2:00pm before we got into the terminal.

At each step on the way, I kept saying this really isn’t bad. But when all was said and done, it was 3.5 hours. . .we left at 10:00am and were not in the terminal until after 2:00pm (minus 30 minutes for our trip to McDonalds). Looking back, I think the issue is more the limitations with US C&I/Security than the ferries. . . it was an hour from the time we pulled near dock until we got through C&I at ferry terminal and 30 minutes in line at airport security.