Useful information on the British Virgin Islands

Update on additional travel options to the BVI, Oct 27th, 2007

We have had to look at a couple different ways lately to get guests over to the BVI, as the American Eagle flights can have weird times for coming and going, or poor availibility, not to mention being quite expensive. It has suprised me, as for a large group, charter planes almost come close to commercial prices in some cases and here is another couple options for people to look at. Also, I have found out that some private plane companies, which people bring down, cannot fly into Tortola insurance wise, as Tortola has not broadcast something in some safety update on the new runway. Apparently, our runaway is still not long enough to take some of the small private jets.
Anyways, this started by me researching for guests who's only options to fly out unless they stayed another night was very first thing in the morning. I contacted Caroline at FLY BVI (www.fly-bvi.com) and she provided me with the following current information:

The smallest is our twin engine Piper Aztec, which seats a maximum of five. The cost of a charter in the Aztec from San Juan to Tortola is $1046 one way. We may also offer our twin engine Cessna 401, which seats a maximum of six. The cost of a charter in the Cessna 401 from San Juan to Tortola is $1509 one way. And, as we have a nine seater Cessna 404. The rate for the Cessna 404 from San Juan to Tortola is $2007 one way.

I had specifically inquired on the 9 seater for guests. On top of the charter fee there is some US taxes which probably come up to about another $300.00. Additionally, if you are coming in in the evening and the Beef Island airport has to keep the lights on, it is $150.00 per hour to have the lights on for you to land!!! I guess that may come in handy!

The options are at San Juan:
If you come in private jet, then they can have the plane waiting right beside your handling agent when it comes in and you get on one right when you get of the other.

If you come in with just carry on, then you do not have to go out through security etc and just go to the new gate and new plane if you come commerical

If you come commercial with checked luggage then you have to get your luggage, recheck in and go back through security. They take a credit card # to "hold" the booking and then it is due about 30 days out.
If you have to do the pick up the luggage thing in San Juan, you can also pay a $150.00 fee and a handler will meet your plane, help you get your luggage, and get you back through security to your new charter plane, if you had checked luggage.

I think this is a good option for my large groups coming in.
Additionally, I found out the new rates for the Water Taxi (www.water-taxi.com) which travels between St Thomas and the BVI. They NO longer pick up on the waterfront, Homeland Security has not allowed them to for about 3 years now. YOu must go over to their depot at Red Hook, and taxi fares over there can be outrageous. $15.00 per person plus luggage for each of person and this is a discounted rate as long as you have 5. Not my words saying it is a discounted rate! It can be quite a trip on Cruise Ship days in the afternoon getting through Charlotte Amalie, so don't think if you give yourself twenty minutes you will be fine! The company can tell you how long your land transfer will take. Then it is $80.00 per person one way for the water taxi (again discounted for over 5) and $20.00 per person for the customs clearance. So, count on $115.00 pp one way (without gratuties) to come from Red Hook. They will however, bring you right up and dock up to Promenade right on our mooring and you step off the water taxi and onto the boat.
Keep in mind though, that they have to run while customs is open, so you cannot do this in the evening.

So, both ways, based on 9 people in the plane, $500.00 odd per person for both ways
based on 9 people in the water taxi from St Thomas, $230.00 plus gratuities.

Both good options if coming into Tortola does not work well or the ferry schedule from St Thomas does not work either.
Ask me when planning, I can help. These guests are set up with the plane coming into Beef Island from San Juan, they arrive about 8:00 pm at night, and since it is such a late arrival, we can meet them at Trellis Bay anchorage, provide them a late light dinner and breakfast and start our charter then, for less cost then it would have been for them to get off at the airport, take a cab, find dinner, and stay overnight in a cab with everyone and then get to the boat the next morning.

flying to the islands

Two major destination airports that you consider when heading to the BVI, are St. Thomas, USVI (STT) and Beef Island, BVI, (EIS). A lot of people go via St. Thomas because it is often cheaper than flying directly to Tortola (Beef Island), and you will usually get routed through San Juan, Puerto Rico when flying to the BVI. There are folks who save money by booking separate flights from the US to San Juan, then from San Juan to Beef Island, as opposed to booking straight through on one ticket. United and American both have non stop flights from the US mainland into St Thomas. If you are coming from Europe, London generally connects through Antigua to here and Air France will take you into St Maarten and then you can take local plane over. One important warning here is that if you get delayed in (or getting to) San Juan PR and miss your connection, airlines will not reimburse you for hotel stayovers unless you have booked the entire journey straight through on one ticketing. I usually recommend to my guests that unless the price to go into St Thomas is more than $100.00 cheaper per person, then it is just not worth the hassle factor. Anyone who has access to Spirit Airlines can find very reasonable fares into San Juan. Spirit airlines has just in the last couple days announced a daily flight from Fort Lauderdale getting into St Thomas about 215 in the afternoon, which is very convenient.Tortola has recently completed a runway extension that now allows small jets to land at Beef Island. American is now flying in larger planes, and we have more opportunity for private planes to fit now. There are also several private charter companies that will pick up up in St. Thomas or Puerto Rico, suprisingly, for a group of 9 to 10 guests, it can sometimes work out cheaper.

One small warning. When returning from STT, keep in mind that you will need to go through customs on your way out at the airport, even though you are a U.S. citizen, and you may have just done this at the STT ferry terminal coming in from the BVI. There's no problem, really. It's just that you ought to plan to arrive at the STT airport 2 hours before your flight. It's a nice, easy airport. If you are flying from Tortola over to San Juan, then you will clear customs and immigration there, then put your bags back on the turnstile to continue on there way to your connecting flight.

taxi tips

Wherever you arrive on the island (airport or ferry), taxies are always readily available to get you to your hotel. You do not have to make elaborate arrangements in advance, although for Promenade I usually arrange for Anselmo Potter to pick you up, as I have all his phone numbers if there is a problem and he always knows where the yacht is and has a large open bus to carry our large number of guests with their very small amount of luggage!

Many drivers will negotiate a flat rate for touring you around the island for a few hours. Again, don't be afraid to ask. The Tortolan taxi driver can be a wealth of knowledge.There are some great scenic views where you can see for great distances

If you are in a time-sensitive situation, it's sometimes best to avoid prearranged pickups to catch ferries or airplanes. Most driver's intentions are good, but they can easily get delayed. Having said that, it also depends where you are, in the middle of town or out in the boonies???

The fares are set per trip for up to 3 people, then it is on a per person basis. In general it is going to cost you about $7.00 per person per way to go from the airport to downtown Roadtown on Tortola. Ask in advance, but generally, they are all quite honest. You will sometimes be charged a premium for bags, and for solo rides, but there is an official rate schedule. For those spending a day or two on St Thomas, you can easily get around the main portions of St Thomas on dollar buses. Some of the fares to the country on the dollar buses have gone up to $2.00. These are a great deal, and also an experience if your idea of a local experience is sitting with many other people on benches on the back of a pick up truck, going around curves quickly!

There are cabs (almost always vans) that act as buses who are more oriented to the lighter shared fares. These cabbies often have their names in large letters across their windshields. Just flag them down (or any taxi-van) and ask them how much they want to go to your destination. Note that flagging down a cab, en route, usually yields a cheaper ride than walking over to a cab stand.

about ferries

tortola ferry routes There are numerous ferries running between the different islands of the US and British Virgins.There are also water taxi and shuttle services, like Dohm's, that will take you almost anywhere in the BVI and USVI. It you fly into St. Thomas, make note of when the last ferry of the day is heading for Tortola. It may be as early 4:00 or 5:00pm. As you can see from the map above, the ferry routes can get you almost anywhere, including Jost Van Dyke and Virgin Gorda. Anegada is best reached by air (or of course, your own charter boat). For the first-timers, the array of ferry companies can be a little confusing. You'll find Speedy's, Inter-Island, Nubian Princess, Native Son, Smith's, and others. In fact, these are different companies, but they all work cooperatively and seem to run together (often at the same docks, but not always). If you state your destination, and you're at the wrong ticket window, you will be cheerfully directed. Local folks also tend to think in terms of destinations, not ferry company names, so if you're asking someone for a ferry dock location or time, tell them where you're going. Tortola ferry dock in Roadtown seems to have quite an ongoing challenge for customers by the ferry operators. Barely have you stepped near the property when they are coming at you, taking your bags and leading you to their company. Note that you can depart St. Thomas from two locations, downtown Charlotte Amalie (STT) or Red Hook (RH). You can arrive on Tortola either at West End (WE) or Road Town (RT). You can see from the map above that a shorter taxi ride may mean a longer ferry ride. The total cost ends up more or less the same, so let the times and destinations be your guide. Personally, I'd rather spend more time on a boat than in a land vehicle.

There is a new ferry, called Tortola Fast Ferry. It goes strictly between downtown Charlotte Amalie (St. Thomas, USVI) to RoadTown (Tortola, BVI). This means no stops, faster customs, which they claim will save you over an hour, in total. I like the new Fast Ferry, it is much more convenient for guests travelling back and forth. You still have to check their departure times daily though, when I went to take them the other day, they said there was not one at that hour and sent me over to Smiths! (who by the way was doing the same run that Tortola Fast Ferry was doing!)

tips and practical info

Get there early... Leave early for the airport coming back. Plan to arrive at the airport 2 1/2 hours before your scheduled departure at the St. Thomas airport. Up until a couple years ago we used to not drop off our guests at the Tortola airport until about 45 minutes before there flight, you just did not need that much time to play with the chickens! Things have chenged with new security. 2 hours in advance, and they insist that you are through security 45 minutes before your flight leaves. Delays can happen in the islands - ferries, taxis, customs! It's island time, mon. Consider arriving a day or so early for your charter, and leave yourself a day on the back end. Or at least, try and get a later afternoon flight out. If you have hotel reservations for your first and last nights surrounding a yacht charter, call to confirm these before you leave home, just to be sure nothing has been lost in the easy going Caribbean mode.

using the phone

Sit down and fix a stiff rum punch because calling cards and pay phones in the BVI are a bit of a nightmare. US 800 numbers DO NOT work in the BVI, therefore most US telephone calling cards are of little use. Many of these DO work from the USVI, so you can sometimes find public phones called USADirect Phones where your calling card # might work. The problem is that even if you can gain access to ATT for example, Cable and Wireless BVI will often jam the connection and prevent you from exclusively using the ATT operator, thus costing you more money. Some people (notice, I say some) have reported that they can get their 800 calling card # to work by not dialing the 1, thus only incurring the additional cost of a call to the USVI of about $.40/minute. I am sure we have about the highest phone rates on the planet! I read a recent statistic that said the average US business telephone bill was $60.00 whereas here in the bvi the average PERSONAL telephone bill was $140.00!

The best choice for the casual, brief caller is the prepaid calling card sold by Cable and Wireless BVI. It has always been very expensive ($1.50/minute and higher), but in the BVI the rates have been lowered to a $.50 connect fee plus $.50/minute to call back to the States.

The phone exchange in the BVI is area code (284) 49 + the 5-digit local number. The old area code 809 is pretty much phased out, although it's used in the Dominican Republic. WARNING... the 809 area code has been used as 900-type number to scam dollars from unknowing stateside victims. The moral is, don't dial 809 numbers.

Cel phones...If you want the second highest rates in the world use BVI Boatphone, our local provider. Having said that, CCT Boatphone now has roaming agreements with many countries in the world, so in all probability your cel phone will roam here. You can contact Boatphone in advance for more information. When we have line of sight reception to St Thomas, generally anywhere on the north side of Tortola, around Norman Island and up the channel to about Salt Island then we pick the US cel towers like Cingular, and the cost goes down substantially

On Yacht Promenade we have a BVI and an USVI cel phone, and generally are in range for one or the other. We work on a honor system on the yacht where you can use them and count your minutes and tally it up at the end of the week.

internet access

Internet access is also becoming more available in the the bvi. Many anchorages have free or paid wi-fi access if you bring your own laptop you can easily download your email a couple times during the week at least. On board, we have a wireless air card and a small computer that guests can use to check their email in most places. It is not fast enough for surfing the net, but it is fine for email. Also, you can have emails sent to our surfbvi account that we access often and quickly on board.