More dinghy questions

[bremmerh]

OK, so now I know where to rent one from when you have one can you stop at the beach and then walk around. I guess I am asking can you "dock" the dinghy and then enjoy all the beaches in St. John?

[2Feathers]

Yes... and no. You can "drive" the dinghy up onto some of the beaches (no docks), but its not allowed on others, so you have to tie onto a mooring ball floating in the bay and swim in. The ones you can drive onto are marked by green and red channel markers. If you see those, stay between the markers and drive directly up on the beach.

2Feathers

[MandyGirl]

[color=darkorchid]Two questions...[/color]
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[color=darkorchid]1) Am I understanding that the NP beaches are the ones that you tie to and don't drive all the way to the beach? (Trunk, Hawksnest, etc) If so, what are some beaches that you can "beach it" that you would recommend for a day rental? (Honeymoon Beach, ...?)[/color]
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[color=darkorchid]2) I'm recalling that Shipwreck Landing (YUMMY!) was right by the water (across the street). However, I can't recall if that would be an option for a dinghy.[/color]
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[color=darkorchid]We're thinking of a day rental for a dinghy - and making the full circle of St John with lunch at Shipwreck Landing. Are we crazy?[/color]
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[color=darkorchid]Thanks... :)[/color]

[The Islander]

Hello,

I don't believe the dinghy rentals in Cruz Bay allow you to go passed Coral Bay so you won't be able to go full circle.

--Islander
[url]www.vinow.com[/url]

[MandyGirl]

[color=darkorchid]Thanks for the insight! :)[/color]

[nitnyleo]

Or, are there other dinghy rentals?

These sound like the best thing since speedboat rentals (but, since I've never "driven" a speedboat, these will have to do...)

[MandyGirl]

[color=darkorchid]I've seen [/color][url="http://www.bookitvi.com/nla.htm"][color=darkorchid]this website[/color][/url][color=darkorchid] and [/color][url="http://www.crabbyswatersports.com/dinghy.htm"][color=darkorchid]another in Coral Bay[/color][/url][color=darkorchid].[/color]

[color=darkorchid]I'm just not sure which beaches can and cannot have the dinghy brought all the way to shore. I did some reading after I searched these boards for "dinghy". [/color]
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[color=darkorchid]I had also read how they can be a little challenging getting back into if floating out in the water versus stepping into near the beach (or from a dock). My entire wedding group used a dinghy to get to the reception catamaran in the bay (took several trips) but that was no problem since we were getting into the dinghy from the beach (just ankle/calf deep in water). However, one person captured quite the embarassing photo of me in my wedding dress in process of getting in![/color]

[2Feathers]

Mandy... We rented a dinghy from Noah's in Cruz Bay last January. Noah's asked that we go no further east than Waterlemon. Not sure about heading west, as we only planned to hit the north shore beaches, and didn't go west of Cruz Bay. The north shore beaches that you are allowed to "drive" up onto that I can remember are Francis, Hawksnest, Honeymoon, and I think Trunk and possibly one or two others. The rest have mooring balls to tie onto, and you have to jump out, snorkel or swim to shore, and then yank your... er... self back into the thing when you're ready to leave. Other than the re-entry problems (I described the difficulty of this task in a post upon our return) we had an absolute blast and plan to do this again this January!!

We're curious about the dinghy rentals available from Crabby's (and/or others?) in Coral Bay. If anyone has done this, and can tell us about their experiences and what beaches they were able to hit from there, I'd be greatly obliged.

[MandyGirl]

[color=darkorchid]2Feathers - I was hoping you would see this thread! :) Thanks for responding! (I've also been following your posts on another message board)[/color]

[color=darkorchid]Okay - that makes me feel good about Hawksnest being a beach you can "drive onto". That was our wedding beach and we'll be returning to share another wedding cake. Do you recall the water being very choppy between Cruz Bay and Hawksnest? (The wedding cake will be in a box) [/color]
[color=darkorchid]Since we haven't been to Waterlemon, that would be a nice turnaround point. (Isn't it amazing that when you vacation on St John you STILL don't make it to all the beautiful beaches?!?)[/color]
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[color=darkorchid]I will search for your post on the re-entry challenges. Thank goodness the ship doesn't leave until 11PM that night. ;) And the next day is just Tortola (not like it's too terribly hard to get to if you miss the ship!). [/color]
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[color=darkorchid]I think I'll go ahead and call to reserve a full day. It's something we have never done before and hubby loves St John as much as I do (he prefers it over Hawaii). Besides... what's he gonna do... get mad that we're doing something totally awesome that day? :D It is this or hiking, but since we're there for just one day, I think we can see more via dinghy. We can save hiking for the next land-vacation. It would have been cool to see Concordia from the water but that's okay.[/color]
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[color=darkorchid]Thanks again for your insight - I appreciate it!![/color]

[MandyGirl]

[color=darkorchid]2Feathers -[/color]

[color=darkorchid]Okay - found your post on re-entry. For some reason, the thing that jumped in my mind was Immigration or something... like when we had to stop on a daysail when coming back to St John for re-entry (coming from the BVI). Duh - I guess you don't have to really prove you've just been going along the north shore. I see now you meant re-entry back into the floating dinghy!! :D We'll definitely look for one with in-tact handles. Hubby could probably get in no problem, but I don't think I'd be successful. When we're on a waverunner at the lake and I get thrown off (which is when HE is driving) I've finally mastered that okay... but realize a dinghy would definitely be more challenging! Thanks again!!:) [/color]

[2Feathers]

Hey Mandy! Don't hold me to my word regarding driving onto Hawksnest... I'm almost positive about that, but I'm going on memory here, and I don't even remember what I had for breakfast this morning! Hopefully someone else here can confirm this. I DO, however remember that it was fairly smooth "sailing" until we got out past Mary Point heading over to Waterlemon, and it was rougher on the way back to Cruz Bay than it was on the way out. But from what I've read, this changes daily, and depends on the weather. So hopefully the cake will survive until it gets to Hawksnest, and you'll have smooth sailing for the return trip so you won't have to worry about losing the cake on the way back. (Sorry... I shouldn't have gone there!)

Oh! And they tell you not to go to any of the British VIs in the dinghy, so you won't have to go through any sort of customs. Sorry I confused you on that point.

We're doing a land vacation this January! Ten days on St. John, and I canNOT wait! I remember reading the posts about your trips and wedding and Concordia, and they helped convince us to try the eco-tents... at least for three of our ten days. We rented a villa for a week, and wanted to find something less expensive to extend our trip for a few days and decided to try Maho. We're not exactly camping people, so we're excited (and a little nervous) about this. We'll let you know how this goes when we get back!

I hope you have a great time on your trip, and especially at Hawksnest!

[MandyGirl]

[color=darkorchid]Thanks so much!! I called today (to reserve one) and Hawksnest is one you can drive up to the beach. :) [/color]
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[color=darkorchid]Concordia was awesome - and so great that it was so affordable! Hearing those waves crashing down below at Drunk Bay to rock you to sleep at night was so neat... I'm so envious... TEN days on St John?!?! WOW!![/color]
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[color=darkorchid]Thanks so much again for your insight!![/color]