Rumbaba daysail review

[lanabanana]

Spent a beautiful day in St Thomas last week on the Rumbaba with Capt. Bobby and Karen. This is the #1 excursion in St. Thomas, in my opinion. My husband's lifelong dream was to go sailing, so we were really looking forward to our time in St. Thomas.

 

We booked this excursion with two other couples from our roll call. We took a cab to the American Yacht Harbor ($10 pp) where Bobby picked us up in the dingy and took us to the sailboat which was moored nearby. Karen was waiting onboard with carrot/pineapple bread and mini quiches. As soon as we had eaten enough, we were motoring out of the harbor and on our way.

 

Bobby quizzed us about our desires for the day. We wanted to sail more and snorkel less. We sailed for 2 1/2 hours to Caneel (sp?) Bay and anchored just below Michael Jordan's house. Out came the floating mats, noodles and snorkel equipment. We each chose different things. Bobby and Karen put up a canopy for shade and began to make lunch.

 

After quite awhile of water play, Karen served a beautiful lunch. We had e-mailed our preferences earlier and all of us had either chosen the filet mignon or mahi mahi, which were grilled to perfection. They were served with pasta salad, green salad and blanched asperagus with dill sauce. All really delicious. Oh, yes. I musn't forget my husband's favorite part. The pre-lunch plate of goodies, including some cajun shrimp.

 

We went back in the water after lunch and eventually had to head back to reality. We called our taxi from Bobby's cellphone on the way back, so he was waiting when we got there. Karen served us cookies on the way in.

 

This was the most beautiful day. Bobby and Karen catered to our every need. They really wanted to make it a day to remember and boy did they succeed! Three cheers for Rumbaba!!

[Fritz]

Glad to hear you had a great time. My wife and I are already booked to sail with them in March. We haven't decided what we want to eat yet. A couple of questions for you if you don't mind. Was it hard getting a cab to the Yacht Club in the morning? Did you set a price with the driver first? And did you have plenty of time to get back to the ship in the afternoon? Thanks for the info. :)

[lanabanana]

There are lots of taxis available just off the ship. The $10pp is a set price. It just went up from $8pp. Our ship left at 5:30pm. I think we were back in the shopping area at about 3:45pm. No problem. My e-mail is bfarnsworth@adelphia.net if I can be of service to you in any way.

 

Alanna

[tress1018]

would anyone be so kind as to give me the webiste for rumbaba sail??? thanks

[tress1018]

would anyone be so kind as to give me the webiste for rumbaba sail??? thanks

[Fritz]

It is.... http://www.rumbabacharters.com/index.htm :)

[NancySellsGlass]

We had a wonderful day with them last week as well! They are the best and the sailing was a treat. We're sailor's ourselves so it was nice to be back out on the water one more time before winter! Karen's an excellent cook and a great bartender. The rum runner's were a treat. And I had the ahi tuna which was SO GOOD!

 

 

If you have the chance to book a daysail with them - DO IT!! You won't regret it. Getting a taxi to the marina is as easy as walking out into the parking lot. Just make sure to plan a little extra time getting back to port. There was quite a bit of traffic due to all the ships in port the day we were there.

 

Now we just need to figure out how to get back there again soon.... ;)

[NancySellsGlass]

Double post - oops! :rolleyes:

[dongordon]

Approximately what are the costs for the charter?

Just looking for ballpark numbers?

How would it compare to a ship excursion?

 

Don

[lanabanana]

They charge $110pp cash or $120pp credit card. The ship doesn't offer any kind of excursion that compares, because these sailboats carry only six passengers. I'm sure the ship offers catamaran trips that carry 50-100 people, but there is no comparison to this personalized service. My husband dreams about this excursion every night and is counting the days until he can do it again next year!

[Fritz]

Did you leave any additional tips? I seem to keep reading conflicting post on that subject. Thanks.

[lanabanana]

I, personally, did not tip Rumbaba additional for this reason.....Bobby and Karen are a "couple". She is not his employee. It is customary to tip the first mate on these excursions, but because she directly shares in the "fare", I didn't feel it was appropriate to tip her. Just my opinion and others might do things differently.

[WendyD]

Do you think this would be appropriate for children?? Mine are 12 and 9. I like the idea that there aren't a lot of people on board.

[lanabanana]

I think any of the daysails would be great for kids, as long as you don't mind spending that many $$$. It's a very relaxing, fun filled day on the water. Plenty of individual attention.

[NancySellsGlass]

It would be a great day for your family! :)

[WendyD]

Thanks for your feedback, I send an email to Rumbabato see if they have space for us!

[wintermom]

Is it warm enough to snorkel in January? I would hate to book the trip and it be too cold to get in the water. I am from South Texas and can't

take the cold. We were in Nassau last Jan and it was pretty chilly.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Wintermom

[NancySellsGlass]

They told us that the temp in USVI only varies about 4 - 5 degrees all year round so I would think it would be okay in January. But I haven't been there at that time of year to tell you from experience. I do know that even if it was too cool to snorkel the sailing alone would still make it worthwhile! :)

[The Islander]

Hello Wintermom,

 

Water temperatures in the Virgin Islands do not change greatly from summer to winter, however the 4 or 5 degree change is noticeable to those acclimated to consistently warm weather. In the summer months the water temperature is about 83 degrees and in the winter about 79 degrees.

 

--Islander

http://www.*****

[wintermom]

Thanks so much for the info. It sounds like it may be a bit chilly for me for swimming. I am sure the boat sail would be lovely, but we live on the

water and sail all the time, just no pretty clear water or coral for snorkeling. I may wait to do the day sail time when we cruise in a warmer

month.

 

Wintermom

[racegrrl]

Ok, we are REALLY interested in doing this. I have emailed them, but very curious about one thing: how far in advance did you book this? We are sailing the end of January, only 5 weeks out. Is this enough time? I HOPE so!

[rmstroik]

We booked a week in advance and am SOOOOOOOOOOO glad I did. We are motor boaters and were a bit leary of SIX people on a 40 foot range sail cruise. I e-mailed karen and she assured me that i would not feel cramped. She was right, there were 5 plus crew and it was not at all cramped.

 

We arrived a little early, as out ship got into port early, Bobby and Karen were on board with great "finger food" waiting. We boarded and were off as soon as all were boarded. As we left the harbor, Bobby found out what all the passengers had in mind. Bobby was very knowledgable of the local waters and was a hoot, if in doubt of his "stories" Karen will set you straight.

 

Karen made delicious alcoholic beverages using top shelf liquor. After cruising about 2-3 hours, but who was lookin at their watch, we stopped to snorkle. I was only able to snorkle for a short time due to a medical condition. I boarded the boat and Karen made me another alcoholic concoction. MMMMMMMMMMMMM good. This was the 1st time I decided I wanted to take Karen home.

 

While the others were in the water exploring the reefs and the local sealife, I chatted with Bobby and Karen about the local customs of the Island. Karen had started lunch, NO chicken here, and Bobby had fired up the grill. As others had begun boarding and showering with fresh water, I continued to pound down them thingamgiggies Karen was making.

 

Karen presented a great "munchie plate", yup I really wanna bring her home now. While we were drinking and munching, Bobby grilled lunch. I had a bacon wrapped fillet mignon and my wife grilled mahi mahi. NO chicken here folks! Karen was preparing the rest of the lunch below, oh yeah more DRINKIES too. Yup she NEEDS to come home with us.

 

After lunch, oh yeah more booze, we set sail for another snorkle destination. Bobby really knows how to sail, or was I just feeling Karens' drinks, lol. Seriously though, Bobby took us to another area that was wonderful for snorkling or just lounging in the water, with a drink of course. Hey, we live in Florida and are boaters Karen.

 

As the day wound down, no horns or whistles to tell you its time to go, and everyone was ready to come aboard. We set sail back to the marina ............... with you guessed it, drinkies :p . I think Karen had some homemade cookies, they were good. I tried one last time to bribe Karen but Captain Bobby would be lost without her, so, she stayed there :( .

 

So to any of you who are not sure which day cruise to take, I can only tell you that we had a blast and sure wish I was back there! Good food (NO chicken), good people (very knowledgable), good booze (top shelf) = GREAT DAY!!!! Anyone who might want pics send me an email @aol.com

 

Thanks Captain Bobby and Karen

[limbogirl]

I went on Highpockets daysail the beginning of Dec. this year and it was nice. In the taxi on the way back were 2 couples off of Rumbaba! They had a great time and great food! Shrimp, fillet mignon etc....We had linguini nests with chicken. It was a pretty dish but it was cold and tasteless and the chicken was few and far between! I think I definitely would try Rumbaba next time. For pricing I will tell you all that haven't been ,that its an expensive day but being out on the water is very peaceful! It costs 20 round trip taxi,110.oo for daysail (cash only), and 15-20% tip is EXPected for the lst mate!! So the day costs about 150 total per person. I didn't have my family with me that day I was with friends but for a family of four its 600. for the day!

[Hockey19]

5 of us are booked on Rumbaba in Feb. Bobby has been real nice in his e-mails and the reviews are souding great. Imagine how amazed I was to be sitting in my car on a frigid day when my cell goes off and it's Bobby checking on my reservation request and answering some questions I had. That's a great way to warm a cold day.