Jost van Dyke beach transfer

[Jeni1781]

Has anyone done this recently? The half day one not the full day.
1. Does the boat transfer rock a lot? Worried about motion sickness for two members of our group.
2. How long do you get at the beach?
3. Are the restaurants, bars, and stores open that early in the morning? Looks like we would be at the beach around 8:30 until maybe 10:30 or 11.
4. Overall reviews?

 

[Hegemon]

We did this during our June 2022 cruise and generally enjoyed it, but have some words of warning. The water was rough on the day that we visited, so a few of us started to feel somewhat seasick on the ride over. Also, as you've keyed in on, the JVD transfer begins early and returns early. We probably had less than two hours at the beach and it was so early in the morning that it wasn't even warm yet. Most of the bars and restaurants didn't open until after 10:30, but the Soggy Dollar was kind enough to fire up the fryer early so we could enjoy some conch fritters. If possible, I'd encourage getting the longer JVD beach day; I hear the lunch is underwhelming, but I'd easily pass on that food and just enjoy the extra time at the beach and bars through the afternoon.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

Has anyone done this recently? The half day one not the full day.
1. Does the boat transfer rock a lot? Worried about motion sickness for two members of our group.
2. How long do you get at the beach?
3. Are the restaurants, bars, and stores open that early in the morning? Looks like we would be at the beach around 8:30 until maybe 10:30 or 11.
4. Overall reviews?

We were there last week (on Fantasy) and I have a lot of thoughts:
(1) The transfer boat moves fast (and takes about 45m) on the way out there was more rolling/pitching and my husband said he saw a few people puking or nearly puking—my daughter and I both get motion sick in cars and turbulent planes (but not cruise ships) and we did OK, but we stayed towards the back in the open air section. On the way back we hit more turbulence and big bumps and I think fewer people got sick?
(2) We did half day afternoon and I think we had about 100m at the beach? I would have liked more but it was very beautiful so I don’t regret going.
(3) we were there in the afternoon. They gave us drink tickets for a certain bar, and we went and ordered a beer and rum and Coke—only after giving us the drinks (and us tipping generously) did the somewhat unfriendly bartender tell us that our tickets weren’t good for those drinks — I barely had enough cash to pay and was pretty annoyed. Make sure to ask before ordering.
(4) on the one hand, the beach was gorgeous (though the coastal view was obstructed by the sailboats and yachts on the beach), and sand super soft—but it was a lot of time in transit (probably more than half, especially counting wait time in the lounge and queuing at pier to get on shuttle, etc)— I think if we did it again we’d want to do a full day…but we met another couple on board who booked a round trip taxi to a local beach on Tortola and I think spent 25m in the car and 4h at an uncrowded beach — so if you have seasick members of your group, you might want to consider that?


Including some pics for your consideration.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

Has anyone done this recently? The half day one not the full day.
1. Does the boat transfer rock a lot? Worried about motion sickness for two members of our group.
2. How long do you get at the beach?
3. Are the restaurants, bars, and stores open that early in the morning? Looks like we would be at the beach around 8:30 until maybe 10:30 or 11.
4. Overall reviews?

We were there last week (on Fantasy) and I have a lot of thoughts:
(1) The transfer boat moves fast (and takes about 45m) on the way out there was more rolling/pitching and my husband said he saw a few people puking or nearly puking—my daughter and I both get motion sick in cars and turbulent planes (but not cruise ships) and we did OK, but we stayed towards the back in the open air section. On the way back we hit more turbulence and big bumps and I think fewer people got sick?
(2) We did half day afternoon and I think we had about 100m at the beach? I would have liked more but it was very beautiful so I don’t regret going.
(3) we were there in the afternoon. They gave us drink tickets for a certain bar, and we went and ordered a beer and rum and Coke—only after giving us the drinks (and us tipping generously) did the somewhat unfriendly bartender tell us that our tickets weren’t good for those drinks — I barely had enough cash to pay and was pretty annoyed. Make sure to ask before ordering.
(4) on the one hand, the beach was gorgeous (though the coastal view was obstructed by the sailboats and yachts on the beach), and sand super soft—but it was a lot of time in transit (probably more than half, especially counting wait time in the lounge and queuing at pier to get on shuttle, etc)— I think if we did it again we’d want to do a full day…but we met another couple on board who booked a round trip taxi to a local beach on Tortola and I think spent 25m in the car and 4h at an uncrowded beach — so if you have seasick members of your group, you might want to consider that?


Including some pics for your consideration. View attachment 752193View attachment 752194View attachment 752195