I posted regarding Nauti Nymph earlier. We had a terrific day out on the water but had a few disappointments with them:

1. They were 1/2 hour late to pick us up at the dock in St. John and didn't allow us to stay out a 1/2 hour later
2. They said it was our option to go wherever we wanted yet dictated the same route you describe
3. The driver yelled at us for not tipping her enough (we tipped $50)
4. The quoted price did not include gas ($125), tip ($50), lunch at the restaurant dictated by the driver

Like I said, it was one of the best days we had in the USVI despite the above issues. Others have had good experiences with Nauti Nymph...

We used Nauti Nymph in Feb. We rented two 29 foot Fountains with twin engines to take sixteen people to Jost for the Day from St Joh. The boats were clean a few years old with brand new four stroke engines. They ran well and got good gas mileage. If you are in red hook they are very conviently located for you. You will have a great time. Fuel is in addition to the cost of the rental. It is customary to buy lunch for the captain or feed them if you decide to pack a lunch. It is up to you to pick your itenerary although the local knowledge of the captain and or staff will go along way if you don't know what you want to see or do. And yes it is customary to tip the captain. Ten to twenty percent would be a normal tip for most charters. (of the cost of the charter).
Enjoy your trip
Jay

I've used them twice and had great outings both times! We also used their captains, and actually were able to go where we wanted. We even went to the Bitter End Yacht Club way out on Virgin Gorda, Baths, JVD, Willie T's and Sopers Hole in Tortolla. It depends where you go as to how much the gas/oil runs and, obviously, the price of gas. If you go to the Baths I would imagine closer to $150 for gas. To JVD, St. John and areas - - perhaps closer to $100. Also you need to figure in around $20/pp for customs fees.

You will have a great time. It seems like a lot of money (figure $500-$600 total plus tip), but I'm telling you it's the best money you'll spend all vacation. Absolutely breath-taking beaches, and the various colors of the water is...perfect!

We rented with Nauti Nymph 2 years ago. There was 4 of us and the captain.

Negatives: We had our information all prefilled the night before. The next morning we waited at the dock at the Westin for the captain which was 35 minutes late. Then we waited another 15 minutes for him to fill out his paperwork. So we were running an hour late. They didnt extend our time, so our trip was very rushed.

Also, we wanted to head over to the Baths, and the captain denied that request. Instead, we ventured to a snorkeling spot and then over to Jost.

** I personally will not book a boat through this company again. I found it's more cost efficient and more relaxable to book with stormy petrel/pirates penny.

Picking up at the westin is a pain in the neck. The westin boats have first dibs on the dock. N.N. boats or any non westin boat will have to Pick up last.

You have to fill out your paper work. The captain will help you. You need it to get into the B.V.I.

If you want to go to the baths i recomend going on Stormy, Limmnos, It is more cost effective> The seas can make the trip from 1 1/2 hours in calm seas to 3 hours in rough seas. I can make a very rushed day when you have to check back in in cruz bay at 4:00 pm

I used Nauti Nymph for a trip from STT's Sapphire Marina to Baths, then to lunch at Foxy's, then to White Bay for the afternoon, then back. Loved the trip. Captn showed up on time and took us where we asked to go. We invited him to lunch with us at Foxy's. He joined us and we paid for his.

Gas/oil was about $100...fyi.

I would use them again.

We used Nauti Nymph and enjoyed the rental without a captain. My husband was so worried about docking the boat, etc at first I thought he wouldn't relax, but he did and we had the best day! The thing about your itinerary is that it is probably the best one day itinerary anyway that they are suggesting. This year we are going to go to the Tortola to clear customs, then do the Indians and the caves, go for lunch at the Soggy dollar then visit Sandy spit. REally, the baths are a little far, it takes up a lot of the day just for boat travel. If you want to do that, just do one of the excursions already suggested. You really don't need a captain. They give you water charts to navigate by and it is pretty easy if you've experience with a inboard.

We used Nauti Nymph last July (26' power catamaran - nice!). We filled out our paperwork in advance which saved some time. We met our captain at the Westin promptly at 8:30 (he was waiting for us) and picked up the rest of our party at the National Park dock (total of 4 + captain). From there we (well, the guys) fished for a bit before hitting White Bay JVD. Left there after awhile, more fishing, then lunch at Foxy's (we ordered while our captain cleared customs for us - and we bought his lunch). More fishing (no luck yet), then snorkeling at the Caves, more fishing (finally caught one!) before heading back to Cruz Bay (~4:30). Our costs included the boat and captain, gas ($150 or so) and tip. The captain was great, took us exactly where we wanted to go, and was knowledgeable about the area and the fishing. I'd use them again.

We rented a 25' center console in December '05 for our honeymoon. Didn't use a captain since I have boating experience. It was the best day of our trip, for me anyway. The Indians (rock formation) had the best snorkling of our trip. We're going again next week and this time we want to try to get to the baths and Virgin Gorda, even though it's a long boat ride.

Hey there ccasebolt, how are ya? I remember you from last year. We both had stayed at the Westin the same week. Are you going back this year?

I wish, but have nothing planned so far 🙁 so I hang out here and live vicariously through other people's trip reports. I'm continuing my ongoing villa search and lobbying hard for spring 2008; hopefully will have a plan sometime soon.

How about you?

just a note to those planning on fishing. . . just recently a St. John man was caught fishing in the BVI waters without a permit and was put in jail for a couple of days on Tortola before he could get $30,000 in order to be bailed out and also get his boat back from the authorities.

Fishing in BVI waters requires a permit for the exact day unlike the US where you do not need a permit.

-Capt. Josh

This year we decided to rent a villa from a timeshare owner. So were going July 12th-21st for only $1800.. Can't beat it at all. I like this idea because we can cook if we want to, and also we will have a washer and dryer.

CoCo - I'm SO jealous! That's exactly what we did the last two times - you'll love the villas. I'm still working on it tho, so maybe I'll have a trip to plan sometime soon.