Tell me about taking ferry to Jost...

[Nic in KC]

We are considering a day sail, but I'm wondering about taking the ferry over. We tend to like to explore and do things at our own pace. Is the ferry a decent way to get over to Jost or is it too complicated to mess with. I noticed the ferry schedule and it looks like we'd have about five hours give or take.

Suggestions?

[b-as-u-r]

Taking the ferry to Jost is very easy, but I believe it is limited to Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Departure is at the car ferry area, as I recall you should be there around 8:30 a.m. and you're off to Jost by 9:00. You clear customs in Jost and then you do whatever you wish for the day and depart from Jost around 3:00. (We've done this a couple of times and it works well, we just wish we could be there later than 3:00.) Ali~

[Ksea]

We decided to take the Ferry to Jost as well due to high cost of day sails. Because of our special diets and number of non drinkers (not me of course) it just didnt seem to be worth the $$$.

[msgcolleen]

We enjoyed the ferry to JVD and you can't beat $50 round trip! On a Sunday trip, there were only a few couples on the ferry and we all ended up at White Bay/Soggy Dollar/Foxy's together swimming, eating, drinkin', dancin' all before the ferry picked us up at 3pm! One of the couples even got engaged right there on the beach!
Just show up and hopefully catch a parking space at the National Park Dock, buy your tickets in the white trailer then you are on your way!
Have Fun!

[Pia]

Hi everyone

Just to let you know you depart from the the OLD car ferry (didn't know if you knew it had moved b-as-u-r)
not the new one

Pia

[brenda]

We think the ferry is a great and economical way to get to Jost. Definitely not complicated. Ferry runs Fri-Sat-Sun as mentioned, but it leaves at 8:30am and you will need to arrive at 8:00am to get your tickets and fill out your customs forms. Bring a pen, they are a hot commodity. If you go this route, you can take a taxi to White Bay for $5pp. I recommend arranging for a pick up to get you back to the 3:00pm ferry. It leaves on time, so don't be late.

We absolutely love Jost and it is one of our "must do's" while in the VI's. The ferry does allow for the maximum amount of time there for a day trip.

[beachluvers]

Sounds awesome! We just might need to do this!

[mbw1024]

Hi everyone

Just to let you know you depart from the the OLD car ferry (didn't know if you knew it had moved b-as-u-r)
not the new one

Pia

Pia, I'm not really sure where that is. If we do this we will be going from Gallows. How do we get there? Taxi needed? Thanks!

[brenda]

MB,
You can walk there from Gallow's. It is right across from the VI National Park Building.

[mbw1024]

thanks

[Rhonda]

If we took the ferry to Jost, where is a good place to go snorkel? Is the snorkeling better there than St. John? We have snorkeled a lot on the beaches of St. John and love it. Just looking for something different. We also thought about a day sail (just around St. John) with Wayward Sailor or White Wing. I would appreciate any input. We will be leaving on July 9th and are getting very excited!

Love the forum.

Rhonda

[obsessedmuch]

I think the strange thing about the ferry is sometimes you can be over to Jost by 9:00 (like the day I went) and sometimes it can take much longer, from what I've heard. Really, though, it's a great way to go for a day short of having your own boat and anchoring at White Bay for a while.

And with taking a cab back, if you don't want to arrange for a pick up time, the people where ever you're at seem to have a way to call a cab for you without a problem. Friends helping friends, I suppose.

[brenda]

The time one arrives on Jost depends on a couple of things. One is whether the ferry itself leaves on time and the other is whether or not you clear customs on Jost or stop in West End Tortola. Once we had to stop in West End and we got there closer to 10:00am but the ferry was late also. This last time, we stopped on Jost first, then passengers went to West End from there. I guess it just depends on the day.

As far as the taxi situation goes, I'm sure someone could call a taxi for you. Another couple that were on the ferry were going to leave White bay early and had arranged for a taxi. They decided to stay longer, and no problem, someone called the driver.

I've never seen many people snorkeling on White Bay. I really don't think it could rival STJ.

[Bilter]

The last time I was on Jost all we did was eat and play the ring and hook game at the Soggy Dollar. Of course it was mid-week in October and there really was no one else there. It was the day of the Lunar Eclipse, quite a freaky night.