Tortola Excursions - The Baths vs. White Bay Jost Van Dyke

iadizfans

DIS Veteran
Joined
Dec 19, 2011
Really struggling with this decision. Anyone done both? Was initially leaning toward The Baths but have heard White Bay is awesome. It may come down to which has an easier transfer. I've heard the ferry over to Virgin Gorda (Baths) can be pretty rough from time to time but not so with trip to JVD. True?

All input welcome!!
 
Really struggling with this decision. Anyone done both? Was initially leaning toward The Baths but have heard White Bay is awesome. It may come down to which has an easier transfer. I've heard the ferry over to Virgin Gorda (Baths) can be pretty rough from time to time but not so with trip to JVD. True?

All input welcome!!


WE have done both and both are a must do ...you can not go wrong with either one.
 


Well... I did White Bay JVD and certainly did not regret it. I talked to some shipmates who went to the Baths and they said it was awesome though crowded. White Bay is a little less expensive and has the Soggy Dollar Bar. Really don't think you can go wrong with either. Remember, both of these excursions go to another island assuming Tortola is your port. The Baths is on Virgin Gorda and White Bay on Jost Van Dyke (JVD). That means either way you will need to ferry over.
 
Well... I did White Bay JVD and certainly did not regret it. I talked to some shipmates who went to the Baths and they said it was awesome though crowded. White Bay is a little less expensive and has the Soggy Dollar Bar. Really don't think you can go wrong with either. Remember, both of these excursions go to another island assuming Tortola is your port. The Baths is on Virgin Gorda and White Bay on Jost Van Dyke (JVD). That means either way you will need to ferry over.
Did you do the whole day or half?

If we did JVD, we would do it through DCL, but I'm debating Speedys if we do VG.
 
My sister and I did the full JVD day through Disney - we were looking to relax - the Baths seemed a bit to "active". We absolutely loved JVD and the transfer was not a problem.
 


My family and I were in Tortola on the Fantasy last Tuesday. It was my 5th Disney cruise, 3rd Eastern Caribbean, but 1st time stopping in Tortola. I just wanted to throw this out there...
We did the baths on our own and it was by far and away the highlight of the entire cruise. The ship docks between 7-7:30am. We were off the ship right at 7:25am (Cabanas is open early that day approx 6:30am). The 1st Ferry to Virgin Gorda is 7:45. My wife and 2 sons (9,11) easily made the walk from the ship to the ferry with time to spare (one family took a cab and it cost him $20). The next ferry after this one was about an hour and a half later. There were only 3 families from the Disney cruise on my ferry (we were the only ship in port that day)...the rest were locals. The Ferry cost $30 for adults and $20 for kids if I remember correctly (roundtrip). 30 mins later we are in Virgin Gorda and a 10 minute cab ride later we are at the baths and we are alone. And when I say alone I mean the employees were just showing up.
We walked down the rock step path to the beach. Again, completely alone and amazingly beautiful. Aside from the docked yachts and sailboats we the only ones there. Then we found the baths and we explored the different areas /rooms / rocks. There are yellow arrows painted on the walls to help you understand where to go, but exploring was half the fun. Room after room, all to ourselves. After about an hour or so, we started to make our way out of the baths when the excursions started coming through. One after another after another including the Disney one that had 150 people in it, The excursions reminded me of Dunns Falls in Jamaica, just a line of people filing through the caves. While I'm sure the people had a decent time walking through as a group, nothing will compare to exploring the caves on our own taking tons of pictures with barely another soul in sight. by 11:00am we had finsihed the baths and spent a decent amount of time at Devil's Bay (the other beach there) and had seen all there was to see and made our way back on the top where my morning cab driver was waiting for us (we prearranged an 11:00am pickup). He had us back to the ferry port with plenty of time to catch the 11:30 ferry back to Tortola.
Back in Tortola by noon and back on the ship by 12:15. Lunch on Deck 11 and the kids enjoyed an empty ship / pool / Oceaneer club for the rest of the afternoon, while the wife and I enjoyed an empty rainforest room.

I have tons of pictures of the baths if anyone is interested.

All in all I spent under $140 total for all 4 of us to experience the baths, and with no crowds and in probably half the time, when compared to a line of people.
 
We used Patouche for a snorkeling trip with The Baths as our after lunch stop. It was not a private charter and we ended up being with 2 other DCL families. It was a great day - swam with a sea turtle at Cooper Island. Great boat trip with engaging guides who helped us tour the Baths after the crowd departed. We swam from the boat to the Beach, but even my 6 year old and water averse DH were comfortable with it.

I would book it again - wish I could help with the White Bay option, but I have heard it is a great stop!
 
Did you do the whole day or half?

If we did JVD, we would do it through DCL, but I'm debating Speedys if we do VG.
I believe it was the half day. One more consideration that may or may not apply. From what I've heard, The Baths is challenging for visitors with issues walking up hills on rocky paths. My wife walks with a cane and we were worried she would have a hard time.
 
My family and I were in Tortola on the Fantasy last Tuesday. It was my 5th Disney cruise, 3rd Eastern Caribbean, but 1st time stopping in Tortola. I just wanted to throw this out there...
We did the baths on our own and it was by far and away the highlight of the entire cruise. The ship docks between 7-7:30am. We were off the ship right at 7:25am (Cabanas is open early that day approx 6:30am). The 1st Ferry to Virgin Gorda is 7:45. My wife and 2 sons (9,11) easily made the walk from the ship to the ferry with time to spare (one family took a cab and it cost him $20). The next ferry after this one was about an hour and a half later. There were only 3 families from the Disney cruise on my ferry (we were the only ship in port that day)...the rest were locals. The Ferry cost $30 for adults and $20 for kids if I remember correctly (roundtrip). 30 mins later we are in Virgin Gorda and a 10 minute cab ride later we are at the baths and we are alone. And when I say alone I mean the employees were just showing up.
We walked down the rock step path to the beach. Again, completely alone and amazingly beautiful. Aside from the docked yachts and sailboats we the only ones there. Then we found the baths and we explored the different areas /rooms / rocks. There are yellow arrows painted on the walls to help you understand where to go, but exploring was half the fun. Room after room, all to ourselves. After about an hour or so, we started to make our way out of the baths when the excursions started coming through. One after another after another including the Disney one that had 150 people in it, The excursions reminded me of Dunns Falls in Jamaica, just a line of people filing through the caves. While I'm sure the people had a decent time walking through as a group, nothing will compare to exploring the caves on our own taking tons of pictures with barely another soul in sight. by 11:00am we had finsihed the baths and spent a decent amount of time at Devil's Bay (the other beach there) and had seen all there was to see and made our way back on the top where my morning cab driver was waiting for us (we prearranged an 11:00am pickup). He had us back to the ferry port with plenty of time to catch the 11:30 ferry back to Tortola.
Back in Tortola by noon and back on the ship by 12:15. Lunch on Deck 11 and the kids enjoyed an empty ship / pool / Oceaneer club for the rest of the afternoon, while the wife and I enjoyed an empty rainforest room.

I have tons of pictures of the baths if anyone is interested.

All in all I spent under $140 total for all 4 of us to experience the baths, and with no crowds and in probably half the time, when compared to a line of people.
Definitely interested in pics!!! Post a few when you get a chance. Thanks! For years I've been trying to get DW to try "on our own" port activities with little success. We did that once in St. Maarten and it went fine but she was nervous the whole time.
 
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Those who have been to Tortola, would you be able to tell me what the port area is like, and whether there is anything in the immediate vicinity of the ship worth seeing or doing? Thanks!!
 
To jump on this thread, what excursion in Tortola (and I would like it to be through port adventures just for ease) would you do with grandparents (early 70s but in good shape), myself (40 year old mother), 7 year old and 2 year old. I will be sending my husband on the scuba diving excursion to give him a break. Thanks.
 
Those who have been to Tortola, would you be able to tell me what the port area is like, and whether there is anything in the immediate vicinity of the ship worth seeing or doing? Thanks!!
It's your standard cruise dock. The usual shops... Diamonds International, T-Shirt & souvenir shops, locals hawking trinkets, restaurants & pubs. It looked fairly new to me (I was there in early June) and nicely put together. If you're looking for the established town, I believe its called "Road Town" and its up the hill a ways. Not sure if its walk-able? Maybe someone else can help with that?
 
I've done both. Both are worth while. The Baths are great to see, but I've gone back to Jost and Soggy Dollar Bar three times. It is a relaxing and fun beach day.
 
I'm also trying to decide between these two for our Tortola day. Both sound amazing!
 
Was the beach at Jost Van Dyke crowded? We are going in April (after the spring break rush), and we are looking to enjoy some beach time without all of the crowds. This is our first cruise and first time in the Caribbean. We are usually beach vacationers that like some relaxing time on the beach without a million of our closest friends right next to us, so we are a little nervous for the cruise.
 
Was the beach at Jost Van Dyke crowded? We are going in April (after the spring break rush), and we are looking to enjoy some beach time without all of the crowds. This is our first cruise and first time in the Caribbean. We are usually beach vacationers that like some relaxing time on the beach without a million of our closest friends right next to us, so we are a little nervous for the cruise.
If you go on a cruise excursion to JVD you will be with about 50 people. You can transfer over there on your own, but the excursion folks are still going to show up. White Bay will also have a fair amount of anchored boats - mostly catamarans. White Bay on JVD is beautiful, but it can get busy. If you're looking for quiet, I would research local tours. One other note if you want quiet.. go early. The earlier the better. In my experience, the folks in the Caribbean don't get going until about noon.
 
If you go on a cruise excursion to JVD you will be with about 50 people. You can transfer over there on your own, but the excursion folks are still going to show up. White Bay will also have a fair amount of anchored boats - mostly catamarans. White Bay on JVD is beautiful, but it can get busy. If you're looking for quiet, I would research local tours. One other note if you want quiet.. go early. The earlier the better. In my experience, the folks in the Caribbean don't get going until about noon.

Thank you for the info! We are early risers, so maybe we will try and head over there early. We have heard so many people rave about JVD.

I am also branching out to local tours to explore our options. I am just really looking forward to the white sand beaches and clear water I am seeing in everyone's trip report photos! :)
 

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