Lion In Da Sun


Charter powerboat rentals from St. John and St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, USVI. Private Captained family and friends fun day boat trips to Jost Van Dyke, Virgin Gorda, Norman Island and Tortola. Enjoy Beaches, snorkeling, bars and fun. The entire day plan is up to you, and Lion in da Sun is more than pleased to help you design it and then boat you to the best day of your vacation! Explore Foxies, The Soggy Dollar Bar, The Baths, The Caves, Indians, The Willy T and even more fun places!

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Lion In Da Sun uses a 2007 Scout 282SF. The vessel is 28 feet in length and cruises at a speedy 30knots to get you to and from the many beautiful islands and beaches. It is one of the most comfortable center consoles in its class and is built with beautiful lines as well. She is powered by twin Yamaha 4-stroke 250hp outboards for quiet operation and maximum fuel efficiency. This boat is one of, if not the most comfortable private day charter boat in its class available on St. John. It really turns heads on the dock and at anchor.

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We DO have a bathroom on board for you to use if needed but as we tell our guests, it is difficult to "go" while moving 30knots through the water. We get between destinations fast enough (usually no more than 15-30 minutes) that you can always find a much more pleasing facility. As for simple changing space, there is a cabin that allows for private changing.
  
With the price of fuel a concern we felt it was best to choose the most fuel-efficient engines available. Minimizing fuel consumption each day on the water translates into a more affordable adventure. Our business depends on being able to show you beautiful destinations on and below our Caribbean waters, our Yamaha engines are the most efficient 4-strokes on the market today. With us you do not have to assume the tanks were full when you started (most companies require you to top off the tank at the end of the day and many of our competitors do not even have working tank gauges). 

                  

You will find the cabin on board to be one very pleasing feature. Rain in the Virgin Islands is very “unpredictably predictable” – it will usually rain every day, somewhere between one minute and one hour. Stow your bags, gear, and cameras in the cabin and they stay dry all day no matter the weather or waves. The easily accessible walk-in cabin also lets us bring along some fun water floats and still keep them out of your way when not being used.

Full Day Charter

$625 + fuel depending on destinations & price per gallon (usually between $90-180*).
These charters are 8:30am – 4:30pm.
British Customs is $25 per person and they accept cash only.

 
Half Day Charter

$500 + fuel depending on destinations & price per gallon (usually between $60-$120).
Half day charters are 8:30am – 1:30pm.

  • We charter our boat with a captain, snorkel gear on board, and a cooler with ice and water (you’re welcome to bring any other drinks/snacks). We can accommodate 1-6 guests on our private charters. With two boats we can accommodate up to 12 guests.
     
  • We hold dates with a credit card per our cancellation policy: ½ price if cancelled within 48 hours of the charter. No deposit is needed. Reserving a date prior to arrival for any vacation dates November through August is highly recommended.
     
  • Payment is due at completion of the trip and we accept Visa, MC, Travelers Checks, and Cash (or any combination).
     
  • If you are planning a trip to the British Virgin Islands each guest will need to have a passport. An original “raised seal” birth certificate with photo ID is only valid for children under 16 years old. British customs collects $25 per person cash, which will be due upon boarding Lion In Da Sun.
     
  • As captains we are all required to have a number of certifications that we DO carry. We all have a USCG Merchant Mariner Master License, British Boatmaster Licence, CPR and First Aid, Drug Free Consortium Membership, an International BST-STCW (Safety training) endorsement, Vessel Security Officer endorsement, Crowd Control and Crisis Management endorsement, and a Transportation Workers Identification Card.
     
  • The Baths are a British Virgin Islands National Park attraction and require an entrance fee to enjoy. Choosing to explore the Baths will require our guests to bring money ashore to purchase entrance from a Park Ranger ($6 Adults, $3 Child).
     
  • Finally, tipping of the captain for outstanding service is greatly appreciated. Like the bartenders and wait staff in the Caribbean, captains and crew on boats work for gratuity as well.

* Lower ranges would be for days around Jost/Tortola, higher ends are for Virgin Gorda trips – the furthest destination we visit in a day. Exact trip fuel used is calculated with our digital gauges; meaning we don’t need to visit the fuel dock with guests at the end of the day, giving you more time on the water.

 

Charter Suggestions

Lion In Da Sun offers private day charter powerboat excursions for you and your friends or families. We give you the ability to explore a variety of different places on and around the US and British Virgin Islands based out of Cruz Bay, St. John. We are also happy to do pick-ups and drop-offs at other locationas and islands. Our vessels have the best design features in our trade for day cruising the islands. We provide extremely knowledgeable and flexible young captains, and convenient, easy to deal with operations to make your day on the water simple to enjoy. We take care of customs, we have gauges that track fuel so you don’t have to waste time at the fuel dock, and we have the cooler stocked with ice and bottled water as well as complimentary snorkel gear on board. 

Ultimately the trip is up to you, but we can certainly make some suggestions based on whether you would like to focus on snorkeling, beaches, bars, restaurants or all of the above! Visit Jost Van Dyke and Norman Island or head up to the Baths for the day. Perhaps just stay in U.S. waters and see all of what St. John has to offer in the bays and cays surrounding the island.

Full Day

8:30am – 4:30/5pm
BVI Island Hop Snorkel Trip
Contrary to the title of this trip you might choose to start with a snorkel stop in U.S. waters! You have to learn to appreciate what you have before we take you to the extraordinary. Depending on the current and waves you might explore Henley, Waterlemon, or Whistling Cay on your way to clearing British customs on Tortola. From here you could spend the rest of the morning around Norman Island. Famed originally for its role in Robert Lewis Stevenson’s book, Treasure Island, but more recently for its world-class snorkeling and dynamic floating sailboat bar it is a must stop for this trip. The Caves are an excellent snorkel site offering an incredible display of fish variety and of course three different shaped “caves” to explore. After this “fish” display at the Caves you could cruise five minutes over to the“Indian’s” where we see tons of schooling fish but more amazingly we see both hard and soft coral. This duo of snorkel sites tops out everyone’s underwater sights for the week without a doubt. The afternoon could then be spent over on Jost van Dyke for a late lunch at Foxy’s or a simple lunch of hot dogs and burgers in Smugler’s Cove on Tortola where yet another decent snorkel can take place if you still have it in you. If not, the beach here or at White Bay is tops in the islands for relaxation and beauty so no worries!

 

Jost Van Dyke Bars and Beaches

Spend the entire day on and around Jost Van Dyke visiting the bars, restaurants, beaches and locals. Check into customs at Great Harbor in the morning and get some fresh baked banana bread at the bakery or have Eddie at Foxy’s make you a Bloody Mary. Cruise around to Diamond Cay and hike out to the Bubbling Pools or spend the morning on Sandy Spit, a one-acre island completely surrounded by beach with only one palm tree in the middle. Have lunch at Foxy’s Bar and enjoy a classic west
Indian chicken roti or check out his daughters place Taboo for fantastic personal homemade pizzas or mango chutney burgers. The afternoon is surely spent sitting on White Bay in front of the Soggy Dollar bar - or if you prefer in one of the many hammocks with a PainKiller in hand! The captain will bring you out of your trance around 4pm and we will head back to Cruz Bay to finish the day and drop you off in time for Woody’s happy hour.
 

Circumnavigate St. John and its surrounding (U.S.) islands
Get the real experience of the physical Virgin Islands by seeing a good part of St. John and St. Thomas from the water! Snorkel the surrounding islands and Cays such as Henley, Lovongo, Carval Rock, Little St. James, Waterlemon, Christmas Cove, or Newfound Bay on the east end and many more places completely up to you and our captain! Have lunch in Coral Bay, Cruz Bay, or over on St. Thomas. Spend the afternoon snorkeling or relaxing on a secluded beach. If someone else shows up, get back on the boat and find another beach with our captain!

Snorkeling and Exploring The Baths

A day at the Baths on Virgin Gorda is an experience to remember. The Baths are by far Virgin Gorda’s most celebrated sight. Magnificent boulders the size of houses topple over one another, creating underlying grottos of clear turquoise water. Navigating through a series of wooden stairwalks and ropewalks will get you from one side to the other. The granite boulders contain large quantities of feldspar and quartz. Rainfall, which reacts with the feldspar and granite has smoothed the rough spots and is how each boulder appears smooth to the touch and eye. Not the greatest snorkeling site in the BVI but certainly the most striking in physical appearance. An entire morning and early afternoon is spent getting to the Baths and exploring. Lunch is usually found on Cooper Island, where the only establishment you’ll find on the island is the Cooper Island Beach Club. Enjoying their mango chutney burger while looking across the ocean at Tortola is something we never grow tired of. Depending on how much time was spent at the Baths you may have time for a snorkel stop at either the Caves or the Indians, but probably not both.

 

HALF Day

Generally  8:30am – 1:30pm

Circumnavigate St. John
Have lunch before or after your charter and while we are on the water we will enjoy snorkeling and beaches. Completely circumnavigate St. John stopping twice to snorkel and again to enjoy a secluded beach before returning to Cruz Bay.

North Shore Cays of St. John
Go places your rental car cannot take you! Let's spend the morning or afternoon in the water out and around the outer Cays of St. John on the North Shore. We can stop at three or four

different places each displaying something a little different, soft corals, fish, caves, or deep water snorkeling. Afterwards you can tell the captain which North Shore beach you wanted to visit before heading back to Cruz Bay.

Private Beach for the Afternoon
If St. John wasn’t far enough off the beaten path for you, let us take you and your significant other or your group of friends to a beach no one else can enjoy unless they get there by boat! Fill our cooler with beers, champagne, roses, or chocolates and lets make an afternoon to remember commemorating a special day.

 

Other Possibilities

Drop off on another Island
Planning a stay on Tortola or Jost Van Dyke while you’re down here? Charter our boat for a full day or half day and we’ll drop you off where you’re staying by the end of the day – sometimes right on the beach! Taking a ferry to the B.V.I from St. John is time consuming, expensive, and feels too much like traveling. Enjoy full or half days on the water before we drop you off where you’ll be staying in the British Virgin Islands.