When we sailed on our 7 night Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Magic in Oct 2014, we stopped in St. Thomas, USVI. Our girls love snorkeling and love sea creatures, so when I read about a place called Turtle Cove where you can actually snorkel with sea turtles, I knew we had to go there. We decided to book a private charter with Second Wind Charters. I cannot say enough good things about this company, their crew and their boat! Out of several private boat charters we have done in the caribbean, I have to say that this one was probably the best.
We started off the day by meeting a driver sent by the company at a prearranged spot near the port. The drive to the marina was about 20 minutes and was VERY winding with lots of hills. (We used these inflatable booster seats for my 2 youngest girls.) When we pulled into the Marina, one of the crew members, Jeff, was there to greet us and walk us down to the boat. The boat is spectacular! It actually has 4 different levels, with the lowest one being indoors with a bathroom, kitchen, living area, and air conditioning. Here is the boat:
Once we boarded we met the rest of the wonderful crew: Wolfgang (the captain) and Nicki (the chef). Wolfgang got us aquatinted with the boat and Nicki had prepared us this wonderful breakfast:
We munched for a bit and then we were ready to set sail. As we pulled out of the marina, the girls enjoyed looking at all of the other boats while my husband and I talked to Wolfgang about his accent (Austrian – he sounded EXACTLY like Arnold Schwarzenegger) and our plan for the day. Here we are sailing out of the marina:
We told Wolfgang that our first priority was to visit Turtle Cove. When we got there we saw a cruise ship excursion was already there. It had to have been from DCL because we were the only ship in port that day. Check out their boat:
We immediately got our snorkel gear on and jumped into the water and saw this:
This giant barracuda must have been about 4-5 feet long. We just ignored it while it hung out underneath the boat most of the time. Jeff was the crew member who snorkeled with us and I felt very safe with him. I want to mention that he was WONDERFUL with our girls and was silly and playful with them all day. He helped us snorkel around the cove and even dove down to pick up sand dollars for the girls. Here are some pictures I took while snorkeling. Click here to see the latest version of the underwater camera I use and absolutely love.
Pretty soon we began to see several of these:
It was really an incredible thing to be swimming so close to sea turtles. My girls loved it. I even managed to get a video of my oldest swimming near one:
By this time we had been in the water for a while and my 4 year old was tiring out, even though she had been riding on my back most of the time. She and I swam back to the boat and Wolfgang reached down to pull her up and then watched her for a while on the boat while I went out and snorkeled for a little while longer. At one point I looked up at the boat and saw this:
Wolfgang was helping her play “King of the World”! I cannot emphasize how much we loved the crew. Before long we were all ready to get back in the boat and eat lunch. I regret not taking a picture of the lunch Nicki made for us because it was amazing. Here we are hanging out on the boat after lunch:
Next we sailed over to a different cove where Jeff wanted to show us a shipwreck and feed some fish. I didn’t get any good pictures of the shipwreck because the water was kind of murky there, but we all had a blast feeding some fish our breakfast & lunch leftovers. Here are some pictures:
And here is a video:
The thing my girls loved most about this was that they could actually touch the fish. There were so many fish and they wanted the food so badly that they didn’t care if you touched them – they would even swim right into you! It was a really neat experience. While we were there, Jeff also swam down and got a sea urchin for the girls to hold:
By this time we needed to start sailing back to the marina. We enjoyed talking to the crew some more as we sailed back, and the girls were worn out:
When we got back to the marina, Jeff drove us back to the ship. By this time we felt like family and we were sad to say good bye, but I hope that one day we will return to St. Thomas and do it again. I highly recommend Second Wind Charters to anyone visiting St. Thomas. If you have any specific questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!
In addition, you may watch a 3 minute video summary of our excursion here.
Also, if you would like to read about our other excursions, you can do that here.
I just wanted to write a quick note to tell you how much I have been enjoying your blog. I first came across it a few weeks ago when you posted a link on the Disboards and I have been catching up on and reading every post. Your writing is very clear and descriptive and your photos add a great touch. Your enthusiasm spills forth in your writing and makes me excited to go and do all of these things as well.
Anyway, I haven’t had time to stop and post on every article, but I did want you to know that I am loving your blog and look forward to each new post, even if I don’t get a chance to comment as much as I would like to.
Michelle, thank you so much for taking the time to share that with me. It really means a lot to me that you are enjoying my blog. Being only a month old, I spend a lot of time wondering if people are reading and enjoying it and it is so nice to hear some positive feedback. I hope that you continue to enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy creating it. I always welcome feedback so if you ever have any suggestions or critiques, please let me know. Thanks again!
Hi, I love your blog and photos! Would you mind sharing the made and model of your underwater camera?
I’m glad you like it! I actually talk about my camera in my blog post here. It is item #8 on the list. My exact model is over 3 years old and is no longer available, but I have a link in the post to the newest model available.
moving our conversation over from the DIS… 😉 may I ask how long the excursion was?
Ours was from 9:00 – 2:30. They picked us up at the port at 9:00 so it was probably 9:30 by the time we got on the boat. We left at 2:30 to go back to the ship, so we had 5 hours on board. It seems like the drive was about 15-20 minutes. They will let you choose the times & length though.
As a mom with 3 young kids planning our first disney cruise, your blog is wonderful! With 2 kids under 5, I’m having a hard time finding great excursions and this looks wonderful. Did you have to book months in advance? Would I need to bring life vests to fit my little ones?We are cruising over Thanksgiving which I know will be a peak travel time… I figure if I’m going to splurge, this seems like something you would definitely recommend. Thanks in advance!
Hi Kim! I’m so glad you are enjoying the blog. We did book Second Wind about 6 months in advance, but I didn’t ask them how quickly they fill up. They were great with email, so I would not hesitate to email them any questions about availability. They provided life jackets and snorkel gear for everyone, so all we had to bring were our swim suits, sunscreen, and a camera. You are right about Thanksgiving crowds, and this would be a great way to avoid them! We definitely thought it was worth the cost. You might want to think about the car ride to the marina with your little ones and if you would want to use car or booster seats. We used inflatable booster seats called BubbleBums, and when our girls were smaller we used something called RideSafer Travel vests. I don’t think car seats are required in St. Thomas but I wanted to use them anyway. Let me know if you have any more questions!
Have been devouring your blog for most of the day! We’re taking our first Disney Cruise on the Magic in October out of NYC. Our son will turn 10 while we’re on the ship, and it’s HIS first-ever cruise, so we’re very excited. Your posts have been extremely helpful, thank you!
With regard to the independent excursions, how did you find them to be price-wise? Comparable to the DCL excursions? Thanks!
Hi Gillian! So glad you’re enjoying the blog! Non-DCL excursions are almost, if not always, cheaper than those done thru DCL (make sure you are comparing apples to apples though), which is one of the main benefits. But, make sure you research them ahead of time, read reviews, and get your agreement/terms in writing to ensure that everything goes smoothly. Enjoy your cruise!
Do you mind sharing how much this cost? Also…what’s your dis board name?
Sure! You can see the current rates on their website: http://www.chartersecondwind.com
We did the half day charter for 4-6 people (we have 5) for $1200 + tip. This was a few years ago so the rates may have gone up. I know this sounds like a lot, but to do a nice excursion through the cruise line it would be around $200 pp (and not private) so this is not much more than that. We have done a similar private charter on St. Maarten and Grand Cayman, and this one was not only the least expensive, it was by far the nicest, largest boat and the only one to have a chef and meals on board. They provided breakfast, lunch, snacks, open bar, and any equipment you want to use: snorkeling, fishing, etc. They also provided transportation to and from the ship which our others charters did not. A crew member was always in the water with us so we felt very safe. I think this goes down as our most favorite excursion ever. Let me know if you have any more questions! My disboards name is princessmommyx3.