Excursion Review – Second Wind Charters, St. Thomas USVI

On our recent Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Disney Fantasy (full trip report here), we had the most amazing day in St. Thomas with Second Wind Charters.  We had previously sailed with Second Wind in 2014, which you can read about here.  We had such a fantastic day in 2014 that we didn’t even think twice about booking them again for our recent visit.

Once I reserved our half-day charter a few months prior to our cruise, I discovered that Second Wind had recently been sold and was under new ownership.  I was really hoping that it was still the same first-class operation, and I had great communication via email with Shane, the captain, so I was optimistic.

Our port time in St. Thomas was 7:45 AM – 4:00 PM, so we reserved the half day charter from 9:30 AM – 2:30 PM.  This would give us plenty of time to drive to and from the marina where Second Wind is kept, which is about a 20-30 minute car ride from the ship.  We had arranged to meet Shane at the Rum Hut at 9:00 AM, so we disembarked the Fantasy about 8:45 AM.  We followed the map that I had printed from Google Maps, but because we were in the USVI we had phone service so I could have just used my phone.  Here we are walking towards the Rum Hut:

The walk to the Rum Hut is very pedestrian-friendly and only took about 5-10 minutes.

Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas was docked next to us and it is HUGE!

We found the Rum Hut easily.  It was closed because it was 9:00 AM, but it was hopping later in the day when we returned:

While we waited a few minutes for Shane, we applied sunscreen and the girls had fun with the swings:

This was our view of the Independence of the Seas from the Rum Hut.  The Fantasy was docked just to the left:

Shane pulled up right at 9:00.  Before we got in the car, he told us that although it was currently bright & sunny, there was a 70-90% chance of rain that day.  He offered us the chance to cancel for a full refund at that point if we wished.  We thought about it for a minute and decided to take our chances and go for it!  I figured worst case scenario, we could snorkel in the rain.  He said the seas were not expected to be rough so that was not an issue.  We got into Shane’s car and drove to the Marina.

The drive to the Sapphire Beach Marina, where Second Wind was docked, was about 20-30 minutes along very windy roads, which is typical for the island.  During the drive, we discovered that Shane and his wife, Alyssa, are both from North Carolina, which is where we live.  In fact, Alyssa grew up in a town only 15 miles from our house!  We also talked about Hurricanes Maria and Irma, and that Second Wind had come through with minor damage.  However, some of the major hotels on the island, like the Ritz-Carlton, are still closed over a year later.

We arrived at the marina and walked over to Second Wind.  She was just as gorgeous as I had remembered!  In fact, she recently had some work done and was actually in even better shape.  Here is Alyssa waiting for us to arrive:

Alyssa had prepared a great breakfast spread for us.  There were mimosas for the adults and juice for the kids.  We did not eat breakfast on the ship in preparation for this:

We all dug in and after only a few minutes, it started to rain, just as predicted.  At first it was just a light rain and the table was covered so we stayed outside.  But, a few minutes later, the skies opened up and we had to rush inside for cover.  We were almost done eating, but Shane brought the remaining food inside as well.  We spent the next 30 minutes inside, playing games and reading while we discussed the plan for the day, watched the radar, and tried to predict what the weather would do.

This boat is very well-equipped.  This is the kitchen, and the bathroom is just to the left:

I peeked into the bedroom as saw that they have all of the equipment for deep sea fishing:

While we were waiting for the rain to stop, Shane was in touch with the boat’s owner who very kindly offered us the chance to return to the ship for a full refund, even though we had already eaten breakfast.  I appreciated this – yet another reason why this is a first-class operation!  But, once again, we decided to take our chances and just make the best of whatever happened!

Before too long, the rain let up and the skies started to clear, so Shane assumed the helm and took us out to sea.

Some of us joined him up top:

I stayed down and took some pictures.  The skies were really starting to clear!  Fingers crossed!

Shane suggested that because of the spotty rain/wind, it would be best to find a sheltered cove with good weather and stay there most of the day, rather than move around to different coves.  We were fine with that, and he took us to Christmas Cove, which we had not visited last time.  It was beautiful and the weather was cooperating!

We were eager to snorkel so we got all of our gear on and jumped right in.  This was a great snorkeling spot, with lots to see.

We had purchased these full-face snorkel masks and brought them with us as the girls tend to have a hard time with the traditional masks and snorkels.  The verdict: 2 girls loved them, and the other was indifferent and said she would be happy using either one.

Shane snorkeled with us, and he led us towards the shore to snorkel along the rocks.

You can see here that we stayed pretty close to the boat:

There were lots of tiny jellyfish in the water, but Shane assured us that they don’t sting.  In fact, it looked to me like they didn’t even have tentacles.  We swam through big groups of them and no one was stung.  You can see one in the bottom center of this photo:

Shane swam to the bottom and picked up a creature for us to see and hold:

I think he called it a spider crab.

FYI, for those of you wondering about my camera, click here to see the latest version of the one that I used to take these pictures. And, if you use an underwater camera, don’t forget to use a float strap!

Next, we happened upon something I have never seen before while snorkeling – squid!

There was a group of about 7 or 8 of them, and they didn’t seem to be bothered by us.  We were able to get really close.  There are 2 in this picture:

I see 5 in this picture, but there could be more.  They were well-camouflaged with the rocks:

At this time, Shane saw a sea turtle but it was kind of far and swimming away from us.  We tried to follow it, but I wasn’t able to get a good picture.

At this time it we headed back to the boat as the girls were getting tired and it was almost time for lunch.

After drying off and putting our gear away, Alyssa had some appetizers ready for us.  I forgot to take a picture, but there were mini quiches, coconut shrimp, and garlic bread.  Next, she prepared this beautiful salad for us:

The weather ended up being beautiful for us and we are so glad that we took the chance and went for it!

We had a leisurely lunch just relaxing and enjoying the scenery.

The main course for lunch was this delicious shrimp pasta.  It was SO good!

As the adults were finishing lunch, 2 of the girls decided they wanted to get back in the water and play so Alyssa watched them.

Soon, my husband and I decided to join them and get a little more snorkeling in before it was time to head back.  Our 13 year old decided to stay on the boat.

The water was shallow here, which my 8 year old appreciated, as snorkeling in deep water scares her a bit, although she still does it:

We saw our squid friends again:

Shane told us that all of the colorful stuff we saw had grown back since the hurricanes last year.

We were starting to get a bit tired and swam back to the boat.  Shane told us he was just getting ready to call us back as it was almost time to motor back over to St. Thomas.  But first, we had to eat dessert!  We had a delicious frozen pie that I forgot to photograph, and the girls still talk about.

As we motored back to the marina, I took some pictures.  This area on the front of the boat used to house a dinghy, which has been removed and created a great spot for relaxing:

We talked about our day on the boat in 2014 and I got the idea to try and recreate a photo.  I pulled one up on my phone and this is what we came up with:

I thought it turned out pretty good!

As we were sailing along, we saw this sailboat called Pizza Pi that sells pizza.  Shane pointed it out to us, and it was funny because we had just been talking about this boat the day before when we were in Tortola.  Our boat captain for our charter in Tortola had told us all about this boat and how it was getting ready to open for the season, and then we just happened to sail right by it the next day!

All too soon, we were pulling back into the marina.

We were SO grateful that the weather ended up cooperating, and to Shane for allowing us to cancel had we wanted too.  Here are the girls with Shane and Alyssa as we left:

It had been such a fun day on the water with lots of great memories made!

Shane drove us back to the Rum Hut and we walked back to the ship.  The streets were much more crowded than they had been that morning, and another ship had docked behind ours.

We walked back tired but happy!

Home sweet home!

Okay, now I have something exciting to share with you guys!  As we said goodbye to Shane and Alyssa, I mentioned that I write a blog and asked their permission to share our day with you all.  Well, after we returned home, the owners of Second Wind contacted me and told me that they will provide my readers with a promotion code for 15% off the charter price for anyone who books with them!  All you have to do it use the promo code DISNEYMOM when you book on their website and you will get the discount!  

THANK YOU Second Wind!!!

We loved our day with you and hope to see you again in the future!

You can read reviews of other port adventures here.

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