Did you do the 1/2 day or full day with Sunshine? Website looks really good, what all did it include? Thanks!
Well, I’m not sure how to answer this question. See, when we found Malcolm & Sunshine it was completely by accident! In 2016 when we sailed NCL Escape back-to-back Easterns (same itinerary twice in a row) my plan for our first Tortola stop was to not have a plan. Crazy but hear me out.
When we were planning that trip I’d already been to Tortola less than a year earlier. That first time I went we went to The Baths using the DIY ferry method. There were things about the transit that I don’t care to do again. When we were walking to the Speedy’s Ferry dock hubby & I were approached by a fellow wearing a navy blue baseball cap that said “Egbert”. Nice guy. I’d heard of Egbert reading on Cruise Critic forums so I didn’t doubt that the fellow was legit. He’s pretty well known, actually. Reliable. He has a reputation, many have gone with him in the past. Basically Egbert would approach groups heading towards the ferry & offer them a ride to the same destination in a smaller vessel for roughly $40 each round trip. The hangup is he will not send the boat over until they have at least 10 onboard. How long will that take? No way to know exactly. Plus, the ferry was cheaper so we kept walking.
So fast forward to the next trip to Tortola. We had 6 in our group including my 2 older teenage sons, and inlaws. My un-plan was to find Egbert, strike the deal at $40pp, then offer to pay him that amount x10 if we could just leave right away. In the meantime I also been talking with other cruiser pals and they had told me about another guy they’d used, same deal, but his name was Aaron. So, we got there, hopped off the ship early, headed towards the gate like we were going to go to the ferry, and started looking around for these guys. I didn’t see anyone. It was still pretty early. A security guy near the gate saw me looking around and asked if he could help me out. I told him I was looking for Egbert or Aaron. He asked a few other local guys, taxi drivers, etc. but nobody had seen them. Then he said, “Oh you want to go to Baths! Hang on. I know a guy....” He walked over to a nearby food stand where lots of local guys we’re hanging around then returned with Malcolm. I had never even heard of Malcolm. Malcolm offered us the same deal at $40pp. Quick conference with the old man because I had zero knowledge of this guy but hubby said to just go for it. So I offered up the x10 which surprised him. But hey, in my eyes I was scoring a private charter to/from for $400. Can’t beat it! He took me up on it and off we walked the 10 minutes or so to the marina. That’s how I found Malcolm. Completely by accident. Or luck.
I think these charter boats this size, if they don’t have a charter scheduled they go try to rustle up some business by doing the per person offers. Smart, really! They need the funds & passengers need the ride. It works.
We enjoyed Malcolm a LOT. So much so that on the way back from Virgin Gorda when he was telling us all sorts of info about BVI we asked if he could do a private charter for my family of 4 the following week on our next Tortola day. (Inlaws headed home & didn’t do b2b.) Again, he seemed happily surprised but excited, too. For that second day we told him we liked to snorkel and explore interesting beaches. We asked him to show us *his* BVI, the places he thought were best. He even offered to stock the coolers onboard with our favorites: Pepsi, beer, & water. Yay! I think that second day we paid $600, $800 with the tip. One of our top 2 best port days ever. We had a total of 5 stops. Amazing snorkeling. Otherworldly beaches. Just incredible.
That first day I’d say we were with Malcolm for maybe 4 hrs or so total. The second day was more like 7 hrs. I mean we raced off the ship that day when the gangways opened and were inside that final hour returning (on purpose!). Now, since these days they’ve had the hurricane and costs of fuel are probably different now. I have Malcolm booked next month for my group of girlfriends for the half day charter. The full day adds a lunch stop (I’m thinking at Cooper Island) and a snorkel stop. Not many of us in the group this year are snorkelers so we opted to get on back so everyone can also have time to peruse the local trinket shopping. I still think it’s a fair price now. We have 7 going, possibly a couple more, so the per person cost isn’t very reasonable.
The key to this vs. the cruiseline excursion is time & speed. We will literally be at The Baths by the time the cruiseline groups are boarding their ferry. The smaller boat is also faster than the Speedy’s ferry. When the cruiseline folks arrive the cave path does get mighty busy. Being there and finished with the cave before them is sooooo worthwhile. But, I also understand, particularly with people who have never been to Tortola before, there’s also value to the peace of mind going with the cruise excursions. I’ve been twice out of 3 visits to Tortola so I’m pretty comfortable with it.
I know that was crazy long! Sorry. Hope I’ve helped!
EDIT. What it includes! The half day is your ride to/from Virgin Gorda, taxi is included. The entrance fee at the top he doesn’t pay because he doesn’t go over there with you. Out of 2 times I only saw someone collecting the money once. It’s only like $2pp. The coolers on the boat are stocked up. If you do the full day with the lunch stop you’ll have to buy your own lunch. Basically the price difference covers the additional time, fuel to another destination, and fees to dock. Anywhere he docks that boat there will be a fee for him to pay.
