We are going to St John in June and want to go bar/beach hopping on Jost Van Dyke (and possibly other islands). It will just be my wife and I and it seems like most of the private characters are for 8-12 people on larger boats and very expensive. Has anyone used an individual with a smaller boat as more of a "water taxi" type deal? Or do you have any recommendations for a more budget friendly company? We do not want to be part of a tour there and have to be on a schedule.

My wife and I rented a power boat with a guide back in 2021. We paid about $600 for 5-65hrs if I remember correctly. There was no agenda, if you had something you wanted to see he would go or we just asked him to show us what he'd want to see. He Took us around the island, let us snorkel in the mangroves where bigger boats cannot get plus took us to Lime Out. Our main reason for the boat was just to go to lime out. We had a very good experience. Our guide was mid 30s, graduated from UGA and just does tours and house sits private homes year around there. Would def do it again.

That sounds like what we want. Lime Out is on our list of places to go as well. You don't happen to know the guides name or name of the boat rental company do you?

I feel like private charter prices in the Virgin Islands have gone up considerably over the past several years. We've used Palm Tree Charters a couple of times and really like them. They were very reasonably priced compared to others when we shopped it, but it was still expensive. Our charter last year was $1,250 plus fuel and tip for up to 6. If you just want JVD and no other stops, there is also a ferry that goes from Cruz Bay to JVD. There are "taxis" on JVI that will get you from Foxy's to Soggy Dollar which I think are the best bars on the island. We've not done the ferry so I can't comment on how it is.

https://www.interislandboatservices.com/ferry-trips/red-hook-cruz-bay-jost-van-dyke/

Lime Out is awesome. Great tacos and craft cocktails. Salty Daze runs a shuttle to Lime Out. The shuttle does sellout so you definitely need to reserve ahead of time. Also, Lime Out gets really crowded so I'd recommend the the first shuttle to ensure you get one of the floating couches.

https://saltydazeusvi.com/limeout/