Lion In Da Sun
Lion In Da Sun
5
Full view
About
Lion In Da Sun is a "Captained Powerboat Day Charter" business in the US Virgin Islands of St. John and St. Thomas. The days activities are completely up to you and might include island hopping in the British Islands such as Jost van Dyke, Sandy Spit, Norman Island, and Virgin Gorda among many others. You can incorporate world-class snorkeling, beaches, bars, and local lunch spots. The day is completely up to you!
St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands
Awards
Travellers' Choice
2024
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listingSimilar Experiences
Travellers talk about
Contribute
Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
5.0
901 reviews
Excellent
888
Very good
10
Average
2
Poor
0
Terrible
1
RobC
O'Fallon, IL12 contributions
Jan 2020
Our extended family of 9 visited St. Thomas on New Years Day as part of a cruise. Looking to avoid the standard cruise ship excursion crowds, we booked a day-long charter with Rick. With his extensive local knowledge, Rick took our requested activities and turned them into a spectacular day on the water! Our day took us to snorkeling with turtles and stingrays, visiting beautiful remote beaches, and a memorable lunch at the Pizza Pi. Throughout the journey, Rick was able to provide background information about the history of the USVI that made the trip even better.
Rick has a customer focus and was continually allowing us to draw on his experience and insight to enhance our day. With precious few days of family vacation, I cannot think of a better way to spend that time than on the Lion In Da Sun with Rick.
We look forward to calling Rick on our next trip to the islands.
Rick has a customer focus and was continually allowing us to draw on his experience and insight to enhance our day. With precious few days of family vacation, I cannot think of a better way to spend that time than on the Lion In Da Sun with Rick.
We look forward to calling Rick on our next trip to the islands.
Written 11 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Charles H
1 contribution
Mar 2020
Captain Rick was very responsive in setting up our important day trip during our week in the Virgin Islands. He was prompt in meeting us in Cruz Bay, St. John and customized our tour of St. John and the BVI's. The day was over 9 hours and included cave exploration, snorkeling at two different sites, lunch on one island and drinks on another island at the end of the day. Captain Rick is very knowledgeable about the history of the islands and made us comfortable as we cruised. He has a witty sense of humor. He was recommended to us by friends who used Lion In Da Sun on numerous occasions. Our day trip with Captain Rick was the highlight of our week.
Written 19 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Don Campbell
3 contributions
Mar 2021 • Family
When we were looking for a boat charter for our family of 6 we honestly weren’t thinking of a private charter for only us. We thought a sail boat with food and drink would be best. I can’t tell you how wrong we were! I called Rick at Lion in Da Sun and he couldn’t have been more accommodating. He offered us a half day on board his 26’ twin engine catamaran at a very reasonable price. We accepted and he then put us in touch with our Captain, Carlos. Capt. Carlos met us across the street from the Marina at the local Food Center supermarket. We got provisions for our trip there and loaded up on our boat. Carlos showed us around the boat and gave us our safety briefing. He then asked us what we had in mind for our charter. We told him we wanted to swim with the sea turtles and snorkel around coral reefs. We’d leave the rest up to him to provide us with the best experience possible. And he did exactly that!! We started by heading over to St. John and all along the way Capt. Carlos gave us the lay of the land, and ocean of course, complete with local lore and interesting things to see on land but from the Oceanside. Upon arrival at Maho Bay in St John we were immediately greeted by sea turtles and a gorgeous sting ray! There were the most beautiful star fish too!
We could have stayed there all day but to get the most of our time we left St. John and headed to a small island with a beautiful underwater shelf teeming with colorful fish, coral reef and an amazing octopus that my daughter saw!! I could go on about our time there but suffice it to say it was nothing short of magnificent!
We pulled up anchor and headed to the north side of the island where my boys wanted to cliff dive. It was a bit choppy heading over so we thought it best to stay in calmer seas. Capt. Carlos took us to another small island rich with sea life where we snorkeled yet again!
By now our time was running g short and we reluctantly had to head in and gas up. That was our experience but none it it would have been possible without Rick the owner getting us Captain Carlos at the last minute and customizing an experience that our family will never ever forget! I could recommend this charter service more. They are friendly, reasonably priced, and will provide a fully customizable Caribbean experience that you will never forget! Thank you Rick, thank you Capt. Carlos! You will be our first call when we come back to St. Thomas which hopefully will be very, very soon!
We could have stayed there all day but to get the most of our time we left St. John and headed to a small island with a beautiful underwater shelf teeming with colorful fish, coral reef and an amazing octopus that my daughter saw!! I could go on about our time there but suffice it to say it was nothing short of magnificent!
We pulled up anchor and headed to the north side of the island where my boys wanted to cliff dive. It was a bit choppy heading over so we thought it best to stay in calmer seas. Capt. Carlos took us to another small island rich with sea life where we snorkeled yet again!
By now our time was running g short and we reluctantly had to head in and gas up. That was our experience but none it it would have been possible without Rick the owner getting us Captain Carlos at the last minute and customizing an experience that our family will never ever forget! I could recommend this charter service more. They are friendly, reasonably priced, and will provide a fully customizable Caribbean experience that you will never forget! Thank you Rick, thank you Capt. Carlos! You will be our first call when we come back to St. Thomas which hopefully will be very, very soon!
Written 15 March 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
travelerfess
1 contribution
Jan 2020 • Family
our family went out with captain rick today, and we had the BEST time!!!! we were a group of 7 — five adults ages 27-28, two adults age 55 — and it was truly the highlight of our trip. not only did we see all the snorkeling and gorgeous turquoise waters we could’ve dreamed of, but we also heard an outstanding history of the usvi, complete with hilarious and educative anecdotes only rick would know. we saw turtles, rainbow fish, incredible rock formations, and an unforgettable sunset. rick took us to tiny beaches and views untouched by tourism and only known by locals. he was friendly, intuitive, and eagerly customized the trip to our liking. we won’t forget it!!! highly suggest!
Written 3 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jeff Brown
Sanford, NC8 contributions
Jul 2020 • Family
I cannot begin to describe the day that we had with Captain Rick. He took us around St. John and St. Thomas and put us on some of the best spots in the Virgin Islands. We got to see turtles, beautiful beaches, coral reefs, and not to mention a shipwreck. He was great with the kids, shared lots of history and had us laughing throughout the day. He also took photos of us while we enjoyed our time snorkeling or on the beach. This was the best day of our vacation. I would recommend Caption Rick to anyone looking to charter a boat in the Virgin Islands.
Written 2 July 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We are happy that you had a great experience and look forward to you joining us again on a return visit!
Written 14 October 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
728ronaldd
Grand Rapids, United States21 contributions
Mar 2020
Rick was a gracious and knowledgeable host who catered to our interests and abilities with all of the activities. He let us down gently with our desire to see a whale (has seen 4 in 12 years) and we enjoyed all of the other activities. We toured the north side of St John, learned some fascinating things about the island and its inhabitants, got some pictures of our mermaid in the Mermaid's Chair and saw some rare birds off one of the bird sanctuary islands and some beautiful underwater scenery. (Sorry no pictures of our mermaid will be forthcoming) We had some swells that made his "usual places' to snorkel not particularly inviting so he found other really nice places to see things. We had lunch at a really enjoyable seaside restaurant on St Thomas and then had another afternoon snorkel around St Thomas and then headed back to St John. All five of us had a great time. His expertise and calmness and wit would make any party comfortable and cared for.
Written 7 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Courtney_Bartholomew
2 contributions
Jan 2020 • Family
Rick was a wonderful boat captain. Extremely well versed in the history of St. John and surrounding islands. Not only was he entertaining and kept us laughing all day, but the areas he took us to snorkel at were incredible. As avid snorkelers, we wanted to see what the island had to offer and Rick surpassed expectations with the locations picked. Absolutely a must-do trip on Lion in da Sun and with Rick!
Written 16 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
lb245065
Syosset, NY6 contributions
Feb 2022 • Couples
I rode with this company back in December 2011 around Christmas, with my parents and brother on a family trip, and we all had such a blast with captain Rick. Fast forward to February 2022, when our family came back to St John this past week. Based on the fun experience we had in 2011 with Lion in Da Sun, I decided to book this again, this time though with my wife, brother and his girlfriend. We had Captain Greg who was just as fun, knowledgeable and funny as Rick! He knows so much about the history and other useful information about the islands. His boat is also very comfortable and fast, and the entire half day ride was as smooth as butter despite some wavy conditions at times. The snorkeling spots he took us to around the north shore of St. John were amazing, (some of the best I’ve ever seen in the Caribbean, and I’ve been to almost a dozen Caribbean islands), as well as the other destinations he boated too like Little St James Island and the surrounding area. This trip is worth every penny! Please book if you’re ever on St John (or St Thomas too) and are even considering doing a boat trip, I’m telling you, its worth every penny!
Written 25 February 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
SuzShultz
Mountain View, CA5 contributions
Jan 2020
We love Captain Rick & the Lion In Da Sun boat. Captain Rick is extremely knowledgeable of St. John, St. Thomas, & the surrounding BVI islands and an excellent captain. This time we made a stop at Lameshur Bay to snorkel with the kids. It was everything Captain Rick said it would be... large schools of fish, lots of baby fish, purple sea fans...just amazing snorkeling! From there we went to Jost Van Dyke & had a blast of an afternoon hopping between bays & bars. Our family loves boat day with Lion in Da Sun!
Written 17 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Angela G
2 contributions
Jan 2020
My husband and I booked an all-day charter with Captain Rick. It happened to be unusually windy while we were there so most other charters cancelled. Rick cautioned us about the weather, but was willing to try it if we wanted (or cancel and refund our money we preferred). Since we were only there a few days, we decided to go for it. Rick upgraded our boat to the larger one due to the waves free of charge. He took us to terrific snorkel sites, but best of all, he provided us with so much great history and context to the islands. His tour and knowledge of the islands was the highlight of our trip. Rick handled the waves and weather perfectly. We are SO glad that we went for it. Thank you, Rick, for some very special memories! I'm sure we'll be back soon!
Written 16 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
No, I’m sorry we do not fish. Please call Doubleheader Sportfishing Charters.
Written 29 June 2018
What were the daily or multiway charter rates? I've been looking around but can't seem to find any published rates online. Can anyone give me an estimate?
Thanks!
Written 18 April 2015
Yes, the 28 ft Scout boat is $675 plus fuel.
The fuel is usually about $95 and $140
Our 26ft Twin Vee power catamaran is just $575 plus fuel.
The Twin Vee also uses less fuel, often it is around $65 and comes with a $100 fuel guarantee.
Written 8 January 2016
Showing results 1-2 of 2
*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.