Jet Skis

Noise and reef disturbance, annoying and dangerous around snorkelers and divers.

Responsible operators are no problem.
People who rent them and go nuts with no regard to maritime rules or environmental concerns are the problem.

Noise, noise, noise! It echos up the hillsides!

PWC are marketed toward aggressive youth. The purpose is to tear up the water. Safety is a problem. They don't draw much, so folks try to go in shallow areas which are nurseries for all sorts of sea creatures. The jet drives stir up sediment. They disturb nesting areas for birds. They disturb the peace and are annoying.

Shall we discuss dolphin prisons next?;)

Thanks for the responses. I was definitely referring to responsible users not renters. I was thinking it would be fun way to check out the coastline and I was not thinking of tearing it up. I respect the water ways, maritime laws and environment. If this came to fruition I wanted to be as respectful as possible.
Thanks!

If this came to fruition I wanted to be as respectful as possible.
Thanks!

A dinghy is much more practical for what you want to do and is way more respectful to the environment and to all we cranky people who can't stand their general invasiveness and the noise! (tu)

Jet skis are a great way to experience the near shore marine environment and they're a lot of fun. These whinners who complain about noise and such just want to take away everyone's right to have a good time. Go back to sleep.

In some places they are fine. However there are a few that take them to Cane Bay where there are lots of divers in the water. It is shallow going out to the wall. Big chance of running over someone. If they were responsible riders it would one thing, but the ones I've seen were not!

Jet skis are a great way to experience the near shore marine environment and they're a lot of fun. These whinners who complain about noise and such just want to take away everyone's right to have a good time. Go back to sleep.

Really. Like many others I live in a wonderfully quiet area where the daily noise is limited to birds chattering and the rustling of trees wafted by gentle breezes. To have the peace interrupted by the incessant whining of a jet ski from way down the mountain is painfully intrusive. Go back to sleep? I don't sleep during the day but even a quick nap's impossible through that racket. I've no doubt at all that you wouldn't be so flip if you'd ever had the experience.

Try SUP (Stand Up Paddle)! It is quiet, peaceful, a great workout and a great way to explore the coastline!

I am looking at a 9 or 10 foot dinghy with a 5 to 10 HP motor, something I can handle alone with a van and still have fun. My health doesn't allow more than 40 pounds of lifting so I think I am safe. Buy and ship or buy on island? I am in San Diego but plan on driving to Miami and have friends/worked in the shipping industry for many years.Maybe buy a dinghy and motor in Miami?

I am looking at a 9 or 10 foot dinghy with a 5 to 10 HP motor, something I can handle alone with a van and still have fun. My health doesn't allow more than 40 pounds of lifting so I think I am safe. Buy and ship or buy on island? I am in San Diego but plan on driving to Miami and have friends/worked in the shipping industry for many years.Maybe in Miami?

Can't help you where comparative costs are concerned but I'd suggest that you wait until you get settled here and then first check the local availability here. There are often dinghies advertised locally for sale.

Let's not mention running over sea turtles..........
Sunshinefun, where do you live?
We'll send all the jet skiers to parade in front for you to enjoy?;)

Jet skis are a great way to experience the near shore marine environment and they're a lot of fun. These whinners who complain about noise and such just want to take away everyone's right to have a good time. Go back to sleep.

Shame on you for remaining true to yourself, have an open mind, and be completely and utterly politically incorrect... LOL... You do honor your handle... 😉

I for one agree with you... That being said, they should be regulated, proper laws enacted, and enforced, specially on sensitive areas... Whether we all like it or not, Jet Skis are invaluable in the Caribbean to offered to tourists as an available option... Those things are not that different from the noisy polluting cars and scooters that are available for rent...

Those things are not that different from the noisy polluting cars and scooters that are available for rent...

You must surely have written that with tongue firmly in cheek. There is absolutely no analogy that can possibly be made between the noise of a car or a scooter to a jet ski. A heavy dump truck changing gears on a steep hill makes less noise. Then again, if you're on St Croix with its vastly different topography from St Thomas and St John your position may be justified where that's concerned.

Islander1012: The problem is that PWC are not marketed toward responsible people who are respectful of the laws. And here in the VI there is actually a law which prevents PWC from approaching the coastline closely, but there is no enforcement of it. I appreciate what you are saying,but the reality to most people who love their little quiet corner of Paradise is: PWC are simply annoying....like feral chickens. 😛

They are as bad as the quads that blast around Cane Bay from time to time.
Used to ride three wheelers, before quads came out, and they were fun as long as you were riding. They were annoying when someone else was riding.

You guys remind me of the grandfather on the is Simpsons- "you damn kids get off my lawn!".

Anyways jet skis are great if used responsibly- aversion to them is simply a conditioned response. After the 299th of being annoyed due to noise and recklessness, looking up and seeing a jet ski, you begin to associate the ski with the nuisance.

The fact that you can injure turtles and people, should be reason alone not to ride jet skis.

As others have mentioned, stand up paddleboarding, dinghying, or kayaking, don't carry the risk of injury to others, and also are much quieter.

there have been so many deaths due to rider error around the us of a that some places have outlawed them. i have never ridden one. they look fun but in the wrong hands, not so much. and yes they are extremely noisy. but not as loud as the dance studio

Two new MSIBs have been issued by Sector San Juan for a couple items which have been brought to the Coast Guard's attention recently.

MSIB 04-13 covers some new and existing operations to the area, namely the jetpack and flyboard operations. However, the MSIB also applies to jet ski operations. As part of a company's operations, if an employee carries a paying passenger on board a jet ski, or the jet ski is attached by a hose to a water jetpack or flyboard, the employee must hold a valid Coast Guard issued Merchant Mariner Credential (MMC) endorsed for Operator of an Uninspected Passenger Vessel (OUPV).

I wonder if many of the rental companies observe this ruling - when I asked the 2 companies that operate at Emerald Beach if they had licensed operators taking passengers they were not aware why they even should .

Years ago we did a tour around Bora Bora on PWC ( sit down type jet skis ). We were guided and not allowed to get out of line. While not as much fun for me, most everyone enjoyed the medium speed tour. Afterwards I understood why they did it the way they did.
The rental places and the personal ones on STX do not use them this way, it's just wide open and reckless. Yeah, not as much fun but then who cares about safety, turtles, or the reefs.
At Cane Bay, they ride them full throttle from the beach as soon as they start out until they come back. They are going to kill someone one of these days.

which is why they have been banned in other places

I am listening to the sound of a jet skier now. I could hear him coming all the way over from Hull Bay. I am in Dorothea. Totally obnoxious.