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Old 22-03-2015, 21:44   #1
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Availability of mooring balls in mid-May

I'm planning a 7-day power boat charter in the BVI on a cat in mid to late May, including over Memorial Day weekend. Any thoughts on wether it will be difficult to access mooring balls to tie up t?
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Old 22-03-2015, 22:09   #2
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Re: Availability of mooring balls in mid-May

No - lots and lots and lots of mooring balls.
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Old 23-03-2015, 19:49   #3
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Re: Availability of mooring balls in mid-May

A few places fill up early. The moorings on Jost Van Dyke in White Bay and Great Harbour and the moorings on Cooper Island. Have a plan B and don't wait until 5pm to get a mooring and you should be fine.

Enjoy your trip.


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Old 29-03-2015, 15:15   #4
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Re: Availability of mooring balls in mid-May

Doesn't your boat have an anchor? Cheaper than paying $30 a night for a mooring ball.
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Old 29-03-2015, 16:17   #5
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Re: Availability of mooring balls in mid-May

easy leave two hours after all the sailboats, pass them waving you will get great spots. No problem....

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Old 29-03-2015, 16:36   #6
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Re: Availability of mooring balls in mid-May

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Originally Posted by Captain Jimbo View Post
Doesn't your boat have an anchor? Cheaper than paying $30 a night for a mooring ball.

Yeah we've been in the BVIs for just over a month. Paid for one mooring buoy at cooper island, although we could have gone the next bay and grabbed a park buoy as well, nice spot..., the rest anchored. There's anchorages everywhere, even close to the morning hotspots if that's your thing. Oh we did drop into a marina for a couple of nights to eq batteries.
They charge for the moorings at around 6pm, so if you want to provision or trip around, pick one up in the morning and be back by mid afternoon to head off somewhere nice to anchor if you prefer. I guess some charter companies stipulate you have to take a mooring though.
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Old 30-03-2015, 10:29   #7
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Re: Availability of mooring balls in mid-May

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Originally Posted by Captain Jimbo View Post
Doesn't your boat have an anchor? Cheaper than paying $30 a night for a mooring ball.
Just for a different perspective than how much it costs to anchor vs moor, I would always prefer a mooring ball where available, simply to avoid damaging the bottom. Of course in pure sand it doesn't matter. Pete
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Old 30-04-2015, 20:38   #8
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Re: Availability of mooring balls in mid-May

I have over 4 weeks bareboating experience in BVIs during May.

For the most part mooring balls are no problem before 3:00pm After 3:00pm you "may" encounter a shortage. Always inspect your mooring ball for damage.

If you are doing the full moon festival at Trellis Bay you need to get there the day before by 1:00pm to get a mooring ball. We got over there ASAP at 1:00pm on the day of the full moon festival and could not find a mooring ball. Its shallow there so watch your depth gauge. We unload 4 of the 6 passengers into a dingy to reduce the draft while searching for a mooring ball. Unfortunately no luck so we moored up at Marina Cay and took the ferry over to the Trellis Bay moon festival.

The must places to visit:
1) JVD Soggy Dollar bar for Lunch - Best white sand beach and Best burger and fries in the entire BVIs. This is a must

2) JVD Corsairs Restaurant for the BEST dinner. Go to Foxy's in the afternoon have a drink, walk down the road from Foxy's 5 min to Corsairs to make a diner reservation. Corsairs is number 1 on JVD and number 2 in BVIs. Owners Vinnie and sister Debbie have the best chef hands down.

3) The Virgin Gorda Baths and the restaurant at top of the baths. Take a rental car or taxi to top of the baths. Awesome view up there. Have lunch by the pool and take a dip in the pool. Best prices for t-shirts and stuff at top of the BATHS. Then walk down to beach and take the challenging walk through the baths. Where good shoes with traction you don't mind getting wet. Walking to the other side of the baths is an awesome beach for snorkeling. if you can get to the baths early by boat they have red day mooring balls. But to get to shore you will need to either swim or be able to get in and out of the dingy from the water. They do not allow dingy beach landings there.

4) Sandy Cay just east of JVD. pick up a red mooring ball for the a few hours and then beach your dingy. Ejoy your almost private beach and take the walk around this small island. This is a beautiful secluded beach that is very special. Bring bug spray and good walking shoes for the trail around the island.

5) We like mooring off Leverick Resort on Virgin Gorda. Its a nice quiet place, free swimming pool that my wife enjoys. Good place to wash clothes and get free water and ice. Good provisioning Good drinks and food. You can spend a few days here and taxi or better yet get a rental car delivered from Spanish Town to explore Virgin Gorda and the Baths.

6) opposite side of the bay from Leverick Resort in the Bitter End yacht club and Saba Rock. Definitely worth visiting.

The place with the most sea turtles and large sting rays that I have found is Deadman Bay off Peter Island. No mooring balls but excellent anchoring in sand. Once anchored snorkel around to see the 3 or 4 sea turtles in the bay. Dingy or swim to the beach and walk over to the very very expensive Peter Island resort to the west in Sprat Bay. Very nice swimming pool if you ask about staying there they may let you swim in the pool. BTW very expensive to get the private mooring balls at SPrat Bay from Peter Island Resort.
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Old 09-05-2015, 10:17   #9
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Re: Availability of mooring balls in mid-May

24-31 May there is a group of 20 or so boats (roughly 300 pax) from MIT MBA grad class that will be in the neighborhood.
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Old 10-05-2015, 18:58   #10
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Re: Availability of mooring balls in mid-May

Quote:
Originally Posted by monte View Post
Yeah we've been in the BVIs for just over a month. Paid for one mooring buoy at cooper island, although we could have gone the next bay and grabbed a park buoy as well, nice spot...,
FYI - The NPT (park) moorings are only for day use - not for overnights.


We've been in May ending an 8 day charter Memorial day. Didn't have a problem getting a mooring, although there's a few spots that do tend to fill up quickly. Cooper Island is one of them. White Bay, Jost Van Dyke is another that can be full, especially during the day.
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Old 12-05-2015, 10:42   #11
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Re: Availability of mooring balls in mid-May

My husband and I live in the US Virgin Islands but often sail over to the British Virgin Islands. There are a lot of places you can pick up a mooring ball for $30 a night. Cooper Island, Saba Rock (they include a bag of ice and water with the cost of the mooring ball), but you can also anchor at any number of locations. Just get to your destination a little earlier in the afternoon (people start coming in around 3pm)and getting a mooring ball shouldn't be an issue. Memorial Day weekend will be busier though so prepare to either leave early in the day or grab a mooring ball early afternoon. There are also a lot of great places to anchor as well. I keep a blog about some of our favorite places in the BVI's if you want to take a look.

Happy travels,
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