Bareboat sailing charter in BVI, what to do, what to skip?

[Mithril Bham]

Owned a charter biz and sailing school there for a few years. Second Aragorn's Trellis Bay Full Moon. He sells very cool T-shirts. Civilized. Good music and wine. Many charter companies don't allow Anegada. Would skip anyway although good lobster but a bit tricky approach. Just hit the spots mentioned above. Might think of hitting the dock at Spanish Town and taking a cab to the baths. Saba Rock nice if you like that sort of thing. Sir Francis Drake sheltered and best sailing. Also Virgin Gorda Sound.

[jim King]

I spend most of November and December in the BVI. I think if you are tight on time I'd skip both Jost VanDyke and Anagada. It's a beautiful 3 hour sail to Anagada and back but may get rough depending on conditons. If you're looking for snorkeling leave out both Jost and Anagada and spend more time at the Caves, Indians, Monkey point and Great Dog. Also be sure to do the Baths.

[contrail]

I lived in the BVI and ran a crewed charter yacht from 2015 until last year, so my perspective is based on that. Those who have spent a good bit of time have given you the best answers; so here is what I would add: 1) really decide on what you want to do, rather than where you want to go. The first drives the second. You have said you want to eat ashore a good bit, but will it be a Pub crawl, or not? 2) the weather controls anything. Folks would ask me six months in advance, for our itinerary....not realistic. This time of the year can be not only very windy (that's the forecast for the next week), but also features big north swells, at times. Simple tip.....if possible, do your upwind legs in light wind, and your downwind legs in heavy wind. THAT should drive your day to day itinerary, and make things the most fun. 3) forget about "doing everything". I stopped counting at 103 separate anchorages, mooring fields, marinas, etc, and even I, who lived there and did this for a living, never visited all of them. IF you visited the BVI every years, after a decade you might manage it, and by then lots would have changed. So, don't bother. Pick a limited number, based on your favourite activities, and have a great time. 4) the swells, if present, can make many anchorages uncomfortable and even untenable. Ask your briefer for thoughts on that, as the swells are well predicted, better than the wind, in fact. 5) Unless you don't particularly enjoy sailing or beaches, you MUST go to Anegada. The sails there and back are usually the best you will get during your trip. They are not long, either, unless you go from Anegada to Jost Van Dyke, which is around 25 miles. Virgin Gorda to Anegada is about 14, and the sailing is usually fast. If you don't want to spend two nights (most don't), go early one day, explore that afternoon and the next morning, and return the next afternoon. But it's totally different from anywhere else in the BVI, and is probably most people's favourite island, along with Virgin Gorda. 6) Definitely try to include the Baths (which you can reach by car from Leverick Bay or Spanish Town, the Indians, and the Caves. There are lots of other great places more specifically tailored to your activities, such as the Wreck of the Rhone, the Soggy Dollar, etc. 7) Finally, returning to point !), Jost Van Dyke is the party island of the BVI. If you like your activities to be well lubricated, it's a can't miss, but if you don't.....on a week's charter, it's a waste of time. Indeed, if you limit yourself to Virgin Gorda, Anegada, and the islands on the south side of Sir Francis Drake Channel, you will have a wonderful time. If you go to the Bight, have a really nice mean at Pirates, but do call for a reservation.


Covid and all its assorted effects have made it absolutely imperative to call every planned destination and determine if it will be open, closed, or something in between. Following the private chat group of the crewed charter fleet, from afar, I can tell you that things change every day, not to mention every week. The charter crews are checking with destinations and each other, every day, and no one is surprised, any longer, to get a surprising answer.

[Ardens2]

Just left the BVI today for USVI.
Google when cruise ships are in port in Tortola and try to avoid the Baths when there are cruise ships in port. There are so many excursions from the ship passengers.
Highly recommend Saba Rock Resort for a drink and also a drink over at bitter End too.
Leverick bay has the pirate comedian on M, T & W at I think 6 pm and happy hour specials.
Great harbor on JVD was also pretty good with Foxys there and a pretty sand brach. Hit Little JVD in the morning, pick up a mooring ball and walk down to the Bubbly pond, grab a bite at Foxys Taboo and then down to Great Harbor. Sand Spit or Sandy Cay are beautiful beachs. There were no boats in Little Harbor where Sidneys is so we aren's sure if that is still open. If it is a busy week you can reserve some mooring balls (Boatyball.com) ahead of time on the day of arrival. Comes in handy if you are willing to pay the extra $10 above the cost of the first come first serve balls.
Scrub Island looks beautiful.
Trellis bay was really quiet. Everywhere seems to have some decent grocery stores to stock up.
Anegada was great but we aren't on a week charter. Might be hard to fit it in but you can get an early start from VG and be there by 10 am. Reserve a car or scooter ahead of time and still see much of the island that day and head off the next day. With the right wind it is a great trip and you can be in Cane Garden bay by noon the next day.
Have fun

[Cool Hand Luke]

My first time being a skipper in the BVIs in 2013

[Stu Jackson]

We've been to the BVIs a number of times. The Baths are so highly overrated... Yup, easier by car from Leverick, get great views when going up over the mountain.



We liked Leverick better than that other option in North Sound.


Best long sail we had was from North Sound along the north coast to Cane Garden Bay.


The Caves were great, primarily for the snorkeling on the reef outside the caves. The Rhone was fascinating. Monkey Point was good snorkeling for a lunch stop. Ah...memories...



As some have mentioned, don't over plan, get a general idea and work the wind to your advantage. Like any good sailor, go upwind first as far as you can so the rest of the trip is downwind.


Have fun, you shouldn't have any difficulties doing that.


We never did get to Anegada, was off limits when we were there, so probably dating myself.

[paulg222]

Lots of great thoughts and ideas here, I'm still digesting. Definitely I will be adjusting my plans to the wind a bit. Curious about snokeling, I saw someone say it wasn't as good as expected, hoping they are wrong. Overall hoping the wind isn't too strong, although I'm fine with downwind in 20knts, other tacks not as fun (although probably easier in a 40ft cat vs my 33ft mono).

Any special way I should check about the ground swells? I saw a couple of websites but they weren't that clear to me. Thanks all.

[Zanshin]

I use WindGuru BVI and look at the waves there. I use the wave direction, height and period. Looking at the link, I'd be tucked into the North Sound right now for the next couple of days!

And the bubbly pool on JVD is probably cooking right now

[AJ_n_Audrey]

If you go to the Baths, arrive early. Cooper Island is great for lunch. Leverick Bay is a more low key option in North Sound. Sydney's Peace and Love is a low key option at Jost.

[Commodore64]

My wife and I were there just before the pandemic (end of Feb 2019). Our goals were to see as much as we could and sail. We weren't as interested in spending all day on shore or in a pub. We can do that at home.

Day 1 - Left Tortola for Peter's Island and anchored in Soldier's Bay. This was perfect for us, because there are only a couple of balls and there was only one other boat. You can easily dingy to The Bight and The Indians from this spot. We had dinner at The Bight and dingy'd back to the boat past a zillion boats in The Bight to ours and complete privacy in Soldier's Bay.

Day 2 - Started with snorkeling at The Indians. It's nice, but we weren't overly impressed. Not much sea life and coral was not in good shape. Still had fun.

Then sailed down the channel to Cooper's Island. It was a fairly busy place, but nice restaurant and bars and nice anchorage. It was Super Bowl Sunday and someone brought a projector, a bunch of us watched it on the patio at the rum bar there.

This is a perfect launching point for The Baths.

Day 3 - We left early morning for The Baths. Picked up a ball just off the swimming area and swam into the beach. Awesome! Stayed through lunch time (at that point tours were showing up and it's a totally different experience with them there). So we left for Leverick Bay.

Leverick has some restaurants/bars, small grocery, but for us there wasn't much to do there and it's jam packed with boats (like The Bight). We came here to launch to Anegada.

Day 4 - Sail to Anegada. People say the entry to Anegada is tricky. Honestly, that is total BS. We are novice sailors, sailed by sight only/paper chart and had no problems finding the channel and getting into the anchorage. The anchorage is very shallow though, so you need to be careful once in there.

PS - There will be a bunch of other boats heading there as well so worst case, follow one.

It took us longer than most on a 32' mono that wasn't exactly built for speed, but we were there for lunch. Rented scooters and went all over the island. We could have spent much more time here for sure and I'm very glad we didn't miss it.

Day 5 - We woke up to water in the engine compartment and leaking into the rest of the bilge! We called the charter base. When they asked where we were the response we got was - Oh, it's gonna take while for us to reach you. Great experience for us to learn to use the pumps, keep our heads and trouble shoot.

Ultimately we could not find the source of the problem, but the leak stopped and we sailed back to Leverick so that we were closer to civilization in case it started back up.

Winds picked up heavily from the East that evening and Leverick doesn't offer great protection for this, so it was a difficult night. The fetch from across the bay was relentless and the boat was pulling on the anchor all night like a wild dog on a chain.

Day 6 - Sleepless night and we left for Trellis to get out of the wind. While this was a great place to get out of the wind, I would say it was the worst place we stayed. It's next to the airport so lots of plane noise, the anchorage itself was beaten up badly by the hurricane, the balls were very sketchy and definitely not a place for swimming, snorkeling, etc. More of a commercial setting.

There are some decent restaurants here and we had a nice dinner and enjoyed some rest out of the wind.

Day 7 - Headed back to Tortola. The wind had a slight noreast angle to it so we had a nice down wind back. It was the fastest the boat moved the whole trip.

We missed A LOT, but we enjoyed the hell out of it. Now we have an itinerary for the next time to visit all the places we missed and spend more time in Anegada.

[CaptJimFrei]

Here's where I avoid (10+ times in BVI):
Anegada - over-priced & over-rated lobster and too many fukkin' mosquitoes.

Trellis Bay - too many fukkin' mosquitoes, and sketchy crowd at night. If you insist on Full Moon party; grab a ball before 1 pm.

Cane Garden Bay - boat had stuff stolen while ashore.

Nice quite anchorages:
White Bay (Guana Island) but can't trespass beyond the beach, island is private.

Brewer's Bay (north side of Tortola)

Benures Bay (Norman)

Coopers Island (a bit busier than above, but nice sandy beach, and the restaurant is excellent)

Most folks stay in Drake Channel - try sailing outside (south) of Norman, Peter, Ginger - can be sporty, but different.

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by CaptJimFrei

Here's where I avoid (10+ times in BVI):
Anegada - over-priced & over-rated lobster and too many fukkin' mosquitoes.

We enjoyed the sails to/from Anageda. I hear you on the lobster, but it was a fun place (dancing etc) . Tip to newbies - just order the 1/2 lobster. We didn't have mosquito issues. And I hafta say we enjoyed just chilling at Cow Wreck Beach for a day.

Cane Garden Bay - boat had stuff stolen while ashore.

It is a pretty nice (if busy) beach though. We did it as a day-trip prior to our charter.

And thanks for your tips on quiet anchorages.

[argonauta1]

Spent months there on and off. Arrival Day, get set overnight on board. Day 2 to the Baths explore ashore then to the Dogs late lunch snorkel. By 1530 hrs head for Virgin Gorda anchor off Bitter End YC. Day 3 depart 0900 for Anegada arrive 1200 hrs and pick up a mooring. Be scrupulous about following entry route using chart plotter as depths are as low as 7.5 Ft or less. Day 4 bus to Loblolly Bay. Day 5 to Jost Van Dyke, Great Harbour. Day 6 to West End and on to the Indians overnight mooring at The Bight. Next morning, back to Scrub. This is a fairly intense route but it hits some highlights and includes Anegada. Enjoy!

[lestersails]

For a quiet anchorage that is (sorta) in North Sound - take the cut between Saba Rock and VG and go over to Deep Bay. It is very pretty and quiet. Note that when we were there the Oil Nut Bay Marina Restaurant was closed, though the coffee shop was open.

[merrydolphin]

Cool Hand Lukes list looks like more than enough. Of those the Baths and the Indians are my favorite for fun activity.