First-Time Bareboater, BVI - Any Advice ?

[maytrix]

I'd definetely recommend a stop at Fallen Jerusalem. The Bath's is a must so you can take the path through the rocks, but you can spend a lot more time at Fallen Jerusalem (we had the whole place to ourselves for an entire day). It's a great snorkle spot. Things I found of interest were some larger fish surfing around one of the rocks, a large puffer, a conch graveyard (amazing how many conch shells were there!), a flounder, a lobster and many other cool stuff. You could even do some hiking on land - we explored a little bit, but not much.

Another good snorkle spot is Anglefish reef (SW corner of Norman Island). It's really a dive spot but we saw some of the coolest stuff at the end of our trip. A turtle who was feeding and came up near us for a few breaths and generally hung out for a bit as well as a spotted eagle ray. You can snorkle in close to shore where its shallow but this stuff we saw near the mooring in about 30' of water.

The Chimney on George Dog is also a great snorkle spot. Aside from lots of fish, we spotted another puffer fish and some squid. Diving I saw a very cool arrow crab - I'll have to post a video of it as it looked like a little underwater alien.

Lobolly Bay on Anegada was another spot we snorkled that was nice. It was a little rough, so not good if your not a good swimmer and its rough but for us it was decent. Saw 2 lionfish which are cool, but fish I'd rather not see since they aren't native.

Most of the other spots we hit were dive spots and while ok for snorkeling, not as good as the others.

For a more secluded anchorage, try the mooring balls outside of the Bight at Norman. They are between the caves and Anglefish reef. We stayed two separate nights last trip and 1 night had the area to ourselves. The other night we picked up a mooring and I think a few lingering boats saw us and made there way over.

What company are your chartering with?

[Pacific Jewel]

Pack light - a carry-on is best. REALLY. Buy what you can't carry there (shampoo whatever).

Assuming you're flying in from the States. I flew in there a number of times from the States and 100% of time - no joke; check in luggage got "delayed". Always made it, but days later; something that will not work for you with only 6 days in the isles. 90% of guests on board experienced the same.

Carry on luggage only.

[maytrix]

I've flown direct to Tortola twice with a stop in San Juan both times and all our bags made it. Had an issue on the return flight, but it wasn't a big deal.

Twice into St. Thomas with no issue as well, although if I recall those were direct flights.

I think the biggest problem from what I've seen others post is going through Miami.

If you can fit everything in a carry on, then no worries. If you can't, just be sure to have a days worth of clothes in your carry on.

[seahorseFL]

Originally Posted by karenmccraw

Ohhhh, just six days?? You'll want more! This is what I would do for a first timer -
Day 1 - after briefing, sail over to the Indians, grab a mooring ball, go snorkeling, sail/motor over to Benures Bay - beautiful place to anchor and you'll likely be all alone for the evening.

Day 2 - get up early and head over to the caves on the other side of Norman. Lunch ashore at Pirates or Willie T's would be fun. Sail to Cooper for the evening - go ashore at least for a drink!

Day 3 - Sail to Virgin Gorda - tour the Baths if you want - if you really like to be away from the crowds - Fallen Jerusalem is much better for wandering amongst the boulders! Sail over anchor/moor at Spanish Town.

Day 4 - Sail to the North Sound - visit Leverick, Saba, Biter End Yacht Club. All cool places. Anchor/moor at Saba or Leverick (freebies offered)

Day 5 - Sail to the Dogs - great snorkeling - you can make an entire day of it. Sail to Marina Cay for the evening. Wander on the island, thru the garden at the top of the hill, read the history on the wall in Pussers Restaurant.

Day 6 - Back to charter base - so many islands, so little time!! I don't think you can make it to the North side of Tortola or Jost with just 6 days.

It will be a great time, no matter what you end up doing. May is a great time for a visit.

My bf and I just returned last week from a short 5 day Sunsail charter. I agree that 5/6 days is a short time, and to have a relaxing and enjoyable trip, you should not push yourself to get to north Tortola or Jost. The weather and conditions will also dictate your itinerary.

Our itin was similar to Karen's suggestion above. We were dealing with heavy NE winds (lots of tacking upwind to make it to VG) and only 5 days. The winds also affected where we moored (we would have preferred more private moorings or anchorages than a couple listed below). We would have liked to dive the Rhone and the Dogs, but the conditions were just too rough - next time.

Started off from Sunsail base and first day/night of sailing, we moored at the Bight at Norman Island, near the Indians, the Caves (a must see), & the Willy T.

Second night, Cooper Island, which was lovely (but not the best protected mooring in NE winds).

Third night, Biras Creek at VG, which was a very calm protected mooring. Just a couple hundred feet from the wonderful Fat Virgin Cafe, and a dinghy ride to Saba Rock Resort and the Bitter End Yacht Club. That day we dived at Fallen Jerusalem, skipping the Baths due to all the crowds there (it was Thanksgiving weekend and the cruise ships were all around). A very good choice.

Fourth and last night, after diving near Marina Cay we moored at Trellis Bay, where Bomba's Shack and other popular bars are located (again, not our ideal mooring, lots of partying and dinghies motoring past at 2 AM). But it was an easy trip back to the Sunsail base to return by the deadline.

[seahorseFL]

Originally Posted by maytrix

I've flown direct to Tortola twice with a stop in San Juan both times and all our bags made it. Had an issue on the return flight, but it wasn't a big deal.

Twice into St. Thomas with no issue as well, although if I recall those were direct flights.

I think the biggest problem from what I've seen others post is going through Miami.

If you can fit everything in a carry on, then no worries. If you can't, just be sure to have a days worth of clothes in your carry on.

We flew from Miami (where we live) thru San Juan, with no problems with our checked bags. I did carry my clothes on just to be safe. But our dive BCDs were checked (regulators carried on). We checked some food items (spices, salt, pepper, our favorite brand of ground coffee measured for each morning, sugar, oatmeal packets, trail mix, granola bars etc) which made provisioning easier and cheaper.

We definitely learned a lot for next time. I overpacked clothes for my boyfriend, he only wore one or two of the several shirts and shorts I packed. We'll bring our regulators and dive computers but not BCDs next time, which means we have to rent BCDs but will travel lighter (worth it, IMO).

[maytrix]

Originally Posted by seahorseFL

That day we dived at Fallen Jerusalem, skipping the Baths due to all the crowds there (it was Thanksgiving weekend and the cruise ships were all around). A very good choice.

How did you like diving Fallen Jerusalem? We snorkeled all around the area from the two moorings into shore and it was great. It looked like it could be a nice dive too.

Where else did you dive?

I'd highly suggest a trip in October in the future. You just need to be willing to chance a Hurricane which are possible, but history shows the vast majority of bigger storms occur in Sept in that area. In October, it's really quiet (could pick up a mooring ball at dusk in almost any mooring area - cooper was the one spot that was close to full when we pulled in one night). It's also cheaper that time of year and the two trips we've made, there weren't many days with rough seas. I think diving the Rhone would have been possible any day. We wanted to dive the Chikuzen, but the day we went out with Dive BVI was our last day and not good for it. There were easily a couple good days prior - now we know - try for that early

[Butler]

Love the Dogs and Coopers Island. Got out voted on Fallen Jerusalem.
Been to the BVIs chartering twice and really enjoy the sailing. With luck and fortitude will be there again in our own boat mooring up and swimming ashore at Whites on Jost Van Dyke. AHHHH

[Khagan1227]

I believe you mentioned you were chartering with Horizons? How did that turn out?

[maytrix]

Originally Posted by Khagan1227

I believe you mentioned you were chartering with Horizons? How did that turn out?

Seahorse was with Sunsail. Would be nice to know how the boat and everything was still though.

Clipper the OP - goes in May and didn't state who it was with.

[seahorseFL]

Originally Posted by maytrix

Seahorse was with Sunsail. Would be nice to know how the boat and everything was still though.

Clipper the OP - goes in May and didn't state who it was with.

Yes, we chartered with Sunsail on the Jenneau 32i. Sunsail was really good to deal with and the boat was overall fine. We did have a mechanical the last day when the topping lift line just snapped out of nowhere and the boom was then resting on the bimini. As this was the last day we were fine motoring on in. A couple others - the DC outlet on the boat did not work properly with the inverter supplied by Renport. The dinghy outboard was a little finicky too... but nothing egregious. The boat was easy to sail and handled very nicely especially when we had the sails up and motor going tacking upwind to get to VG, we made good time.

The 32i was ok for us size-wise, as a couple. We would probably move up to a slightly longer model, maybe the 36, to lengthen the v-berth for next time (we're tall).

To Maytrix - we didn't get to dive as much as I'd have liked (only 2 dives), given the conditions and our short trip. We did enjoy the Fallen Jerusalem dive a lot (the west side of FJ, secluded from crowds and boats with lots of big boulders covered in healthy growth and plenty of fish, a nice 15-20 ft dive. We also ended up diving just south of Scrub Island near Marina Cay. This was a pretty dive at 25-30 ft albeit a bit murky that day.

Thanks for the tip about Oct. I agree that late October would be a relatively safe gamble from a hurricane standpoint, with the Sunsail travel insurance in place of course.

[maytrix]

In the two trips we did, we skipped the insurance. Their policy is that if they have to call you back in due to a hurricane or delay the start of your trip, they'll either add days on or give you a credit towards a future visit. We were fine with either, although I'd consider the insurance depending on the cost. In a group like we were it probably would have been much more worthwhile.

We'll have to try diving Fallen Jerusalem next time. We probably spent 2+ hours just snorkling the east side.