BVI or St. Marteen for a couples 7 day sail

[amanoni]

Well, seems the pattern is the BVI, My wife and I (monohull sailors) and 2 other non-sailing couples spent ten days in April zipping around the BVI's. We went with a 40 ft Cat, for the complete comfort. Absolutely the best. Lots of steady wind mid-20's, plenty of bouys to grab in lots of locations.

Be sure to jump the stern of Willy T's. We were all pleasantly surprised at the quality of the restaurants. Twas a bit on the pricey side, but like someone remarked, we go for the experience and costs work out.

Snorkeling, swimming, food, and did I mention great wind. Plenty to do for a week sailing around. You'll love it.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by rmlarson1098

Maybe check to see which islands have recovered more or less from the last big hurricane. As pointed out the BVI are great sailing - tend to think of them as a sailing amusement park. But it's the French Islands for us, always. A little pricier maybe but less touristy and way better food! Sint Maarten is fine but for us the best reason to go there is to get over to St. Martin and have a French pastry.

Yup, great patisseries in Marigot on the front, excellent French wine and some great cuisine in walking distance of the wharf for the Grade Case anchorage.
St Maarten is where one goes for American cuisine.. Fried chicken, wings, burgers and fries.. tho I must confess last time there I found a couple of good Lebanese restaurants.

[stnick]

BVI been there 3 times now Illl always love it steady wind. Makes sailing so easy !

[Lihuedooley77]

We have sailed both over the years.

Once: St Martin, Anguilla and St. Barts. Had a great time...10 days to two weeks.

17 BVI sailing vacations. We just keep going back. Three weeks ago was our latest .

We love the BVI, as do many, many other sailors and motor vessel operators. As others have mentioned, great sailing, easy nav, we use coastal navigation, and eyeballs, Sometimes GPS, but mostly not, but they are installed at the helm on most bare boats .

Wonderful protected anchorages, with each island being its own separate paradise.

Very good snorkeling at the Indians and Pelican Is, OK snorkeling at the Caves, Norman, and good snorkeling at Monkey Point, Guana island.

Water, Ice and Fuel, and provisions available on some of the islands.

Great people, local and visitors, and easy to make new friends ,

To answer your question, we are familiar with both of your choices, we also would vote multiple times for the BVI.

[bobamis]

I have bareboat chartered the BVI's and the Leeward Island at least 8 times each. If you were not staying on St. Martin and visiting St. Barth's during the week prior to the sailing, I would recommend the Leeward Islands. They provide greater variety ashore, more challenging sailing, etc.

However, I'm not sure you will get a lot of bang for your buck sailing out of St. Martin after being on St. Martin and visiting St. Barth. If you have not bareboat chartered before, I would absolutely recommend the BVI's. You could visit Anguilla if you did the Leeward's, but not worth a 7-day visit, and the BVI's would provide easy sailing and a trip to Anegada would provide at least one "long distance" sail.

BTW, my wife and I got married on Marina Cay, BVI's and honeymooned on a 39-foot cat for 8 days afterward.

[jmschmidt]

Let join in with a big YES for the BVI. We were there in October and most all boating services are up and running and the most popular spots have mostly recovered and are open for business. Still a lot of visual damage but it is rapidly be addressed. I'll be going back in Sept. or Oct.

The latest issue of Sail Magazine does not paint a pretty picture of St Martin/Maarten. Too bad, it's a great place but progress seems slow.