Who has their catamaran sailors license? Rodney, Mike, Fletcher, and Anthony do! Well, technically Rodney didn’t have his license yet but they still rented a catamaran for him to captain. More on that later.
We lucked out having so many friends in our circles that are sailors so we decided to sail together over New Years Eve in the BVI’s on two catamarans. The BVI’s (British Virgin Island’s) is a great place to sail because the weather is relatively predictable, calm, and the islands are quite close to one another. It makes for an easy sailing experience for the captain, crew, and passengers alike.
Score Card for Sailing BVIs: 6.8/10
- Price: 5/10 It’s an island so things tend to be pricier than other locations. But, it wasn’t outlandishly expensive.
- Safety: 8/10 Everywhere we went at all hours of the day and night seemed safe
- Food: 6/10 The food was good, some spots were great. They have their own vibe and there’s a big focus on seafood and drinks!
- Culture: 5/10 Aside from sailing and hurricanes, we didn’t get a lot of feel for culture. It is a very tourist centric area.
- History: 5/10 Aside from sailing and hurricanes, we didn’t get a lot of feel for culture. It is a very tourist centric area.
- Excitement: 9/10 Excitement didn’t appear to be Ireland’s specialty. If you’re looking for thrills, this isn’t a good fit for you
- Awe Inspiring: 9/10 There are beautiful and unique places, the sunrises and sunsets were magical, and all the water creatures everywhere were heart warming
- Technology Equipped: 6/10 Many of the bars had wifi but it was harder to get service and connectivity than hoped
- Female Friendly: 7/10 It is very safe and the people are kind, it would be a good country to visit if you’re a woman traveler.
- Solo Travel Recommended: 6/10 Everyone at the bars are very friendly, it looked easy to make friends and have a good time
- Language Barrier: 9/10 Everyone spoke English
Basics
- Currency is the USD
- Time zone is GMT-4 (Atlantic standard time) and it doesn’t observe daylight savings time – it stays the same all year long
- Language is English
- Natural disasters: Hurricans
- Plugs: It’s the same as the US (110 V at a frequency of 60 Hz) but your sailboat may have a different plug type depending on where it was manufactured
- Population is 31k (2023)
- Tourists that visit each year: 650k people years or more
Where to go in the BVI’s and the 7 day trip outlined
Getting There – Planes & Ferry’s
There is a closer airport you can fly into, EIS (Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport in the BVI’s), but we heard in the threads and chats that those flights often get canceled. Rather than risking it, we decided to fly into STT (St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands) from mainland US and then take a ferry over from STT (US Virgin Islands) to Roadtown on Tortola in the BVI’s which is where our catamaran boat was near for pickup.
The ferry’s book up so you’ll want to schedule those in advance. If you are in a bind, there are premium private charter services that can take you over for a higher fee.
- https://www.roadtownfastferry.com/
- https://smithsferry.com/
- https://www.nativesonferry.com
- Private Taxi via Dolphin Water Taxi
There is usually a port fee and luggage fee for the water taxi’s. Usually the luggage fee is paid in cash.
Costs
$5,128 for 2 people for 10 days (7 sailing, 3 hotel nights) including lodging, flights, meals, activities, scuba diving gear, tanks, and diving at leisure
- RT Flight AUS x STT on Spirit $350 each
- COVID Tests $60 for 2
- Taxi from Ferry to STT $20
- Taxi from Nanny Cay to Ferry $50
- BVI USVI entry fee $20 pp / $40
- Gas 50 gallons $290 (divided by 6 ppl)
- 2 Dive tank refills at Scrub Island $20
- Saba Rock dinner $401.88 for 4 ppl
- Saba Rock Mooring $40 (divide by 6)
- Loose Mongoose Dinner $313.95 (divided by 6 ppl)
- Mooring Rental $30 (divided by 6)
- Water tank fill up $34 (divided by 6)
- Dive tank refill at Cooper Island $24
- Boatyball Mooring at Jost Van Dyke 12/30 $30 (divided by 6)
- Mooring Normal Island $30 (divided by 6)
- Check out captain with tip $250 (divided by 6)
- Taxi and tip from grocery store to boat $50
- Ice $12
- Chips $10
- Liquor $143
- Groceries at RiteWay $588
- Hotel on Dec 27th 165 at Village Cay (2 beds, split 4 ways)
- Hotel on Dec 26th $165 at Village Cay
- Winward passage hotel 12/25 – free, used award nights
- Taxi STT to hotel 12/25 $30
- Dinner at Greenhouse on STT $72
- BVI entry fee $20
- Snorkely gear rental $16
- Scuba gear rental (3 sets + dive flag) $507
- NYE Foxy’s tix $150 (6 ppl)
- Plates, bowls, cleaners, condiments, sncks $73
- Catamaran charter fee for Catamaran boat for 7 nights $8,553 divided by 6
Schedule
Here’s our rough schedule. We didn’t stick to it exactly but it’s a great starting point if you’re trying to plan your trip. We also took note of the cruise ship schedules because we both didn’t want to go to an island when they had an influx of cruise passengers deboarding and we didn’t want to get caught in the wake or in the way of a cruise ship.
Day 1, Sunday, Dec 26th
| DATE | ITEM | DETAILS |
| Sun Dec 26 | Notes | Fly into STT, stay at hotel locally |
| Mon Dec 27 | Notes | Arrive in Tortola (Meaning take ferry over from STT) **Since boat pickup in Noon on Dec 28, get in Dec 27th and ferry over that day to Tortola or first thing in the morning so we don’t lose time (since flights don’t arrive early enough into STT for you to clear customs and get on a ferry then take a taxi from the Tortola Ferry stop to the marina on Tortola where the boat is at by noon on Dec 28th if you get on the 28th) |
| Overnight Location | Village Cay | |
| Dinner Restaurants | ||
| Tue Dec 28 | Notes | 10:45a head to Grocery Store (Rite Way in Road Town) 11:45a Leave Grocery store w Provisions and head to Nanny Cay Noon – Pickup boat at Nanny Cay Marina, Tortola – Scuba gear delivered – Check out captain arrives – Briefing on boat Sail around then bring check out captain back ($200 cash + tip) THEN head out again on our own – Sail to Pelican Island & Snorkel – Check out The Three Indians – Sail to Norman Island – Drop off check out captain Moore at Bight Bay on Normal Island -Hike up Spy Glass hill for epic sunset views [6 miles total, est 1 hour sailing] Conflicting Cruise ship locations to avoid 28 DEC – 14:00 SEADREAM cruise w 113 guests at Norman Island ⚓️ |
| Boat Pickup Island | Tortola | |
| Boat Pickup Mooring | Nanny Cay | |
| Overnight Island | Norman Island | |
| Evening Mooring Options: | Bight Bay | |
| Dinner Restaurants | Willy T’s – floating bar/restaurant The Pirate Bight | |
| Cooking Meals (B/L/D?): | –> To go food from RiteWay (Lunch) | |
| Wed Dec 29 | Notes | 10a Start at Bight Bay in Norman Island – Sail to Wreck of the RMS Rhone off back far side of Peter Island (7.5 miles) – Snorkel @ RMS Rhone Wreck – Sail to Great Harbor at Peter Island Moor at Great Harbor [11 miles total, est 1.5 hrs sailing] |
| Overnight Island | Peter Island | |
| Evening Mooring Options: | Great Harbor https://www.peterisland.com/marina | |
| Dinner Restaurants | Ocean 7’s Yacht Club (Closed Tue & Wed, open noon-8p otherwise) Tradewinds (6:30p-9pm daily) | |
| Cooking Meals (B/L/D?): | Cereal Tuna Salad Snacks: Chips & Dip | |
| Thur Dec 30 | Notes | 10am Start at Great Harbor on Peter Island – Sail to JVD – Need to get here the day before to stake out a mooring spot for NYE. Foxy’s is the spot for NYE [13 miles, est 2.5 hrs sailing] **If early can go to Diamond and Sandy Cay |
| Overnight Island | JvD / Jost Van Dyke | |
| Evening Mooring Options: | Big Harbour (in front of Foxy’s) White Bay (Soggy Dollar) Grand Harbor Little Harbor Marina (around the corner from Foxy’s) Diamond cay (in front of Foxy’s Taboo) | |
| Dinner Restaurants | Foxy’s Taboo: 9:30a to 11:30p daily | |
| Cooking Meals (B/L/D?): | Mexican scrambled eggs: cheese, salsa, onions with toast Chicken Salad Snacks: Cheese & Crackers | |
| Fri Dec 31 | Notes | – Hike to Bubbly Pool – Foxy’s for NYE –> Under the Sea themed party |
| Overnight Island | JvD / Jost Van Dyke | |
| Evening Mooring Options: | Big Harbour White Bay (Soggy Dollar) Grand Harbor Little Harbor Marina (around the corner from Foxy’s) Diamond cay (in front of Foxy’s) | |
| Dinner Restaurants | ||
| Cooking Meals (B/L/D?): | Yogurt and granola Sandwiches Snacks: Hummus & Carrotts | |
| Sat Jan 1 | Notes | Start at JVD and head to Scrub Island – Stop at Sandy Cay and Diamond cay near JVD – Stop to snorkel at Monkey Point [16 miles / Est 2.5 hours sailing without stopping] |
| Overnight Island | Scrub Island | |
| Evening Mooring Options: | ||
| Dinner Restaurants | ||
| Cooking Meals (B/L/D?): | Cereal Loaded Nachos | |
| Sun Jan 2 | Notes | Start at Scrub Island – Stop to snorkel at Dog Islands – Stop to snorkel at Saba Rock – Dinner at Saba Rock – End at Virgin Gorda North [11 miles / est 1.5 hours] |
| Overnight Island | Virgin Gorda North | |
| Evening Mooring Options: | Bitter End Yacht Club | |
| Dinner Restaurants | ||
| Cooking Meals (B/L/D?): | Mexican scrambled eggs: cheese, salsa, onions with toast Salad Snacks: Cheese & Crackers | |
| Mon Jan 3 | Notes | Start at Bitter End Yacht Club Sail to Copper Mine Sail to Baths to explore End at Saint Thomas Bay [14.5 miles / 2.25 hours] If feeling like we want to start heading back –> continue on and go to: – Sail to Copper Island – Stop at Cistern Point for snorkeling |
| Overnight Island | Virgin Gorda South | |
| Evening Mooring Options: | St Thomas Bay | |
| Dinner Restaurants | ||
| Cooking Meals (B/L/D?): | Yogurt and granola Sandwiches Snacks: Hummus & Carrotts | |
| Tue Jan 4 | Notes | 10am Return Boat to Nanny Cay (We are asked to return the yacht reasonably tidy, take off your garbage, pile the linens into one heap, and empty out the fridge. We are responsible to top off the diesel before coming in to the dock) Spanish Town to Nanny Cay [13 miles / 2 hours] –> We may want to head over from Virgin Gorda the night before (Jan 3) to make it less stressful and then just use the morning before 10a to tidy up and top off fuel Jen/Rodney – Ferry at 11:30a to STT out of RoadTown Fly out of STT at 5:30p Adam/Amanda & Garth/Taylor [TBD] |
| Boat End Island | Tortola | |
| Boat End Mooring | Nanny Cay |
Highlights
We loved the entire adventure but there are a handful of things we would suggest not missing if you have limited time
- The restaurant at Saba Rock was delicious and beautiful, highly recommend checking it out.
- Our favorite spot to adventure was walking in, out, around, and through The Baths at Virgin Gorda
- Willy T’s and Foxy’s are a must just because of their long history on the island
- If you drink, swing by the Soggy Dollar Bar and order a Painkiller, it’s where the rum based cocktail originated in the 1970’s
- Snorkeling and diving are great, grab scuba gear if you’re certified – you won’t be disappointed (water temps are between mid 70’s and low 80’s)
Food
When you’re sailing, what and where you’re eat needs to be partially preplanned as there aren’t many groceries available on the various islands.
Provisioning List
It’s nice to know what the boat has on it (spices, oils, cleaners, etc.) before you decide what to get, the only way to do that is to check in first then get food. We grabbed the following from the grocery store after we arrived. If your charter company can have your list delivered to your boat before you take off, it’s at a premium but will make your life easier. You usually need to make those decisions and put your request in a few weeks ahead of time.
This was enough food for 6 people for 7 days based on the meal schedule below.
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- Ketchup
- Mustard
- May
- Chocolate bars 6 bars
- Oatmeal jar or 6 packets
- Coffee 8 instant packs
- Tuna
- Spaghetti noodles
- Paper plates
- Paper bowls
- Dish soap & scrubbing pads
- Disposable forks/knifes/spoons
- Aluminum foil
- Ziplock bags
- Bananas bunch
- Apples 4
- Grapes 1 bag
- Berries 2 cartons
- Clementines 1 bag
- Watermelon 1
- Limes 5
- Red Pepper 3
- Onions 2
- Lettuce 1
- Avocados 3
- Carrots 2 bags
- Cheese – shredded
- Cheese for crackers – 2 blocks
- Sliced cheese for sandwiches, 1 pack
- Eggs – dozen
- Hummus – 2 jars
- Pickles – 1 jar
- Salsa – 2 jars
- Peanut butter – 1 jar
- Jam – 1 jar
- Bread – 2 loafs
- Crackers – 3 boxes
- Tortilla chips – 2 bags
- Potato chips – 2 bags
- Tortillas for wraps – 1 bag
- Cereal – 2 boxes
- Ham or turkey – 1
- Salad dressing – 1 bottle
- Butter – 1
- Yogurt – 1 case
- Granola – 1 bag
- Pasta sauce – 1 jar
- French fries – 1 bag
- Chicken – 1 package
- Almond milk – 2 cartons
- Bai juices – box full or a few cases
- Coke cans – 1 dozen
- Lemonade – 1 bottle
- Beer – 24 cans
- Seltzer – 1 box
- Rum, Whiskey – 1 bottle of each
- Water – 16 gallons – we didn’t have a watermaker and/or didn’t trust it so we bought water to drink
- Ice – 1 bag
- Toilet paper – 4 rolls
- Paper towels – 2 rolls
Meal Schedule
We made this meal schedule and planned to eat out for lunch and dinner a few nights as we saw fit. We also hosted our friends from the other boat one night and they hosted us for dinner one night. You may want to eat in more or eat out more, your call! Eating in saves money but part of the BVI experience is some of these venues with a long history on the islands.
- Tues
- Breakfast – Eat at hotel
- Lunch – Grab lunch to go from grocery store
- Snacks – Banana & peanut butter
- Dinner
- Wednesday
- Breakfast – Mexican scrambled eggs
- Lunch – Tuna Salad
- Snacks – Chips & Salsa
- Dinner – Eat out at Willy T’s
- Thursday
- Breakfast – Cereal
- Lunch – Eat out at Soggy Dollar Beach Bar
- Snacks – Cheese & crackers
- Dinner – Eat out at Foxy’s Taboo
- Friday
- Breakfast – Yogurt and granola
- Lunch – Sandwiches & chips
- Snacks – Hummus & carrots
- Dinner – pasta
- Saturday
- Breakfast – Cereal
- Lunch – Chicken salad
- Snacks – Fruit
- Dinner – Loaded nachos
- Sunday
- Breakfast – Cereal
- Lunch – Sandwiches
- Snacks – French Fries
- Dinner – Saba Rock Restaurant
- Monday
- Breakfast – cereal
- Lunch – leftovers
- Snacks – chips & salsa
- Dinner – leftovers
- Tuesday
- Breakfast – leftovers
Packing List
You’ll want your normal items and sailing items listed in this master packing list.
Things that made life a bit easier
- Weird thing to put on your dinghy so you can recognize it among all the other dinghys when it’s ashore (we put twinkle lights and a blowup alien)
- A lock for your dinghy
- A recognizable flag to put on your boat and a handful of zipties to secure it
- Headlamp
- Sailing gloves
- Small bills of cash to pay people to take the garbage off your boat
- Small bills of cash to buy ice as you go
Apps
We have a list of our favorite apps and sailing apps listed here.
And don’t forget to check the weather!
Mooring Balls / Boaty Ball
App: BoatyBall
It’s an app heavily used in the BVI’s that allows you to pre-reserve a mooring ball. All the balls are up for grabs at the same time for normal users the morning of so you need to be up early and you need connectivity to take advantage of this. There’s a small premium fee if you want to have early access to claim it – which we recommend for popular mooring locations on popular days. And, BoatyBall is sometimes the only option for Mooring balls on certain areas of certain islands. Some locals like the app, some don’t.
It’s nice because their mooring balls are usually in better condition. If you get a mooring ball for that night, you don’t need to get there until later so it gives you moor leeway with what you do with your day rather than racing to get a mooring ball and staying put there all day.
Because we could reserve locations early at our ending location that evening, we were able to go scuba diving at spots on our way there and not need to worry about having a place when we roll up later toward the evening.
NYE at Foxy’s
We spent both January 30th and NYE moored up right outside Foxy’s on Jost Van Dyke. We used the Boaty Ball app to ensure we got a spot but we weren’t lucky enough to get a spot for both boats. Our boat was the boat without a pre-designated spot for the night of NYE so we took advantage of the fact that we were already there and grab a spot anchored out as soon as a different boat that was anchored pulled away. The boats were really close together by the nights end. The whole setup made us nervous out of the gates. After anchoring, we stayed on the boat for a few hours to make sure it wasn’t moving, then we went with our friends in their boat to cruise around and checkout nearby islands.
Foxy’s itself is a beach/island dive bar. For NYE it has the same vibe as a college campus bar but with people that are from all ages and walks of life. Many people wear some low level costumes. We wore sailing themed attire. We pre-purchased tickets ($25 ea) but no one ever checked them for what it’s worth. This was in 2021 so there might be a COVID factor in why they didn’t check.
It’s not a fancy place to celebrate, the fireworks aren’t necessarily amazing, the music isn’t great – but you’re with your friends in the middle of the Caribbean sailing around. This is what you do.
Scuba Diving Notes
If you have your scuba license you can have oxygen tanks and gear delivered to your boat from the charter company. This is great because the BVI’s is littered with dive spots and wrecks, most of the dives are easy in relatively shallow water. Manning your own boat and dive is the most economical and leisurely way to experience more dives.
We grabbed three rigs and 4 tanks. We mapped out where we could go to refill the tanks on the way.
It does come with risks so be sure you are well versed and always error on the side of caution.
Finding the sites were pretty easy, they were marked with colored mooring balls you can sail up to as long as they’re available and connect to while you dive. I stayed back to man the diving flag to make sure other boats were aware we had divers in the water and to time them to make sure everyone was being safe.
We found a handful of dive sites (see the MyMaps) that made sense for our route and local informational guides that show the best way to dive those sites along with notes. Refilling tanks were roughly $5-10 per tank. A 8 day rental was $200 pp for tanks and gear.
We focused on diving wrecks. Here are the docs with dive site notes we use and some of the places we dove included:
- Wreck of the Willy T – 2017 Hurricane Irma trashed the previous Willy T restaurant / boat so they left it where it ended up and added skeleton pirates to it so it makes for fun scuba diving.
- RMS Rhone – a ship that sunk during a hurricane in 1867 and broke into several pieces. You need at least two dives – one for the stern and one for the bow.
- Coral Gardens / Airplane Wreck – airplanes sunk to the bottom that have shark teeth added on to make it more artistic
- Kodiak Queen – former Navy fuel barge that survived the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 that later ended up in the BVI’s and was repurposed as an artificial reef and diveable art installation with an octopus sculpture on top.
- We stopped at a few of the coral locations but nothing was blooming or beautiful. We need to take better care of our oceans.
Sailing Notes
Boat Rental Process
You can hire a captain (costs more and they take up a cabin spot) or you can be your own captain. We opted to be our own captain. Rodney is a previous monohull owner in San Francisco. In preparation for this trip he squeezed in two of the ASA classes (ASA 101 which he passed out of, and ASA 103) but was two short of officially having his full captain endorsement.
When you request to rent a boat, you need to submit your sailing resume and endorsements. Because of his previous ownership and our friends were also renting their boat out of the same charter company, they allowed us to rent a 50′ catamaran that costs close to $1M.
Hiring a Check Out Captain
We were definitely not knowledgeable enough to sail this boat. We knew that. And, our friends were going out of a different harbor so they couldn’t even help. So, we hired a check out captain to go with us the first day and show us the ropes along with give us key sailing info for the area. We are so glad we did, best $250 we spent! He taught everyone onboard how to Moore (none of us ever did it before). He taught Rodney how to work everything on the boat and how best to sail a cat. And because Rodney is a quick learner, we felt ready to go in about 2.5 hours.
Boat we got
We were slated to have a Lagoon 42 but it ended up breaking and they gave us a 50′ boat instead. It had 4 cabins with queen beds, 2 showers, 4 toilets, and 2 extra single sleeping spots in the saloon. It came with a fridge, oven, stove, microwave, water heater, and more.
Notes for next time:
- We would be sure to specify what time we wanted all the deliveries to arrive with the charter company and marina as we were waiting for the scuba gear even though everything else was ready.
- People drive by in the harbors and pick up garbage, cost is $5 cash
- 6 people used 130 gallons of water while being very conservative during the trip
- We went through 50 gallons of gas
- Only need to start off with 1 bag of ice, all the places we stopped had ice we could buy along the way
- Download a knot tying app
- Bring sailing gloves
- Check if your boat’s ports are EURO or US electrical (you may need converters)
- UPF shirt really helped prevent sun poisoning and burns
- Ask the charger company for the number of fridges and freezers on the boat
- Writ the vendor numbers on a sheet you print out so you can easily call if things aren’t there or are wrong
- Order provisions for delivery, understand that deadline date
- Ask about cleaning supplies being provided (soap, garbage bags, clothespins, sponges, paper towels, TP, grill and charcoal for grill?)
- Starlink wasn’t out when we went, but we’d definitely get it for our next sailing trip as the internet the other boat bought through the charter wasn’t great
Boat Check List for Walk Through
- Water level (is it filled?)
- Chain length (you’ll need the number so you can figure out how to anchor in the various water depths)
- How to set course on the navigation unit
- How to raise/lower the dinghy
- Where are the fins/snorkel gear and how many are there?
- How to lock up the boat? The dinghy?
- Where is dinghy lock?
- Does it come with a phone? If so, where and how to use?
- Number to use on local phone
- Internet – setup and test before you leave
- Deliveries – double check before you leave you have everything
- Gasoline level
- Does the ice maker work?
- Does the water maker work?
Learning to Sail
If you aren’t a sailor yet but want to become one, taking a sailing course in the BVI’s to get your full endorsement is a great idea. Most liveaboard sailing classes that allow you to complete ASA 103, ASA 104, and ASA 114 (the classes you need for a bareboat charter catamaran license) run about 7 days long and cost $2,500+ at the writing of this. LTD sailing is one of many schools that offers to do them all in row over a cruise in the BVI’s!
