Destinations

What you go for

• Yacht Haven Grande, Crown Bay and Frenchtown — fuel, haul-out, chandlery and engineers
• US Customs and Border Protection at Blyden Marine Terminal when you come back from the BVI
• Full provisioning, duty-free town, and the airport ten minutes away
• Honeymoon Bay on Water Island is the quiet overnight anchorage when you want off the dock

Getting in

This is the base rather than a passage. The harbour is deep — broadly 15 to 50 feet over sand and mud, with good holding — sheltered from north and east and open to the south-west, so an occasional southerly swell works its way in. The hazards here are traffic, not water: several cruise ships a day, constant ferry movements, seaplanes, and a marked ship channel that has to be kept clear. Anchor inside the designated areas, and in sand or mud only — never seagrass or coral, which is territory-wide law. Red Hook, eight miles east, is the more usual jumping-off point for a BVI trip and saves roughly two hours each way.

What you go for

• Park mooring balls in Francis, Maho, Leinster, Salt Pond and Lameshur bays
• Anchoring inside the park is allowed only off Francis Bay and Lind Point, and only in sand
• Cruz Bay for clearance coming back from the BVI, plus fuel and provisions
• Coral Bay on the east end — sheltered, good holding, dinghy dock, bars and marine trades ashore

Getting in

Red Hook to Cruz Bay is about four miles, under an hour; Charlotte Amalie about eleven, call it two and a half. Coral Bay is roughly fourteen miles round the east end. The National Park rules are the real constraint on the north and south shores: white balls with a blue stripe take vessels to 60 feet overall — and that measurement includes your tender — with a small number of larger balls for 61 to 100 feet. You self-register and pay per night, there is a limit on consecutive nights in any one bay, and you may not set an anchor while on a mooring. Hurricane Hole sits inside the Coral Reef National Monument, where anchoring is prohibited outside a genuine emergency. Protection is good in the trades; the north-shore bays feel the winter northerly swell from about December to March. No customs formalities — this is US territory.

What you go for

• The Caves at Treasure Point — day moorings, good snorkelling, no anchoring
• The Bight: mooring balls rated to 60 feet, with deeper water to anchor outside them
• Pirates Bight ashore, and the Willy T floating bar in the bay
• The Indians and Angelfish Reef within a mile for a day mooring

Getting in

Thirteen to fifteen miles from Red Hook, about three hours; twenty-odd from Charlotte Amalie. A close reach east across the Drake Channel. The Bight’s moorings are first come, first served and rated to 60 feet, with a late-morning check-out. You may anchor outside the mooring field, but the bay is deep — broadly 30 to 60 feet over sand and grass — so carry the scope for it and expect to swing wide. The Caves and The Indians are National Parks Trust sites: day use only, permit required, no anchoring, and both get uncomfortable once the trades fill in during the afternoon. There is no customs post here, so clear in first — Road Town or Soper’s Hole are nearest.

What you go for

• Great Harbour — BVI port of entry, customs dock in the middle, Foxy’s ashore
• White Bay: buoyed cuts through the reef, a handful of moorings, day use
• Little Harbour and Diamond Cay — better shelter overnight, moorings, restaurants ashore
• Sandy Spit and Sandy Cay close by, both Trust day moorings

Getting in

Thirteen to fifteen miles from Red Hook, east through Pillsbury Sound then a reach north-west. Great Harbour has moorings and room to anchor, but be straight about the holding: thin sand over hard coral and rock, and boats do drag when it pipes up. Take a mooring. It is protected from north and east, open to the south, and winter northerly swell wraps in. White Bay is entered through narrow marked gaps in the reef and wants good light overhead. Little Harbour is the better overnight bet. Customs and Immigration at Great Harbour keeps daytime hours and charges overtime outside them; the skipper can clear the whole crew with passports and ship’s papers.

Several charter operators do not permit White Bay overnight, after squalls have put boats on the beach. That is company policy rather than law, and it differs boat to boat — check your own agreement.

What you go for

• Boulder caves and the walk through to Devil’s Bay; snorkelling over submerged granite
• National Parks Trust moorings only — anchoring is prohibited and so is staying the night
• No dinghy landing: use the dinghy line offshore, or swim in
• Arrive early. The mooring field fills by mid-morning in high season

Getting in

About 28 miles from Red Hook, five or six hours beating east up the Drake Channel, so most people break the trip at Norman, Peter or Cooper rather than doing it in one. Moorings only, day use, with posted hours and a flag system ashore — red means no mooring and no swimming, and the Trust closes the site outright when the surf is up. A Trust marine permit is required. The shore is protected in normal trades but open to the north and north-west ground swell that runs from roughly December to March. Plan the night elsewhere: Spanish Town is a mile and a half north. Clear into the BVI before you arrive.

What you go for

• Lobster ashore, Loblolly and Cow Wreck beaches, flamingos on the salt ponds
• Setting Point — mooring balls plus plenty of room to anchor in sand
• The buoyed channel is the only safe way in. Reef everywhere else
• Hire a taxi or a jeep. The good beaches are miles across the island

Getting in

Fifteen to twenty miles from North Sound, three to four hours — stage from there or Trellis Bay rather than trying it in one hop from base. Steer roughly 008 to 010 magnetic, allow for about a knot of west-setting current, and time your arrival for mid-morning to mid-afternoon so the sun is high enough to read the water. Enter between the outer buoys and stay in the channel. Treat your plotter with suspicion here: several widely used cartography sets put this entrance in the wrong place, and the Two Sisters coral heads have taken charter boats. The anchorage carries six to eight feet over sand with good holding. Shelter comes from the reef rather than the land, so it is flat in normal trades but rolls in a southerly. There is no customs post — clear in before you come.

Charter restrictions here are real: many operators want a radio or phone check before you leave, and refuse permission above roughly 20 knots of wind. Anywhere outside the Setting Point anchorage is off-limits to most bareboats. Policies differ by company and by boat — verify yours.