Your favorite Moorings destination?

[recycle]

I did St Martin, St Barts and Anguila last year on a Moorings 4000 Cat and just booked a Moorings 4300 for the BVIs for February. The St Martin area was great. The Moorings base was a dump in St. Martin but the sailing was great.

[Duckwheat]

We did the Abaccos two years ago and I liked it a lot. Not very fancy, but definitely laid back and not crowded.

The service in the local restaurants at first ticked me off, but then became absolutely comical.

Not a lot of 4-5 star restaurants. There was some really neat small places that were served great food in beautiful setting. Pineapples was one near Green Turtle Cay if I remember right.

I am going to the BVI in May for 10 days. Never been before, so I am hoping it is enjoyable. Need to be in an anchorage by 2PM, is that what I understand?

DW

[ste27]

Originally Posted by Duckwheat

I am going to the BVI in May for 10 days. Never been before, so I am hoping it is enjoyable. Need to be in an anchorage by 2PM, is that what I understand?

DW

By then? Probably... just got back from a week down there and the place was virtually deserted (off season), it was very nice to not need to worry about any of that - come into mooring field at 5pm and there's one, maybe two boats there

[camaraderie]

Duck...May is well after peak. As long as it is not a holiday weekend, you should be able to hang out till dusk before getting a mooring. Yer gonna have an absolute blast!

[donahuj]

For me Saint Vincent and the Grenadines was by far the best. I am going back there for a second trip in October. It is far more spread out than BVI with far less boats. You get a more authentic experience which is good or bad depending on what you want, but I really appreciated it. There are less services for yachters and the sailing is a bit more advanced, but not by too much. I agree with others that Tobago Cays is one of the most beautiful locations in the world. If you go, try to arrange your trip to spend more time there. The key is to go at a less crowded time of year.

I hated Belize. The problem I had was that it rained a lot and the water is extremely shallow and with rain you can't see the bottom, so navigation was extremely tricky there and more than a pain than a fun challenge. Also, there are few mooring balls and anchoring was not great, particularly with rain, very shallow anchorages, and not super-good holding. Also, I tried to bring meat into Belize in a cooler so we had good food, and I was bribed at the border to get it in. I think I just had a bad experience in Belize, but it was my least favorite destination.

BVI of course is Disneyland for adults. It's great for a first charter or for someone who doesn't mind going back to the same beautiful, pampered, safe place with lots of conveniences for sailors everywhere.

I found St Martin a bit boring, but St Barts (part of the same trip) is beautiful. I haven't sailed Martinique or Antigua, but I'd guess they're a little similar.

Good luck!

[bareboatingtheworld]

I just read that Moorings has opened a base in Croatia. This is my favorite place to charter bareboat vacation, I've been 4 times. It's not tropical, but, you can't beat the Med and in particular the Dalmation Coast is heavily influenced by the Venitians. Beautiful cliff anchorages, great food, medieval cities, and island national parks. You can even cruise in fresh water to the inland waterfalls. For me, it's the BVIs of the Mediterranean. For some insights, take a look at my Croatia bareboating posts which provide mapped itineraries, pictures, and destination insights. Best to avoid August as it's the height of the European tourist season.

If the Med doesn't work for you, I found Belize a great tropical vacation but little restaurant action once you leave placencia and Baja California desert sailing with no civilization once you leave La Paz.

Finally the ultimate of all tropical vacation for me was bareboating in the Seychelles. One of the most beautiful places on earth, great snorkling, fantastic wild life, beautiful settings, and fantastic land excursions. The problem, time and cost to get half way around the world. But worth it once you get there.

Well, a quick summary of the places I've been from which moorings operates. There's a lot of detail on my blog, hope it helps.

Enjoy
Gaetano
Bareboating the World

[sansegot]

Last year I rented a boat from this agency Yacht Charter and Boat Rental in Croatia
And altough they act only as an agent they provided an excellent service and they offered a great range of boats and prices. The boat we chartered (it was a sailing boat beneteau cyclades 50.4) was in great shape and the service in the marina excellent. They also gave us many advices on the route and destinations we visited during our trip. I think you can find whatever you looking for there...

Yacht Charter and Boat Rental in Croatia