BVI isn't going to be a frat party... is it?

[Patient]

Was there last May and had a blast. Was just the GF and I on a 39' Bene.

We found Willie T's to be a lot of fun and despite what I remember in the past seemed to be pretty tame, even on a Sat night.

If you want to have a quieter time head over to Virgin Gorda and hang out there. We liked the peace and quiet of the Brias Creak spot so much we spent 3 nights there in total. The only neighbor we had was a mega yacht that didnt make a sound.

If you want to research, look up the Cruise ship itinerarys and avoid the spots they have scheduled.

I also found the more remote the mooring spot the less likely we found the Party-Cats to be there. Many of them stuck with Norman, Jose van Dyke and the closer spots from Tortola. Didnt see a single party boat past the Baths.

Avoid Sopers Hole if you can. That place is on my top 10 "never go again" spots. The attitudes were horrible and the entire night was spent listening to young men racing back and forth to St. Johns in the dead of night on skiffs doing god knows what. That happened the ENTIRE night. They also seem to enjoy doing construction in the dead of night near there. We also got hit with some type of tourist bus right in the middle of dinner. Looked like a zombie movie unfolding before our very eyes. I hate that place with a fiery passion.

If you want some privacy head south around the back side of the islands (East) and loop up to Norman when you are done. Didnt see a single soul and did a 10+knt reach with the swells on our behinds the entire time. Was a fantastic day.

[MylesK]

We're not into the party scene, either. But we love sailing in the BVI's.

If you decide to spend the night at Willy T's, moor on the north side of the cay, away from Willy T's.

Foxy's and Soggy Dollar can be fun during the day, but the anchorage is fairly exposed.

Saba Rock is great--never noisy. The restaurant is OK. It's a little overpriced (and I'm from NYC), and they reduced the size of the salad bar (but they still have deviled eggs).

Like everyone else says, it's what you make it. We've cruised down there with grandparents, parents, kids...never felt like anyone was out of place.


Yours by the sea and stone...

[N0NJY]

Myself and our crew went there in June of last year. I know that's not May, but it was the last couple of days in May and first couple of weeks of June.

It was still crowded for being the "off season".

We spend two separate nights anchored and moored near the Willy T - and it was loud, but not bad. We went to Corsairs the second time we stopped in there. That was a bit of a party place, but not too bad. Also... I think it was called "Pirates Bight" was another we visited ashore.

We really had no problems with anyone, or anything - though two of my crew were nearly run down by a dingy while snorkeling just off the shore near Foxy's haha. Fortunately, the crew was more aware than the dinghy driver or his second, neither of which were watching where they were going (and they were local boys and not charterers)

The most trouble we had was actually latching onto a mooring ball at the Baths (SW side of Virgin Gorda) because there were so many people there at the same time. We went to the North Sound that evening and stayed at Leverick Bay on a mooring. I wanted a good night sleep because we were going to Anegada the next day and I wanted to be fresh and clear when navigating up there. Not having been there yet I had a bit of concern about getting in safely.

(It was, by the way a piece of cake for me because I'd spent 90% of my study time on knowing where the reefs were and how to get into the channel, lol)

One night we had two groups of charterers playing bumper dinghy with everyone. My friend was our official "Dinghy Captain" and he wasn't having any part of that since most of the crew had been drinking "Buckets o' rum" somewhere, so he looked at me and I gave him the nod to speed up and we easily left them behind... but we also were careful and he and I didn't drink that evening. lol

We ate a lot of meals aboard the boat (we were on a 40' Jeanneau sloop) and brought our own rum and other drinks. So we spent a LOT of time sailing, and a lot less actually walking on the islands though.

[N0NJY]

Originally Posted by Patient

Avoid Sopers Hole if you can. That place is on my top 10 "never go again" spots. The attitudes were horrible and the entire night was spent listening to young men racing back and forth to St. Johns in the dead of night on skiffs doing god knows what. That happened the ENTIRE night. They also seem to enjoy doing construction in the dead of night near there. We also got hit with some type of tourist bus right in the middle of dinner. Looked like a zombie movie unfolding before our very eyes. I hate that place with a fiery passion.

Oh yeah, we went in there for the sole purpose of picking up some ice and some soda. Sent the Admiral and the two younger crew members into town to do some shopping while we grabbed a mooring and cleaned the deck and put the boat to order. There was couple of young guys in a small hard boat, with 3000 hp motors (I don't know what they were but WAY too much for that boat) leaving rooster tails and wakes through out the moored vessels. We were only there for about 30 minutes or so - but it was enough to make me wonder why someone didn't tell them to slow down.

They came so close to our vessel that the massive rooster tail hit the deck of our boat. Jim yelled at them to slow down, but they ignored us and moved to the other side.

[BoxedUp]

We charter that time of year and never had any issues with a "frat party" atmosphere. We were on the Willy T 2x and the first was like the videos but the 2nd was quite tame. It all depends who's onboard with you. If you want to have dinner on the Willy T, reservations are a must and the food is pretty good.

Talking about reservations for dinner, even though there may be only 4-5 tables being served in the off-season, they like to know who's expected for dinner so they can plan accordingly. We've seen people turned away, that didn't have reservations, from a restaurant that had plenty of open tables.

Since you're a first timer in the BVI, if you're planning to visit The Baths @ Virgin Gorda, my suggestion is to arrive as early as you can (before 8 AM is not too early), catch a mooring ball before they are all gone and then have breakfast.

Originally Posted by MylesK

Saba Rock is great--never noisy. The restaurant is OK. It's a little overpriced (and I'm from NYC), and they reduced the size of the salad bar (but they still have deviled eggs).

The regular menu is way overpriced, like all restaurants in the BVI and the Caribbean in general, but if you ask for the pub menu, it's very reasonable and a good value.

[dcSwede]

We are heading down on March 11th for our first BVI charter and I have been hearing that this coincides with this year's "Yacht Week", which, as far as I can tell, sounds like spring break for yachties...anybody have any experience with this group? We may try to stay a day ahead of them!

[MylesK]

We're heading down on the 12th, as well.

This will be our second year in a row hitting the BVI yacht week, and if it's anything like last year's there's nothing to worry about at all. The mooring field at the Bitter End was a little crowded, but if you plan to get where you want to go by 4pm or so you shouldn't have a problem.

Our plan is to leave Road Town on the 12th and head to Norman (Willy T's) for the night, next day sail to Jost Van Dyke and stay the night, then head over to Bitter End/Saba Rock, and then back to the Baths, stopping at the new little bar on Ginger Island (if memory serves me correctly from this past November), and then back in to Road Town.

If you see Amnesia, a Lagoon 380, give us a wave.


Yours by the sea and stone...

[Slayer]

I was down there a couple of weeks ago and all was pretty quiet. There was a crowd of about twenty at WillyT's one night, and we wooped it up a bit. I got a WillyT tatoo on the bar. The following day a rally of charterers from the Manhattan Sailing Club pulled in. I forget how many boats but about 200 people in all. We decided to stick around for the party at WillyT's. Man did that place get packed. I can't tell you how many inebriated people forgot about the big drop from WillyT's to the dock and wiped out. I saw one guy slip down between the dock and the boat (WillyT's).

It was real crowded, but they were a great group and we had a blast. Me, the captain and crew closed the place for a second night in a row.

[dcSwede]

Originally Posted by MylesK

We're heading down on the 12th, as well.

This will be our second year in a row hitting the BVI yacht week, and if it's anything like last year's there's nothing to worry about at all. The mooring field at the Bitter End was a little crowded, but if you plan to get where you want to go by 4pm or so you shouldn't have a problem.

Our plan is to leave Road Town on the 12th and head to Norman (Willy T's) for the night, next day sail to Jost Van Dyke and stay the night, then head over to Bitter End/Saba Rock, and then back to the Baths, stopping at the new little bar on Ginger Island (if memory serves me correctly from this past November), and then back in to Road Town.

If you see Amnesia, a Lagoon 380, give us a wave.


Yours by the sea and stone...

MilesK,

Sounds like a great itinerary! We are still figuring out our options but I'm glad to hear there was little or no negative impact from yacht week - truth be told, our 20 and 21 year old daughters may find this somewhat disappointing! We are chartering from the Moorings in a 41' and will keep a lookout for you!

[fallard]

We've been doing an annual charter in the Caribbean for over a dozen years and have settled in on the Virgin Islands (US and British), having chartered there at least 8 times. May is past the high season, so things should be quieter than in March, when we go. We've had very few noisy nights. There is the odd boat or two with party animals, but it's worse in some New England anchorages. You do want to avoid anchoring or taking a mooring close by the beach bars, like the one at Trellis Bay or Foxy's on Jost van Dyke. One place we'd avoid is Cane Garden Bay, particularly on a weekend when the "Puerto Rican Navy" arrives in the form of dozens of power boats that tend to raft up. The worst of it is probably the noise from the beach, however.

We've only overnighted in Soper's Hole once and it wasn't noisy. That said, we've moored frequently in The Bight and for a couple of years we saw an annoying amount of go-fast boat traffic--but that was 4-5 years ago. You would want to pick up a mooring away from Willy T's, of course. You have to make a stop in The Bight, of course, and check out the caves (a must), but also the hiking trails that head out between the restaurant and the gift shop. Benures Bay, on the North side of Norman Island is quiet, with good snorkeling. Little Harbour, JVD, has moorings and 3 relatively sedate restaurants. Great Harbour--where you must anchor--has Foxy's and notoriously poor holding ground. Little Harbor on Peter Island is also a quiet anchorage, but is small and you may need a second anchor to deal with backwinding in close quarters.

If this is your first time in the Caribbean, you need to be aware that as you come closer to shore to anchor, you will find that your boat will eventually turn at anchor in a direction you did not expect. This can be awkward if there are other boats nearby, because you will not swing in unison. Sometimes it helps to put out a stern anchor to control swing.

Depending on your comfort factor with docking, you might consider taking a slip at Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor. We've done this several time and the last 2 times we did The Baths by taxi. If you take a day mooring, you will either have to swim from your boat or take your dinghy to a dinghy mooring and swim in from a closer point. Getting back into your dinghy can be a challenge. We've also taken moorings at Marina Cay and headed over to the Baths early, as another fellow suggested. The moorings at the Baths fill up quickly and you may find yourself circling for while until a mooring is vacated. We've found North Sound to be reasonably quiet, but we don't pick up a mooring near the Bitter End, which is a busy place. The Leverick Bay moorings were quiet when we were there, but so were the moorings close by Prickly Pear Island to the west of Saba Rock, as were the moorings by Biras Creek.

As has been noted, you need to check moorings to make sure they are sound. The charter companies would like you to dive on the mooring to verify that the chain is in good shape, as well as the nylon pennant. We normally anchor in home waters, but prefer to take an available mooring when we charter.

If you really want it quiet in the Virgin Islands, I'd recommend a charter out of St. Thomas and suggest you circumnavigate St. John. We've chartered mostly out of Red Hook and usually split our time between the USVI and BVI, but you have to deal with customs and immigration both ways. We are going down again next week and this will be the third time in about 8 years that we will stay in US waters.

That said, you will not regret starting out with the BVI.