TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Charter Company recomendations

My family had a great time chartering a cat from Voyage yachts a few years ago, and now my wife and I want to come down and bareboat a monohull next Spring. I know this has probably been discussed a thousand times, but we are looking for recommendations for charter companies. Given that "things change", we wanted to try to get some current information if we could. If there's a thread you could point me to (didn't find much searching) that would be great as well.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, and I hope you're having a great day!

What kind of boat are you looking for? We just moved our boat to Swain Sailing School - it's available for charter. 43' monohull. 3 cabins/3 heads.

So, I can certainly recommend them and of course my boat Prior we were in Moorings and I can certainly recommend them and Sunsail as well.

As far as locations, I really liked Nanny Cay. Dropping our boat off there a week ago was our first time there.

We are mono charterers with 16 charters in BVI. Our charter company of choice is BVI Yacht Charters. We have used them for our last 8 charters. We love the service and the boats Are well maintained. If it is just the two of you I recommend the Beneteau 41 Tootsie. We have charters her twice and will do so again next October. Great boat. The Joma Marina is right across the road from Riteway so provisioning is a snap. Really great staff.

I second the Tootsie recommendation! She has shoreside AC so if you take a slip somewhere, you can take advantage of that.

If shoreside AC is not important, they also have an Oceanis 38 - Honeymoon Suite - that we chartered this past summer and really enjoyed.

If you prefer to set out from St. Thomas, check out CYOA Charters as well -- they have the Oceanis 41 in their fleet as well.

I knew you guys would like Nanny Cay. I'll bet Stephanie loved the showers. They also have a nice pool and outside bar area, not to mention every repair shop available. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" />

Probably can't loose with the major players; all depends what you are looking for. Better deals with operations like Conch. We just moved our Beneteau 473 to one of the sponsor 'Seabbatical'. Probably depends on the actual boat,the company and a bit of 'luck'. We're heading down next week to check things out.

Patriche II is at Horizon in Nanny Cay. Greatest shore spot for provisioning, restaurants, swimming and the best showers in the islands.

If you don't mind starting in the USVI, CYOA has nice yachts.
They have some new Hunter 45's (monohulls) that are sweet.

They also have a bunch of cats.

Lately we've been chartering cats, though I prefer the way a monohull sails.

Actually we have two new Beneteau 45's not Hunters, and a new 48 Beneteau and a year and a half old Beneteau 41. Ten minutes from the airport.

Jay, don't forget to mention a fantastic crew <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

We're certainly not seasoned charterers but between us and some sailing friends of ours we've been pleased with BVI Yacht Charters for bareboating. Staff there is friendly, courteous, and responsive, we were able to meet more of their staff at the Annapolis Sailboat show in October. We'll be repeat customers just after this Thanksgiving for 8 days on a monohull.

I want to thank you all for the great information. I really appreciate the time and collective wisdom! Thanks! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

Oops! Sorry for the mis-information. Beneteau it is!
Still very nice. Clambered around one at the boat show last year. It was tempting to take the plunge!

Big fan of Conch Charters here. I've done my last 4 charters (3 cats, 1 mono) with them and have another one coming up. Most of the fleet isn't as new a Sunsail, but when I consider the price for the product I can't seem to bring myself back to Sunsail. The only problems I've had were a leaky dinghy and an auto-pilot that stopped working. Also had an engine temp alarm go off leaving the marina (on a pretty new boat) but the part got swapped out very quickly.

We have our 42'Leopard Island Fun chartered by Brent at Captain's Compass. Brent has 4 cats and 4 monos that he keeps in tip top shape. Our boat is not the newest in the BVI but most likely on the top of the list of best maintained boats. You can't go wrong with Brent and that applies to all his boats. Talk to him before you decide on a charter company.

We chartered with BVI Yacht Charters for the first time this past summer. We were very pleased with our experience. We concur with the many posts about their friendly staff, responsive service, great location near Riteway and good pricing. We chartered Jasper, a 46 Beneteau. Its an older boat and is showing its age but you can't beat the price for a roomy boat with a Generator. Several things broke during our charter which can be expected with such an old boat and they responded quickly to make things right. Their marina at the start and end of our charter is very sparse. If you want on-site provisioning, restaurants, good showers and a pool, this is not for you. If you want very good value BVIYC is great. We will definitely be back. Again we only have this one experience to draw from and it was a very old boat but our opinion form this sample was that this charter is for experienced sailors only since we needed to deal with several minor problems while under way. Nothing too bad but probably not for novice crews.

Thats my two cents. We liked them a lot and will be repeat customers.

After chartering with Brent at the Captains Compass several times we have very recently purchased a 2010 Beneteau Oceanis 43 with 3 beds and 3 bathrooms and shore powered air conditioning. After a very meticulous phase out in St Martin, that went well beyond our expectations, we have entrusted Brent with "Esmeralda" our life long dream. The yacht has been updated with a new Carib dingy and Tohatsu outboard and all new bedroom and bathroom linens and all new galley ware. And I believe our Yacht is priced over $100 a Day less? ...

We have used BVIYC many times and like them a lot. We always use Ed Hamilton charter broker to set it up. They have the latest and greatest info on boats and companies. While we all have our own personal experience they are dealing with these charters all day every day. It doesn't cost you anything, it is a no brainer to me!

I'll second the service, crew and boats at CYOA. All top notch! We just returned from a sailing trip with them and couldn't be happier.

Pre-Trip Report: CYOA v BVIYC

After a positive 20-year experience with a dozen Moorings' charters (Tortola, St. Lucia, St. Martin and Canouan), our crew of six decided to sail to the Spanish Virgins and St. Croix out of St. Thomas.

Based on some positive comments on this forum, I contacted CYOA, which appeared from its website to have two boats that might meet our requirements. All communication, over a period of 3 weeks, was via e-mail. CYOA's responses were neither prompt nor professionally formatted. In the latter half of this period, I explained that we wanted to do a 10-day charter starting in the last week of October, but that because one of our couples was currently in New Zealand, I would need a few days to make the final boat and dates decision. Early on a Friday afternoon, CYOA again confirmed that both boats would be available during our planned two-week travel. I told the CYOA rep I would get back to her "early next week" and she replied: "Perfect!"

On Monday afternoon, after purchasing six non-refundable airline tickets, I sent an e-mail to CYOA stating our specific charter dates and identifying which of the two promised boats we had selected. When I received no reply by noon on Tuesday, I sent a follow-up e-mail asking if we were "good to go." CYOA responded that the boat we wanted was not available, because its owner had it reserved for his/her own use the day of our planned return. CYOA suggested we adjust our now-unadjustable dates back two days, or choose another boat. I replied that our dates were not adjustable, and that we did not want the other boat. I offered to return the requested boat by 9:30 am instead of noon, thus allowing the owner to retain our income stream and still use his/her boat on or near the date reserved. CYOA said "no," stating that an owner "always has the right to use his/her own boat," without ever acknowledging its obligation to know the dates of such use before offering a specific boat for charter.

Frustrated, my search for another St. Thomas company led to BVIYC, with its great website and a host of positive TripAdviser reviews. At 11:00 pm on Tuesday night, I submitted a request for quote, explaining where and when we wanted to go. I got an immediate, automated response. By 7:40 am on Wednesday morning, I had received quotes for two boats, and by noon, after talking with Cassie and a couple of more e-mail exchanges, had a confirmation, charter agreement and related documents in hand. BVIYC automatically applied a 10-days-for-7 promo rate, of which I was unaware. The result? A boat of the same year, manufacturer and desired equipment as the one we were denied by CYOA, but … 4 feet longer, faster, with an extra head, at a total price $300 less, even after the inclusion of travel cancellation insurance!

Every business person knows, or should know, the first rule of success: under-promise and over-deliver. I don't know how the BVIYC charter itself will go, but if it is as satisfying as my initial dealings with Abbie and Cassie, it will be great! I found them to be knowledgeable, efficient, responsive and professional, and excellent representatives of BVIYC.

Fellow monohull charterer here and TMM has two that are among the best you'll find. I chartered Celtic Tide, a very well optioned Jeanneau 41DS and loved it. They also have a similar sized Critical Window which I would also charter in a heartbeat.

TMM is a top notch operation and recommend whole heartedly.

Most companies will place a boat on hold. I would always make sure you have the boat on hold before purchasing tickets. Having said that I have been a owner with 4 different charter companies and it's not unusual to be contacted and asked to change a booking to accommodate a charter. If I had the boat blocked I could turn down the request however rarely did.
I could not at any of the companies block my boat over a existing booking or hold which is as it should be. Just recently I was asked to forgo a sleepaboard on my boat that I had booked to allow a charter booking. The charter company offered to put us up for the night in a hotel at their cost which seemed fair so I agreed to it. There are usually ways things can be worked out.

That's exactly how I thought it was supposed to work. It was always that way in our experience with The Moorings. That allows the charter client to finesse travel arrangements and work commitments first, around the boat hold date(s). I was led to believe we had two CYOA boats "on hold" over the weekend, with our final decision to be communicated by the end of business on Tuesday. Not so, apparently, but thanks to BVIYC, it all worked out to our benefit!

...as you've already said in a couple of threads..

I posted in two places: USVI & PR, with comparatively few readers, because pertinent to my initial request there for info regarding a planned trip to Spanish Virgins and St. Croix, and in BVI, with far more readers, because specifically related to the subject of this thread and both companies offer boats for charter to the BVI. If my assumption that more folks would be interested in this information was incorrect, or if I missed the correct way to do this, I apologize.

The USVI board and Puerto Rico are the same board. I think most people read those, as well as the BVI board.

Please look at my last post again. I only referred to two boards: USVI & PR, and BVI. (Okay, I shortened up the official title "USVI and Puerto Rico" to "USVI & PR"). I know that they are not separate boards.

As for the same audience on the two boards, I think your statistics, to which I am not privy, will support those I can see. As I write this, there are 3 folks perusing USVI/PR board and 36 people looking at the BVI board. Further proof is that since my original request for information on the USVI/PR board, weeks ago, there have been a couple of new threads started, and there are currently only 3.5 pages of thread titles. Since I posted a reference to the USVI/BVI board query on the BVI board also weeks ago, there have been dozens of new BVI board threads started, and there are currently 49 pages of BVI board thread titles. By my count, there are only about 6-8 posters who regularly scan and respond on both boards, and those 6-8 generously contributed to my USVI/PR board inquiry. A print-out of their suggestions provides a useful mini-guide, for which I am grateful.

At this point, you and I are hijacking a valuable thread to no real purpose. So let's agree to stop. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

I think you are the one who is hijacking the thread, but I will not be posting again regarding this topic.

Asa boat owner, I would adjust my schedule to accommodate a charter, assuming airline tickets not already purchased.

Clear communication , including "a hold", should be confirmed in writing(i.e. Email)

I agree on all counts. We chartered Celtic Tide a few weeks ago and thought it was a great boat in excellent condition. And the TMM staffers were a pleasure to deal with.

Dan <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Cheers.gif" alt="" />

Both look like really nice boats! Man would I love to compare the two... I have been dreaming of buying a boat in the distant future and thinking either the Jeanneau DS or Beneteau Oceanis series. sigh... another 20 years maybe <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/cry.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/cry.gif" alt="" />