TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands High Season - Is it Crowded?

I am trying to convince my husband to return to the BVIs mid April aboard our privately owned vessel for 10-12 days before we head south (our boat will be moored in SXM prior to heading to the BVIs). We used to charter there every year until we purchased our own cat 2 years ago. He is reluctant to head back due to crowds and limited ability to anchor and he heard jet skis were approved in some anchorages. I would love to return as I love the BVIs.

My question is, if we return mid April 2020 - is it very crowded? We've never chartered in April, primarily end of May and June. That time of year we are accustomed to sailing, we are able to depart our morning anchorage, stop somewhere for lunch and swim/snorkel then off to another destination for the evening. Is that possible in high season?

I have been reading a few threads, particularly on moorings and wonder what to expect if we are there during high season.

There were a few jetskis out of leverick pre-irma, but they were very restricted and I didn't see them on our recent visit. Never seen one in an anchorage.

Don't count on getting a mooring late in the day. Do you have a lot of chain?

Cane Garden Bay has a few jetskis avaiiable for rent when cruise ships are in, but probably not seen anywhere else. Good Luck!

I would not characterize April as high season. It's still "busy" but not high.
There will always be some anchorages that will be full up. That's most times of year. Imho you should plan to be in to your anchorage no later than 4.00 so you can reasonably come up with a plan B if needed. We operate the same as you - we leave relatively early in the morning to be at our lunch stop for a couple of hours and then get to our anchorage for the night with enough time we can enjoy it before it gets dark. Leverick has some jet skies. Rarely see them used and never seen them flogged through the mooring field. Never seen them anywhere else though we never frequent CGB.

I think there are plenty of places in April with peace and quite that can be enjoyed. But of course "crowded" means something different to every person.

I am curious if the charter companies monthly bookings are somewhat back to normal 2+ years after rebuilding?

In May '19 Moorings told me they were at 85% pre Irma so I think the answer is yes

When in April makes a difference last 2 weeks are quieter than pre and post Easter.

Based on email blast discounts offered by a couple charter companies I subscribe to/charter from, I'm suspicious that they are having a good high season. It's unusual in my experience to see these (15%-20%) discounts offered in December (19) and January(20) for Feb. and March charters of the same year by second tier charter companies. 2020. Based on my experience in Dec. 2018 and Feb. 2019, it seems possibly that the charter boat population was artificially exagertated (in the mooring fields) by the missing moorings in the North Sound. Of course that doesn't mean that Moorings wasn't at 85%. I have almost exclusively used second tier charter companies with the exception of Sunsail many years ago.

For clarity Moorings fleet was at 85% of pre IRMA fleet capacity. I should have answered that better. I cant comment on demand and they do upgrade me usually so that means they arent totally booked yet. I did get a 20% discount for my May trip.

My rough guess being down there is that the islands are probably 70% -80% of pre Irma boats adjusted for seasonality

we go 1st thing in Oct and are alone and I went in Feb and it was pretty busy

All good. I understood your pre Irma comment. Moorings is huge. They likely restocked vessels faster as a major player with manufacturers. Second tier companies may not have been back to charter capacity. I don't think BVIYC (that's who I use most the time) had all the boats they would like to have had in 2018. Still building it back. If you look around, I see at least a couple of the first and second tier boats that are no longer in those fleets do to Irma, now in third tier fleets. Salvage? Not sure how that works.

Moorings brought in vessels from other places to BVIs...1st trip out post Irma 2 months after they opened they had 1 dock of boats ready to go, docks full of boats being repaired and a bunch of sunk boats in the harbor

I look forward to North Sound opening up

I wont go back in Feb due to weather and crowds. My favorite time is early October

Yeah...Im not a fan of Feb either. Three times out of 15 tries...low on my list of visit times. We like the two week charters, starting on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Our older club members go down in October. Probably the only others there with you.

Docks looked pretty full at the Moorings/Sunsail base when we left yesterday.

Probably...I will be 55 this year so I need that AARP companionship...:)