TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Boatyball in the Bight - Yes or No?

Seeing conflicting posts here and on FB - new orange balls in the Bight at Norman Island that may or may not be Boatyball. Locals saying they're not. JasonHelmbrecht posting on FB that they are with accompanying screen shot. The Boatyball website does not yet recognize balls in the Bight. What gives?

Didn’t see any boatyballs there two weeks ago. At other locations they are obvious being tall and red.

I heard that Moor Secure is now replacing/adding balls with orange balls so they are probably Moor Secure balls. No Boaty Balls at Norman when we were there in November.

There are no BB at Norman as of right now. The site reflects zero whereas other locations are identified.

I misread the original post. I thought the post was about Cane Garden Bay.

Hi all, long time reader, first time poster I'm returning to charter in the BVIs after a 15 year break while waiting until our kids to be old enough for the trip - and old enough to remember it! Anyway, I'm trying to get a better sense for the ease with which I can grab moorings each day vs. anchoring. I'm comfortable anchoring down there, but would prefer mooring so I can focus mostly on the kids. I've been checking the Boatyball website each morning from home and they appear to be completely reserved in the first minute. What approx percentage of the mooring field does Boatyball now control? I'm trying to gauge if we'd have a reasonable shot at getting a first-come mooring at some the popular spots (Cooper, Normal, JVD, Leverick, etc.) if we're pulling in by lunch. If Boatyball is a good indication of the moorings being completely filled up in the morning then we can instead plan for other spots. Thank you!

Seems to mostly depend on the season in which you plan to charter. At this moment there are BoatyBalls available at each location except Cooper and Anegada (about 12 noon). The Cooper Island webcam is currently showing FCFS balls available, although will likely get busy toward the afternoon.

You might be forced into using boaty ball at cooper. However, if you get there early morning, then you probably can avoid boatyball altogether.

In my view, boatyball created the shortage of fcfs mooring balls and now profits from it.