TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Well we're here on Lio Kai

After several rounds of re-planning and another near cancellation due to the ferry postponement, we decided to brave it and I'm watching the sun rise in Road Town Harbor.

The trip went smoothly - overnight flight from SEA to CTL, then STT and Island Birds to EIS. We were processed through the just-opened welcome center, received our day 0 covid test and our tracking bracelets. They are just like a chunky wristwatch and there is a piggyback charger battery that is charged via USB and transfers the charge to the watch, which obviously is not easily removed. With just two aboard, being confined to the boat doesn't feel like a hardship so far.

There were only about a dozen passengers arriving at the same general time, and it is clear that the current procedures would be too slow to process a high volume of arriving passengers without significant delay. Everyone was polite and seemed to be doing their best.

Our boat ( Leopard 40 ), which entered charter service almost exactly one year ago looks to be in good condition, it probably only went out a half dozen times with no charters since March. The boat is very very clean, with all linens and cutlery sanitized and bagged. Our ordered provisions were on board and are largely what we ordered, with a few substitutions and omissions.

Ordering no-touch dinner service from the MYC restaurant.
We are scheduled for our 4 day covid test on Sunday, when we are expected to dock at Nanny Cay and shuttle to the test facility.

We hope to head out later today for one of the Q anchorages on Norman or Peter island.

Enjoy the warm weather, clean water and onboard company.

Have a great trip.

That describes the process at any point in time.

Welcome, MrEZgoing. We've been here since the 1st. Same basic process, except we had to drive to Sea Cow Bay for the Day 0 test. Now that the airport test center is open, much better. Unless they change the current protocol, you will have to go to Nanny Cay for your Day 4 test. You should expect some confusion regarding notification of test results.The gov is still stumbling around with this. Plus the tracking bracelets do not seem to work. You'll be fortunate to get yours to stop beeping. We were notified by phone that we passed our Day 4 test, but were told to wait for an 'official' email notification.....which we still haven't received.

Anyway, enjoy your trip. There are hardly any boats out and you should have your pick of anchoring and/or mooring spots. Note that Cooper Is Resort is closed. Cow Wreck Beach is open daily, but only from noon to 3pm.

Cheers,
Husker
Abby Normal To
Leopard 50

Thanks Husker, the bracelets may be a different type. There is no extra box and they haven't made a sound so far. We were already given instructions for day 4 test from Nanny Cay.

I'm still trying to interpret the exclusion zone diagram... not sure how you get from RT to WE without crossing the line?

To exit and reenter the exclusion zone, you have to get permission. I think VISAR is handling this. Check with your charter company.

Glad to hear they have scrapped the beta version of the trackers.

We are at the dock today. LMK where you are and I'll stop by to say hello.

We are at A5... Hoping to get off the dock once the wifi is sorted.

We are over doing laundry now. I'll swing by regardless. (They didn't let us leave dock until the test results came back negative...which wasn't until about 4pm.....hope it works better for you).

We headed out and are currently in Benures Bay. Which test are you waiting on? I thought you have been here since the 1st? Are you testing for return or is it still the day 5 test?

EDIT: re-read your earlier post and see that it must have been the day 5 test... Did you take that test from Road Town and then were asked to stay there until the result?
I'm just trying to understand how this is supposed to work. We are supposed to take the test shuttling from Nanny Cay... are they going to expect us to stay in Nanny Cay?

I must have just missed you. We've passed both tests, but don't have the official email documentation. Have fun in Benures. Nice place (tons of balls there now). We are off to Marina Cay today and on to Anegada.

So jealous of you both!

Welcome back and enjoy! It's a magical time here with empty beaches and anchorages... Cheers!

Are masks still required to be worn in restaurants, stores, around town, etc... after passing the second covid test? Or is the point of the testing and quarantine to make it a mask-less island? Not that we'll be down anytime soon, but just curious.

Thanks all!

Sorry we missed you Husker, maybe we'll still run into each other. Figuratively!

It's certainly a bit odd to have so few other boats around, will be interesting to see if things pick up in the weeks we are here.

We're not there yet, but it's my understanding that masks will still be worn ashore.

We had a Visar RIB do a fly-by of our boat yesterday evening, we told them that we were "day one" and had just received our initial negative test result. One of the crew said "so you can take down your quarantine flag now!". :-)

yes masks still required to enter restaurants and off once sitting. Always worn in stores but the beaches are empty so nobody near you no need for the mask

In addition, you must wash or sanitize you hands before entering any establishment (including our villas) and masks must be worn on public transport or in any vehicle with people outside your household. Please also wear your mask when leaving a restaurant.

I feel pretty confident a stricter curfew is coming our way if the numbers keep increasing so please stay diligent!

Mr EZ - Yah, I think you still need to fly your Q flag until you pass your Day 4 test. And, yes, as others have said, masks and hand washing required ashore.

We own a Leopard 40 (Ripple) that is probably the same age as the one you are on. It went into charter in December 2019 and we purchased her in March. Unfortunately, we have never been able to see her due to COVID restrictions in Martinique. Enjoy your time!

We received notice of quarantine release this afternoon, about 30 hours after our covid test yesterday! We've been enjoying our trip with the restrictions, but it's nice to be able to leave the boat, paddleboard, snorkel, etc.

Awesome view of the meter shower last night lying on the tramp!

So how many days after landing before getting "unquaratined" and free to roam the BVI?

We know about 6 people who have arrived so far and for them it's all been just under 5 24hr cycles to be "unquarantined". Meaning, arrive on Monday late afternoon or evening and be released on Saturday early afternoon.

Good for you. I bet you had a great view of the meteor shower!! Lucky you.

We got our "certificate of release from quarantine" on day 5 after arrival, about 30 hours after our day four test.

We happily took down our yellow flag and still moved from our Q anchorage in Deadman's Bay to the Bight and I did some paddle boarding in the caves and got takeout from the Willie T, which was open but empty and staffed by a single employee who made us some nice fresh wahoo filets.

Today was our first full "free to roam" day and we mostly motored from the Bight to Leverick and stopped at The Indians, The Baths, and Great Dog en route. We had each of these entirely to ourselves, definitely a novel feeling. Visibility is a bit impaired right now (due to coral spawn I believe), but we enjoyed being able to get in the water. We considered stopping at the Rhone too, but the current at the Indians made me think it would probably not be a good site at that time.

A helicopter buzzed us at the Indians, possibly checking to make sure we were not a USVI based boat or still flying the Q flag.

We did see more turtles, which are probably re-occupying some areas that are usually too busy for their liking, and my wife has already spotted several nurse sharks.

We had dinner at Leverick. They are taking their precautions quite seriously, with hand washing / sanitizing stations everywhere and are recording contact information for tracing at the restaurant. The people seem a bit guarded (and given the recent stories I can't blame them), but generally welcoming and helpful.

We hope to taxi to the police station in Spanish Town tomorrow morning to have our trackers removed. All in all a beautiful day, but the almost total lack of other boats is slightly eerie.

We handed in our trackers at the airport when we left yesterday. I don't think there is a need to go our of your way, MrEZ, to drop yours off.

You were here a week earlier, maybe you had a different kind. We could not remove ours without destroying them and didn't want to wear them for another week.

With all the criticism of the BVI protocols, ironically it's the USVI insistence on another covid test for tourists who are only walking a few feet through STT that is most constraining on our itinerary. Having just been released from quarantine, we will not have to dock back in RT the day after tomorrow and get another (4th) test at Peebles to give enough time to get the test results and apply to the USVI portal.

It seems very little is open on JVD. Diamond Cay and Little harbor are deserted. There are four boats in Great Harbor, but nothing is open on shore. Nothing open past 3pm in White Bay. It is unclear if we will be able to round West End or have to double back around Tortola for our departure covid test.

Yeah, sounds like we had a different kind of tracker than you do. There was a wrist band that was easy to just tear off when we cleared Q on Day 5, plus the host monitoring device. We just put everything in a bag and left it with a gentleman at the entry desk at the airport. He wrote down our names, but I don't think its very organized.

We were at Soggy Dollar on Monday....they were open until at least 5. Just two other boats there with us.

We are the only boat and the only customers in White Bay JVD. Having drinks and chatting with Jay at Soggy Dollar, the busiest bar in the Caribbean. A once in a lifetime experience.

I sure hope so... Enjoy!

Guess it depends on how long ago you started visiting White Bay -- until it became a frat party atomosphere that was not an uncommon experience - welcome to the BVI style of the 1970's// early 80's.

Fair enough... we certainly don't go back that far. I imagine that White Bay was not as developed back then either.

Were you visiting back when Mr. Albert Chinnery was THE Customs Man on JVD?? Truly a Caribbean legend.

https://stjohnsource.com/2010/04/21/unsung-hero/

Albert Chinnery , usually you’d have to hunt him down hungover and asleep at one of the bars to wake him up and go to the old rickety wooden C&I house. What a character

Stopped for a few hours at Sandy Cay today and then transited through West End (with authorization) and back to Norman. Had a nice late lunch at Pirate's and hoping for a nice sunset in Privateer.