TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Questions for June 17th trip

Hi everyone - thank you for sharing so much helpful information in recent months!

We are headed down next Thursday - there will be 4 of us - me and my wife and two teenage daughters - 43 Moorings PC - 14 nights out - 5th family trip on a boat - still learning, but not newbies - all fully vaccinated. We have a few questions and we would greatly appreciate any information you can share...

1. With the change on June 15th, is St. John an option? I can't find anything that suggests that the sea ports are opening for charter boats to go back and forth. We have hopped over on our previous trips for a few days and really enjoy doing this if it is an option.

2. Oil Nut Bay - We have been, but we rented a car from Leverick and took the boat shuttle. By the way, the beach club is nice and gives you something different to do, but the restaurant was slow - so beat the crowd if you go for lunch. With this said, we may try the marina this time. If we leave from there to go to Anegada, how is the more direct channel vs. the channel by Saba? Also, has anyone eaten at the marina restaurant? If so, how does it compare to Leverick upstairs?

3. Snorkeling - We have never snorkeled around the Dogs. Do you have a preferred spot?

4. North side of Tortola - My online chart plotter suggests that Brewers is an option for anchoring. Has anyone done this? Is Josiah's an option - doesn't seem to be one based on the chart plotter? We like beautiful more quiet bays (e.g., Savannah on VG).

5. Has anyone been in the grocery in Sopers lately? We will eat on the boat 7 or 8 nights and I'm hoping we can find some decent meat and veggies while we are there. Like most of you, we pack 1 or 2 Polar Bear coolers with frozen meat, etc., but it would be nice to pack 5 nights or so and pick up some things while we are tooling around. We go to the typical stores that are more convenient, but the meat and produce are obviously a little more sparse. I'm looking for a better option for for meat and veggies and we haven't been to the store in Sopers.

Thank you in advance for any replies. I know this is a lot, so even quick answers will be appreciated. If any of you will be down from June 17 to July 2nd, look for the 43 PC flying an East Carolina Pirates flag. We would love to meet you!

Steve Simpson

Steve-

My daughter is a rising senior at ECU....will be there 14th - 28th and flying Virginia Tech flag (my alma mater) since we jettisoned the college kids (except my ECU daughter and her friend) for this trip

Moorings 514PC

Concerning some of your questions:

2) Oil Nut Bay: The restaurant at the Marina is closed (or more precisely was closed last week), but they are allowing free access to the Beach Club if you buy a meal at the Beach Club restaurant. They will shuttle you back and forth. For us the Beach Club restaurant was uncrowded, the service was good and the pizza excellent. There was one boat in the mooring field and two at the slips. The channel from Saba to ONB is clearly marked and OK for our boat which had a 5ft 6in draft. We didn't do the direct channel.

3) Dogs: we saw interesting fish at Great Dog last week but only spent a short visit. There are mooring buoys at Great Dog and George Dog. In the past we have enjoyed George Dog. I'd say well worth a visit.

4) Brewers Bay was off limits to us due to many undersea cables.

Bailau, we'll keep an eye out for your guys. Hope you have a great trip! Nibj, thank you - this is very helpful information! We have our COVID test in the am, fingers crossed. I hope everyone has a nice weekend!

1) No - the borders are not open for charter boats or water taxis to enter the BVI.

4) Many companies redline Brewers. The entrance is unmarked and narrow although many crewed boats and private boats do use it. Check with your charter company.

5) I'm not sure about meats at the Sopers store. In general it is well stocked but meat and veggies might be hit or miss. Grape Expectations has great meat options that all come individually vacuum packed and frozen They will deliver. If you're around Road Town on a Saturday you could hit the farmer's market for fresh local veggies or you could order local organic veggies from Good Moon Farm.