TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Swimming from the Boat

Hi all, Our favorite place is likely Cooper Island, in part because we can swim from the boat. Where are other favorite places people stay overnight that are also good to swim from the boat?

One of my favorite pastime doesn’t really matter where we are mooring. Tie 30 feet of line to one inner tube, Everyone using tubes connects and enjoy a cold beer while floating in the greatest place in the world.

We do grab a mooring at the baths and swim in

We also snorkel from the boat at Norman and Marina Cay

Most overnight anchorages are great for swimming/snorkeling from your boat. Some of our favorites:
Norman Is: Pretty much any of the anchorages....Privateer Bay is probably the best (the Caves are there)
Peter Is: Little Harbor and Great Harbor
Marina Cay: Diamond Reef (excellent snorkeling here)
JVD: Diamond Cay.

There are many other great day anchorages with excellent snorkeling and swimming.

if you swim in at the baths, what do you do with your "stuff" when you get there? Do you carry your towel through the baths with you? I seem to remember lockers.

We use a wet sack at the Baths. There are basically only two places I don’t swim off the boat. Anegada and Trellis bay.
G

I'm just wondering what to do with the beach towel, etc. While you tour! For the less able swimmers that use fins, where do you stash them while you're exploring the baths?

We have always left snorkel gear and fins on the beach,,,, never had a problem. Lots of people do this.

yeah, take a dry sack on the swim in. Most folks with fins and whatnot just put 'em up on the rocks out of the way.

"There are basically only two places I don’t swim off the boat. Anegada and Trellis bay."

I'm with you on both places. Lots of live-aboards in Trellis that have not moved in ages. The murkiness in the Anagada mooring field/anchorage puts me off, especially after I saw a photo of the 10' tiger shark that one of the Soares brothers caught several years ago just west of Neptune's Treasure. My ritual after the anchor or mooring ball is secured and the engines are off in every other spot is to jump overboard.

We were there in June and was wondering what fish were coming to the underwater lights at night. They were big and aggressive toward movement on the swim platforms. They seemed to be the size and movements of Tarpon but I really couldn’t tell. Not being familiar with BVI, nobody wanted to get in the water at night, especially with lots of these fish around the boat. Thoughts on what fish these were and on night swimming in BVI in general. We noticed them Great Harbour at Peter Island the most but also throughout BVI.

Most likely they were tarpon. You also get Remora’s now and then some confuse with small sharks. Swimming at night is not a great idea especially if alcohol is involved. My biggest fear about night swimming is not what’s in the water but the idiots in dinghy’s going full speed in the dark 15 feet away from boats.

Take what George said seriously..

Not the cleanest water with all of those holding tanks.....

Very likely Tarpon

Thanks … I’m plenty used to Tarpon here and you’ve confirmed my thoughts. We sure experienced enough dinks being driven in a questionable manner, especially when coming back out from the bars looking for their boats!

Why never in Anegada?

Shallow and not a lot of water exchange. Many boats tight in with some dumping overboard, and on shore runoff into the anchorage. I have not seen any test results so I'm speculating. I would not swim in Great Harbor JVD or CGB.

When you pick up your mooring in Anegada, you will know that swimming is not a great idea. There are much cleaner bays. Anegada is shallow and a lot of sand gets stirred up…maybe other things. If your first thoughts in Anegada are to swim off the boat, then maybe you didn’t know why you sailed to Anegada. Get a Moke and go enjoy the island.