TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Itinerary Suggestions/Review?

We are bareboat chartering Saturday, June 8 to June 15. We have chartered several times before, so we are very familiar with the BVI’s, but it has been 13 years since we were last down there. Our crew will be 4 adults and 4 teens (one 14 yr old and three 13 yr olds.) We are chartering a 40-foot cat from Waypoints Charters out of Marina Cay (TYPO: Nanny Cay!). Would appreciate any feedback, suggestions, cautions, or tips on our itinerary. In particular, restaurants, snorkeling spots, etc. We plan on doing breakfast and lunch aboard and dinner on shore. The three 13 yr olds are boys with big appetites, though, so other snacks/meals will probably also occur.

Friday June 7
Arrive STT 2:30pm, Ferry to Tortola. Sleep aboard
Dinner at Peg Leg’s

Saturday June 8
Check out and to the Bight
Afternoon drinks at Willy T
Dinner at Pirate’s Bight

Sunday June 9
Wake up early and motor to the Indians to snorkel
Indians to Cooper Island Beach Club (hoping to get boaty ball reservation)
We have only been to Cooper Island Beach Club once, and it was a long time ago. Dinner suggestions?

Monday June 10
Cooper Island to Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor (Would Leverick Bay be better?)
Lunch at the dock and the early afternoon taxi to the Baths
We used to go to the Mine Shaft for dinner, but I don’t think that’s open anymore. Dinner suggestions?

Tuesday June 11
Virgina Gorda Yacht Harbor to Bitter End Yacht Club
Dinner at Saba Rock

Wednesday June 12
Bitter End Yacht Club to Cane Garden Bay
Dinner at Myett’s

Thursday June 13
Cane Garden Bay to Sandy Cay
Sandy Cay to White Bay, Jost Van Dyke
Restaurant suggestions?


Friday June 14
Jost Van Dyke to Marina Cay

Saturday June 15
Wake up early and sail/motor Marina Cay to Nanny Cay
Ferry to STT for 3pm flight home

Any feedback at all is great appreciated, including activity and food suggestions.

Thank you so much!!!!

Before you cab and ferry to the wrong place double check if they are operating out of Marina Key. They were based out of Nanny Key which is quite a ways from Marina Key. It’s possible they are moving or positioning the boat there for you. If so disregard.
Disregard, I see you mentioned Peg Leg so I assume Nanny was a typo!

Nanny Key is exactly what I meant! Thank you for catching that!

Suggest Leverick over VGYH....land taxi to Baths in afternoon and dinner at Coca Maya from there. I think teens will like that better. Maybe Beans is doing his show up there. I take college kids every June and they all talk about the Coco Maya dinner/experience to this day

At Indians I take the dinghy to the dinghy line and let eveyrone snorkel while I lifeguard

Get some swim noodles for snorkelers more for visability as well as floatation

I like Hendos at JVD White Bay. Instead of anchoring in front of Soggy we like to go to East end entrance and looking for a ball

If you are in Nanny Cay I would suggest going to nearby "Gene"s up the road in Sea Cows Bay.Her husband Robin will shuttle you back and forth as a fress service..and wonderful food! I agree on Hendo's on White Bay too..

I just looked up Coco Bay and it looks amazing. Thank you so much. I have told my husband it is now a must-do. We are taking note of everything you said!

Thank you so much for the recommendation! I am adding it to the list.

Make reservations and go early for cocktails and great sunset group pic

CocoMaya is a great choice. For a memorable experience, book the ocean deck stage.. In Cane Garden, Myett's is good but Paradise is, in my humble opinion, much better.

Best on CGB is Indigo House IMHO...

Agree on Indigo Beach House. Love it.

Thank you so much for the recommendations! Looking at them now!

here are things to do at Leverick...

https://www.leverickbayvg.com/thingstodoleverickay

While hitting Indians snorkel Caves...Willie T is great with kids in afternoon but you may want to moor further away from it on a Weekend night as it can get crazy. On way to CGB you may want to see if snorkeling at Monkey Point (Guana Island) is good for quick break.

Do you have Scotts Cruising guide? I give that to the kids and have them mark the enclosed map for our trip...

If you go to Cooper, there is only one restaurant and you will need a dinner reservation.

Our Scott's Guide is on the way! Thank you so much for all the notes!

Thank you! I did not know that. We will make a reservation! If we don't do Cooper Bay, because that one choice looks $$, is there a different stop that you recommend with teens? Or is it worth the money?

No problem...and if you want some float plans I did with teens/college kids PM me your email and I will send. I also advise everyone to get a mask and snorkel from home and bring...and get fins there.

For Cooper you will need to Boatyball (especially Sunday) and if you dont get it you can/must skip. If we go there we eat on the boat that day and get drinks there.

Anegada is off the table, correct?

As opposed to renting mask and snorkel there? I don't really want to get and pack a mask and snorkel and was planning on renting from (someplace mentioned that is close to the Moorings bas in Road Town). Is that not recommended?

Yes....Moorings has them but we are usually in a hurry to get out and historically we would take some for our 9 person crew and one would have a problem and they are lesser quality so we now bring. Note we just take carry on luggage and follow the 2x the cash 1/2 the clothes mantra. I try to minimize the day of sail extras so I can focus on boat briefing, area briefing and my captain briefing to the crew

to you point fins are too big to pack and more interchangeable

But Moorings has them for you and my advice would be take extra as you can...

We bring masks and snorkel and fins. Wife and I cram our two sets of each into an over the shoulder dive back that is about the size of a set of fins, slightly smaller (narrower, but longer) than a standard backpack, and still leaves room to spare for some personal items. The other carries a backpack and we each load up our rolly bag. Carry on only, one bag in the overhead bin and a personal item under the seat and we've got everything we need for a week or ten days in the BVI. Phone charger, ipad, a book or two, a pair of jeans, light jacket and some swim trunks and t-shirts and the toiletries.

We spend a lot of time snorkeling, so to us it's totally worth it to have a well-fitting mask, snorkel and fins. If we didn't bring them, not sure what we would use the extra room for, although I make have to bring my laptop for work this trip, but I'm pretty sure I can still get that into my rolly bag.

FOr me, 50% of the trip is snorkeling. Having my own gear has dramatically increased my enjoyment.

Good snorkel reduces bite and jaw fatigue. Good mask reduces fogging and makes for a better seal. Travel FinsTravel Fins always fit as expected and easily go into any backpack.

I can’t imagine NOT taking my own masks, snorkel and (gasp) fins. My equipment fits ME. Rental stuff is often extremely subpar.

Agree with reserving the Stage Deck at Coco Maya- we do this every year for New Years. It makes it even more special. It's 50 bucks but worth it to be right at the waters edge (and they tend to give better service there too).
Personally I would choose somewhere besides Saba for dinner in the North Sound. They remain very inconsistent. Bitter End is better. We also love the Bistro at Blunder Bay-usually the only ones there and we are always very well taken care of and they will cater to special requests if they can. Leverick upstairs is our favorite-always a memorable meal.

Moorings has them but places like Island Surf & Sail probably have better quality gear and will deliver to your boat.

I don't think Moorings supplies masks or snorkels anymore - just fins. I was planning on renting from someplace that someone mentioned that was nearby - probably Island Surf & Sail.

The BCDs we got from Island S&S in January were not great and one of the dive computers didn’t work - not sure of their mask quality. Can’t imagine it is any better, honestly.

SailCaribbean divers has a nice shop right next to the Moorings check in counter. Anything you need can be ordered from them.

For snorkeling - Peter Island, also a quiet place relatively easy to snag a ball compared to Cooper. Carvel Bay, around the corner from and south of Manchioneel Bay on Cooper has some good snorkeling and very picturesque. A nurse shark swam below me there. If you can get a ball at Manchioneel Bay there are dinghy balls at Carvel.
Pirate Bight is a more family friendly place than the Willie T for dinner - it was my favourite meal on our trip.
The Bubbly Pool on Jost was the highlight of that island. Otherwise it seemed just like a place to party. We missed the Soggy Dollar but I only wanted to go there for a t-shirt anyway
Another great place to snorkel was Great Camanoe, off of our mooring at Marina Cay. There are dinghy mooring balls there.
This trip we stayed at The Bitter End but I remember Leverick Bay was a fun stop, especially with kiddos.

Thank you all! Our guide came in today, and we are making plans! We are going to skip Cooper Bay Club and head to Marina Cay instead. It seems like a more casual dinner and the snorkeling also sounds like it will be great. We are looking into what to do about snorkel gear now. Seeing what the charter company has to offer is going to be our first step. We don't own any gear ourselves. I am spending tonight marking pages in the guide so that the kids can see what we have planned so far! So excited and this feedback is really helping, so it is greatly appreciated!

I highly recommend taking the gang to a local scuba shop and having them fit everyone for masks. Better yet if they have a pool (my local shop has an indoor pool for lessons) so you can try them out. They really are worth the investment if you think you will be snorkeling g quite a bit (and they take up little room and don’t have to break the bank).

From Marina Cay snorkel Diamond Reef...barata referenced it above

and agree with MIDiver...good equipment well worth the price

Should be Hallovers Bay, not Carvel Bay on Cooper. Sorry!

We are looking in to at least getting us all masks of our own. Thank you for the idea!

That is great NW - you won’t regret it (snorkels too, you don’t want what other people have put in their mouth 😳).

perfect...you wont regret it. all lessons learned the hard way

I would suggest getting the full face snorkel mask. We have used them for years and love them. If only I can figure out how to get a tube into it from a CamelBak pack with by beverage of choice it could spend all day snorkelin

As an advanced diver and someone who has unfortunately witnessed drownings due to full face masks I strongly advise NOT using them. They can be incredibly dangerous.

Each to their own I guess but we prefer the full face snorkel masks.

We have been using them for years and love them as well. However, I use gorilla tape to tape the snorkel on. If it popped off, I agree, it would be a dangerous situation without any flotation and being far from sure.

With all due respect, it is much better to have a high quality mask and snorkel - for a multitude of reasons. Those in marine emergency work will verify. Not trying to be argumentative, just throwing caution out there for anyone reading who may be considering them.