TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands BVI vs St Thomas charter

Hello. We have always chartered from Voyage and Mooring but are looking at a boat from Virgin Islands Yacht Charters. Can anyone share their thoughts on starting in St Thomas but spending the week in the BVI? I know we would have to go thru customs I am just not sure what that really looks like from a boat. Any opinions would be great. Thanks as always.

If you want to spend the whole trip in the BVI, why would you start in St. Thomas? If you're looking at a longer charter of 10 days+, and you intend to spend at least a few nights in the USVI, this may make sense. But if your intent is to pick up the boat in St. Thomas and make a bee-line straight for the BVI, I'm not sure why you would charter from a St. Thomas based company rather than starting your search on Tortola with one of the many great charter companies there. Customs is one thing, but then you also have to factor in the sailing time to/from the BVI on each end as well.

Land in STT and onboard your boat in 30minutes, what's not to like?
Add a day on St John on the back and front end to make transition between BVI and USVI a little easier.

Don't forget to check out Waypoints Charters as well ( ie CYOA).
I have chartered from both and would give the nod to WayPoints.

Thanks for the replies.
I have checked out Waypoints Charters but we will be a group of 13 and they don't have anything that accommodates that number, even though many are children.
We want to keep the boat closer to that 50 foot mark instead of a 58 so I am looking at possibilities. Both BVI and USVI.

I don't know if I want to start in the USVI, that's why I posted.... for input.

Given the size of your party, I can see the attraction, as cwoody said. On the other hand, with that many people, it may be cost effective to do Dolphin Water taxi for the group and have them take you straight to your boat on Tortola. I haven't done a USVI charter myself, but have read and heard really good feedback. As I mentioned, I still think it only makes sense if you are going to spend at least a day or so in the USVI on either end and are doing a charter on the longer side. Captain Jay is a frequent poster on here and heads Waypoints Charters and may be helpful for you to reach out to him for details.

Given the size of your party, have you considered doing two boats instead of one, which would open you up to more options?

I have done mulitple charters out of STT to BVI. It's easy to do and you get to see plenty of the BVI. We enjoy sailing so the trip over to the BVI is part of the fun. Capt Jay is a wealthy of knowledge of USVI and BVI. Enjoy your trip

I am hoping not to have 2 boats. I may have found something on Tortola now, thru a broker. Yacht.Vacations, anyone ever heard of them?
I have never used one so we will see how that goes. Thank you for replies.

Check out Absolutely (Enroute to BVI from factory). TMM Charters is highly regarded boutique charter company with about 35 boats.

https://sailtmm.com/fleet/catamarans/5-and-6-cabin/absolutely

Deepcut, Beautiful! And a great price especially for a new boat. I will see if my crew can adjust their dates a week earlier. We have a teacher so it might be a NO.
Thanks so much!

ColoBoater

Agree with DeepCut - Absolutely looks like she would be an awesome option for your group.

A water taxi will make things super easy and efficient bringing you right to your base and boat with fewer moving parts, especially with 13.

Just sent you a PM with recommendations.

We have a new 51 that is six cabins at Waypoints in Saint Thomas. You could also easily do a couple of the 42 foot cats.

Our last charter was on a brand new FP51, just like Absolutely. It was a great boat. A few minor new boat issues that will get worked out. Best catamaran we have ever chartered. A lot of spaces, sailed great.