Caribbean · The Virgin Islands
Line-of-sight islands and a calm channel: the first charter we recommend
Sixty islands inside a sheltered channel, every anchorage an hour from the next, a different beach bar every night. The BVI is where we send first-time charterers and most families, and a full week without repeating an anchorage. British and US together: the border is a formality on a yacht.
Where
The Virgin Islands, 80 nm west of St Maarten
Fly to
St Thomas (STT) direct from the US, or Tortola (EIS) via San Juan or Antigua
Best months
December to April
Give it
A full week on its own
Known for
The Baths, Anegada’s lobster, the Soggy Dollar, the Indians
Water
Flat inside the Sir Francis Drake Channel; the islands break the swell
Why go
The British Virgin Islands, honestly
The BVI works because of geography. Tortola, Virgin Gorda and a dozen smaller islands enclose the Sir Francis Drake Channel, so the water is flat, the next island is always in sight and no leg is more than an hour or two. It is the easiest cruising in the Caribbean, which is why it is where the whole bareboat industry started and why we send first-timers here.
Easy does not mean dull. The Baths on Virgin Gorda are granite boulders the size of houses with grottoes and pools between them. Anegada is a flat coral atoll ringed by reef where lobster is grilled on the beach. Norman Island has the Caves and the Indians, the best snorkelling in the group. Jost Van Dyke has the Soggy Dollar and Foxy’s, the beach bars that invented the genre.
We run it as a week from St Thomas, because the direct US flights land there, and clear into the BVI at Soper’s Hole on the first morning. Ten to fourteen nights adds St Barths and Anguilla at the far end, with one overnight passage between.
Where we anchor
The anchorages, in the order we use them
- Norman Island, the BightAnchorageTreasure Island, with the Caves and the Indians a tender ride away and the Willy T floating bar for those who want it.
- Cooper Island, Manchioneel BayMooringTurtles at Cistern Point, the rum bar and the microbrewery ashore. The easy day.
- Virgin Gorda, the North SoundAnchorage, overnightA lagoon ringed by islands. Saba Rock and the Bitter End for the night, the Baths an hour away for the morning.
- Anegada, Setting PointAnchorage, overnightInside the reef at the only coral island in the group. Lobster on the beach, book it before lunch.
- Jost Van Dyke, White BayAnchorageSwim ashore to the Soggy Dollar. Great Harbour round the corner for Foxy’s and a calmer night.
Ashore
The British Virgin Islands off the boat
Not a directory. If it is here, we have sat at the table or stood at the bar.
Eat
Beach bars first, restaurants second. The lobster is the dish.
- Anegada lobster on the beachGrilled at the shacks on Setting Point at sunset. The best meal in the Virgins and the simplest.
CocoMaya, Virgin GordaBeachfront dinners at golden hour, the one dressed-up table in the group.
- Sugar Mill, TortolaDinner in a 350-year-old sugar mill above Apple Bay.
Drink and dance
The BVI invented the yacht beach bar.
- The Soggy DollarWhite Bay, Jost Van Dyke. Swim ashore, order a Painkiller where it was invented, and understand the name.
- Foxy’sGreat Harbour, Jost Van Dyke. Foxy himself still sings most nights.
- The Willy TA floating bar off Norman Island. People jump off the top deck. Optional.
- Saba RockA bar on an island the size of the bar, in the North Sound.
Do
The water is the point.
- The BathsGo at first light before the day boats: the boulders, the grottoes, the trail to Devil’s Bay.
- The Caves and the IndiansNorman Island’s snorkelling, four rock pinnacles with the best fish life in the islands.
Anegada’s reefHorseshoe Reef, Loblolly Bay and Cow Wreck Beach, and the flamingos in the salt ponds.
Where it sits
The British Virgin Islands on the chart
The Virgin Islands sit eighty miles west of St Maarten across the Anegada Passage, a day’s run or an overnight. They are a week of their own; add St Barths and Anguilla only on ten nights or more.
Drag to move. Double-click or ctrl-scroll to zoom.Zoom with the buttons, then drag to move.
When
When to be in The British Virgin Islands
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
- December to April: the season. Steady trades, flat water in the channel, every bar open.
- Christmas and New Year: the busiest fortnight, but the BVI never feels crowded from a yacht.
- March and April: the BVI Spring Regatta and the quietest good weather of the year.
- May to November: hot, quiet, and the hurricane season from July. The fleet is in the Mediterranean.
Itineraries
Itineraries that call at The British Virgin Islands
Full plans, day by day, with the boat each one runs on. Send one to the people coming with you; we reshape it around your yacht and dates.
A week in the Virgin Islands
St John7 stopsSt Thomas
From St Thomas: St John's park, the Caves at Norman Island, the Baths, Anegada's lobster and the Soggy Dollar. The first charter we recommend to most families.
Open
St Barths then the Virgin Islands
St Barths8 stopsSt John
A weekend in St Barths and Anguilla's beach picnic, an overnight passage downwind, then a week in the Virgins. St Maarten to St Thomas.
OpenYachts
Yachts in the Caribbean now
The whole fleet works the Virgins in winter. Smaller boats fit the North Sound moorings; the big ones anchor outside.
CORAL OCEAN
Lürssen · 73m · 1994, refit 2026
12 guests | 6 cabins | 28 crew
€650k – 790k
QARA
Horizon · 25m · 2001, refit 2023
6 guests | 3 cabins | 3 crew
$37k – 42k
SIETE MARES
Lagoon · 24m · 2025
8 guests | 4 cabins | 4 crew
€65k – 69k
TANZANITE
Westship · 44m · 2004, refit 2023
10 guests | 5 cabins | 7 crew
$145k – 160k
IL MIO CANTO LIBERO
Nautor's Swan · 32m · 2014, refit 2026
8 guests | 4 cabins | 4 crew
€85k – 102k
SEA BLISS
Sunreef Yachts · 23m · 2024
8 guests | 4 cabins | 3 crew
€63k – 70k
Avanti
Privilege · 22m · 2005, refit 2025
8 guests | 4 cabins | 4 crew
$51k – 55k
UTOPIA IV
Rossinavi · 63m · 2018, refit 2022
12 guests | 6 cabins | 12 crew
$475k – 505k
FRENCH WEST
Lagoon · 24m · 2020
8 guests | 4 cabins | 3 crew
$55k – 72k
GRAND ILLUSION
Palmer Johnson · 44m · 1994, refit 2017
10 guests | 5 cabins | 7 crew
$115k – 125k
YKNOT NOW
YYachts · 23m · 2020
6 guests | 3 cabins | 2 crew
€24k – 38k
MINE GAMES
Benetti · 50m · 2023
10 guests | 5 cabins | 10 crew
$330k – 350k
BETH ANN
Westport · 34m · 2012, refit 2025
8 guests | 4 cabins | 5 crew
$65k – 75k
YOLO
Sunreef Yachts · 22m · 2022
8 guests | 4 cabins | 4 crew
€59k – 70k
OCEAN CLUB
Trinity Yachts · 49m · 2009, refit 2025
12 guests | 5 cabins | 10 crew
$195k – 250k
LE PONANT
Société Française de Construction Navale (SFCN) · 84m · 1990, refit 2022
32 guests | 16 cabins | 34 crew
€540k
NO SURRENDER
Custom Line · 37m · 2022
11 guests | 5 cabins | 7 crew
$140k – 155k
KASKAZI FOUR
Lagoon · 19m · 2016, refit 2025
8 guests | 4 cabins | 4 crew
€23k – 30k
Just Enough
43m · 2012, refit 2024
11 guests | 5 cabins | 9 crew
$119k – 139k
Chakra
Devonport · 86m · 1998, refit 2025
24 guests | 19 cabins | 30 crew
€495k
CROSSED SABRE
Burger · 44m · 2006, refit 2021
12 guests | 7 cabins | 11 crew
$175k – 195k
Lady Joy
Christensen · 48m · 2007, refit 2025
12 guests | 6 cabins | 11 crew
$199k – 225k
Aurelius 111
DUTCH YACHT BUILDERS · 34m · 2011, refit 2023
6 guests | 3 cabins | 3 crew
Price on request
HOUBARA
Sunreef Yachts · 24m · 2012, refit 2026
7 guests | 3 cabins | 3 crew
€34k – 45k
REVE BLEU
Lagoon · 21m · 2023
8 guests | 4 cabins | 4 crew
€45k – 60k
TOP FIVE II
Royal Hakvoort · 61m · 2021
12 guests | 7 cabins | 19 crew
$600k – 650k
MISS CHRISTINE
Trinity Yachts · 48m · 2006, refit 2024
11 guests | 5 cabins | 8 crew
$165k – 190k
LOOMA
Fountaine Pajot · 20m · 2023
8 guests | 4 cabins | 3 crew
$34k – 65k
OKINAWA
Fountaine Pajot · 18m · 2024
10 guests | 5 cabins | 3 crew
$29k – 63k
SHADES OF GREY
Sunreef Yachts · 24m · 2024
9 guests | 4 cabins | 5 crew
€70k – 100k
PERSEVERANCE 1
Baltic · 40m · 2021, refit 2025
8 guests | 4 cabins | 6 crew
€100k – 110k
SWEET CAROLINE II
Trinity Yachts · 50m · 2009, refit 2021
12 guests | 7 cabins | 11 crew
$19k – 230k
NORTHERN STAR
Hinckley · 23m · 1993, refit 2022
6 guests | 3 cabins | 3 crew
$52k – 60k
VALINOR
Lagoon · 17m · 2023
8 guests | 4 cabins | 3 crew
€27k – 31k
CALYPSO
Feadship · 38m · 1978, refit 2025
11 guests | 5 cabins | 8 crew
$120k – 135k
ARAOK
Fountaine Pajot · 18m · 2018, refit 2024
6 guests | 3 cabins | 3 crew
€25k – 29k
BELLA
Feadship · 45m · 2008, refit 2014
12 guests | 6 cabins | 9 crew
€245k – 255k
NEVER ENOUGH
Feadship · 43m · 1992, refit 2019
10 guests | 5 cabins | 7 crew
$110k – 127k
ENCORE
Sunreef Yachts · 18m · 2026
8 guests | 4 cabins | 3 crew
$56k – 62k
ALEXA OF LONDON
38m · 1992, refit 2025
9 guests | 4 cabins | 5 crew
€65k – 70k
Southern Belle
Johnson · 27m · 2006
8 guests | 4 cabins | 4 crew
$54k – 59k
ARKTOS
Lagoon · 24m · 2026
9 guests | 4 cabins | 4 crew
€70k – 96k
ELVIS MAGIC
Oyster Marine · 20m · 2003, refit 2025
6 guests | 3 cabins | 2 crew
$25k – 26k
WHISPER
Holland Jachtbouw · 35m · 2003, refit 2019
6 guests | 3 cabins | 5 crew
Price on request
RAY
Sunreef Yachts · 22m · 2025
8 guests | 4 cabins | 3 crew
€70k – 77k
The Peddler
Custom Line · 26m · 2019
8 guests | 4 cabins | 4 crew
$69k – 74k
VAGATOR
Fountaine Pajot · 20m · 2025
8 guests | 4 cabins | 3 crew
€38k – 57k
ENTRE 4
Sunreef Yachts · 24m · 2024
8 guests | 4 cabins | 4 crew
$100k – 125k
48 yachts in rotation. The order changes with every visit so no boat is always last.
Questions we get asked
The British Virgin Islands, answered
Common questions
Why do you recommend the BVI for a first charter?
Flat water, short legs and islands always in sight. Nobody is seasick, nobody is bored, and a different beach bar every night keeps a mixed group happy. A week here is the gentlest introduction to a yacht there is.
Where do we fly into for the BVI?
St Thomas, with direct flights from across the US, then an hour by yacht to the BVI border at Soper’s Hole. Tortola’s own airport is reached via San Juan or Antigua. The crew handle clearing in and out.
Can we combine the BVI with St Barths?
Yes, on ten nights or more. We start in St Maarten, take St Barths over a weekend and Anguilla for the beach picnic, then make the eighty-mile passage west overnight and wake up in Virgin Gorda with a week ahead.
Is the BVI crowded?
More boats than anywhere else in the Caribbean, mostly small bareboats, and still never crowded from a superyacht. Anchor off the mooring fields and the beach is yours by evening.
Want The British Virgin Islands in your week?
Tell us the dates and who is coming. We will say which nights to give it, which berth to hold, and whether the week you want is still open.