Welcome to our pages on catamaran sailing
around the British Virgin Islands. We hope you find them
helpful.
Sailing in the BVI's truly is sailing in
paradise: wonderful weather, fair winds, beautiful, clear, warm water, good snorkeling and
diving, great food, lovely people, and lots of amenities. Sailing here over the past
ten years has been the delight of our lives. We'd like to share this experience with you in
preparation for your own sailing vacation."
The BVI's are covered in a counter clockwise direction as
recommended for sailing from Road Town. Notes in green italics are my
own impressions or recommendations. I hope you find them
helpful. If you have suggestions of places you have enjoyed and would like to
see them listed here, please let us know. We will check them out next trip.
Little Harbor - Reasonable anchorage in
15-25' on left. Not too much room. Alternate stern to area in center
of shoreline. Please do not anchor on reef to the right. Excellent
snorkeling there. This is a private island, do not use the private
moorings, respect residents privacy, don't go ashore, enjoy the lights of Road Town at
night. Great Harbor - Good first or last night anchorage, beautiful lights of Road Town at night.
Anchor on northwest shore in 25'. Sprat Bay - Peter Island Yacht Club, Moorings available.
Breakfast, lunch, dinner by reservation. Pricey but excellent, dress code for dinner, long
pants, collared shirt. Dive BVI
dive shop, tanks and air fills available., Full service marina, ice. No trash dropping. Deadman's Bay - Beautiful day stop and okay overnight if no
northern swell. Great view of Road Town lights and lights along the road on the island at
night. Beautiful beach, often have barbecues with band and dancing during season. Nice
island to hike on. This is one of our favorite anchorages, but
better in a catamaran than a monohull, can be rolly, and check your anchor!!
We had dinner at the Peter Island Deadman's Beach Grill this trip. It was very
nice but a little pricey. White Bay - Nice anchorage on south shore but backwinding
possible. Nice snorkeling too.
Good diving, our favorites are Blonde Rock and
Painted Walls. It can be rough on the surface.
SALT ISLAND Wreck of the Rhone - One of the greatest and best known wreck
dives in the world. Site does get crowded. The surface can be rough and there can be a
strong current. Check before diving. Best when done with good sunlight, several moorings. We try to arrive just before noon when the morning crowd is leaving
and the afternoon crowd hasn't arrived.
Salt Island Bay - Fun to go
ashore and see the salt ponds.
Manchioneel Bay: Beautiful palm tree lined
beach, lights of Road Town at night.
Cooper Island Beach Club, moorings available,
must get there early for moorings. Anchoring is not recommended here, difficult holding
and winds move boats around in different directions. If there is not a
good breeze it can get hot here. No trash dropping. Open for
lunch and dinner. Best conch fritters in the islands.
Perfect place for sunset cocktails on the beach. Dive shop, nice tee shirts, tanks and air
fills.
Vanishing Rock: Mooring best for dinghy, little room for boats, nice dive,
actually off tip of Salt Island, across from Cistern Point.
Cistern Point:- Nice snorkel or dive site. 1 Mooring for boat, blue for
dinghy only.
Blue Chromis Reef: Nice dive or snorkel site with mooring.
Marie L: Recently sunken ship, at approx. 85 feet, now
a 3rd boat at site, 2
moorings.
Haulover Bay - Good alternative anchorage if Manchioneel is full. Can be
rolly.
GINGER ISLAND (2 buoyed dive sites) Alice in Wonderland is one of the most
enjoyable dive sites in the area, best at 40'. Look for huge mushroom corals and abundant
fish life.
The Baths - A must see for all visitors. Beach
of huge boulders, moorings. Avoid crowds if at all possible. You can swim to shore. If taking dinghy
you must drop off guests and secure it off shore. Be very
careful landing during big seas. Take walk to top of the
Baths, restaurant and shops. Across the street from Top of Baths is Mad Dog Bar &
Grill, good fun, local hangout after 5pm, great views, worth the hike, sandwiches, hot
dogs, and the best Pina Colada we ever had!!!
Devil's Bay - At south end of baths, very pretty bay, do not take
Valley Trunk Bay - Beautiful beach, nice alternative if Baths are
crowded. Not good during seas. Respect privacy of residents when on the beach, do
not snag power line when anchoring.
Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor - Customs House, full service marina, bank, drug
store, 2 markets, T-shirts, gift shops, Dive BVI location, ice, trash (by fuel dock).
Great place to stock up if you didn't start with a galley full. I've heard good things about several
restaurants here but have not had the pleasure myself yet, Crab Hole for Creole and local
fare, Flying Iguana listing eclectic gourmet cuisine, and Chez Bamboo for Creole and
Caribbean cuisine.
Buck's Market, good provisioning, fresh meat & fish.
Bakery (didn't get name) next door with sandwiches and a nice wine
selection.
Bath & Turtle, good drinks, local band Wed. and Sun. nights. Commissary, another good market with deli & good wine selection.
Old Yard Inn, garden setting, excellent meal, 15 min. walk from marina
(Reserv)
Little Dix Bay -Home of Little Dix Bay Resort, nice for lunch or drinks.
Reservations for dinner, (dress code) no jackets but no shorts.
Savannah Bay - Can be nice, quiet anchorage, 15-20 feet. Better summer
anchorage, recommend day anchorage only during winter months. Enter
on the far right only
with good overhead light.
Mahoe Bay - Just to north of Savannah, recommended for shallow draft boats
only. Use much caution near reef, enter and exit with good light and calm seas only.
Georgio's Table, delightful open air Italian Restaurant right on the water,
great food, wine and atmosphere. Say hi to Georgio and
Elizabeth for us. Everything is wonderful. If you can't make up your mind ask
Georgio to order for you. You won't be disappointed. Every time we go it
seems to be better than the last, and a little pricer too.
Mountain Point - At northern most point of Virgin Gorda before coming around
to
Nice day anchorage on south shore, nice snorkeling. Second
anchorage off beach of north east shore, snorkeling. Nice dive site, The Chimney,
4 moorings available.
GEORGE DOG - Another good dive site, Bronco Billy but watch for current.
Also a day anchorage on south west side for snorkeling.
Good snorkeling west of Anguilla Point, also Honeymoon beach.
Drake's Anchorage - Moorings available. Restaurant closed. Very nice hiking trail to top of mountain.
Pusser's Store and Restaurant, beach bar, 3 meals/day.
Beach party every Friday night at 7 PM, limbo contest and music..
Buck's - Another market up the hill from Pussers.
Dive BVI- shop, tanks and air fills, day trips to Anegada, gift
shop. Leverick Bay Watersports - Wonderful
parasailing experience, great views, new boat and equipment, $5 off
before 11 am. Call Flying Bear on VHF 16 or stop at office on dock.
Anouk's Jewelry - She comes around the boats by dinghy selling her jewelry.
Bitter End Yacht Club - Recreation Resort Hotel (Very Popular), marina,
moorings. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, Clubhouse restaurant, (Steak & Seafood Grille),
The Carvery Restaurant (Reserv). Windsurfing & boat rentals, gift shop, bakery-deli,
liquor store, Kilbride's Dive Shop, trash dropping ($1.50/bag).
Eustacia Reef: - Good snorkeling at reef, nice day anchorage, few boats,
look for tarpon, rays and conch.
Biras Creek - Lovely resort, pricey but excellent food, serves 3 meals/day.
Dinner is 5 course price fixed menu, Dress Code,(Reserv.) Go for sunset and cocktails for beautiful view,
moorings available.
SABA ROCK
Saba Rock has certainly changed from the old days. But, I
must admit, it's pretty nice. They have a very nice hotel, restaurant and
Sharky's Pub, literally on the water. And they welcome the yachting
crowd. If you stay on their mooring or marina for the night they will give you
250 gallons of water and a bag of ice.
Be sure to CHECK WITH YOUR CHARTER COMPANY BEFORE
going to Anegada. It is OFF LIMITS for
some charter companies unless you have a professional captain aboard.
Anegada Reefs Hotel - Call in by 4 PM to order dinner. Best known for
lobster on the grill. Also offer chicken, ribs, steak and fresh fish. Check out
the gift shop. They
have rental cars or pick up a taxi to Loblolly Bay.
Pam's Bakery - Not open at this time.
Neptune's Treasure -Breakfast, lunch, dinner; specializing in conch,
swordfish and other local seafood.
Loblolly Bay - Excellent snorkeling, diving and beach area. Take cab from
Hotel to beach.
Big Bamboo - beach bar & restaurant at Loblolly Bay, specializing in
Anegada style lunches of lobster, conch, fish, chicken, burgers and ribs, dinner by
reservation.
Flash of Beauty - beach bar & restaurant at Loblolly Bay, serving
drinks, sandwiches and fresh Anegada seafood (lobster/shellfish) 10 am to about 9 pm.
Located just north of Tortola, connected by a small bridge. This is
where the NEW airport is. If you choose to pick up guests from the airport, anchor
or moor in Trellis Bay, dinghy to shore, walk to the airport to meet them. Trash
drop behind ferry dock. Trellis Bay:
Da Loose Mongoose - Closed Monday. Barbecue and live music Sunday.
Breakfast, lunch, dinner. Lighter fare, great
hamburgers. You must try their brownie sundae, more than you should eat and a wonderful
surprise!!! They also operate the Beef Island Guest House, 4
rooms in a little house next to the restaurant, right on the beach.
Trellis Bay Market - Small market, perfect for things you forgot or ran out
of.
Board Sailing BVI - Excellent board sailing school. Guarantees to have you
sailing in 2 hours or no charge.
Aragorn's Studio - Crafts in copper, ceramic, silkscreen, woodcut &
hand-painted tees. He often comes around the boats with baskets of t-shirts, crafts,
breads & fruits in AM. Very good quality
shirts.
The Last Resort - Things have changed. No more buffet or
Tony's show. And Vanilla, the donkey passed away. Now offering
menu fare, quite good, and reasonably priced.
Enjoyable anchorage, mooring balls available. Leased to Pusser's
Company. Very nice villa accommodations for overnight guests. Pussers' Company Store &
Restaurant. Dive BVI shop, tank fills, Laundry, Showers, Ice, Fuel. Trash drop ($2/bag)
If moorings are full, stay in Trellis Bay and take Pusser's ferry over, schedule
posted at ferry dock or call VHF 16. Pusser's Restaurant offers a nice menu.
The view across the channel is great. This is a very popular
place so moorings get filled up. There is nice
snorkeling/diving along the reef just west of the mooring area. 1
buoy.
Nice little place, used to
be no more than one boat there per night. Now everyone seems to have
found it. Very shallow, use caution getting in through the cut in the
coral. Nice snorkeling, lots of juvenile fish.
Lee Bay -Nice anchorage but not during north winds or northern swell.
Anchorage is 25' deep and very few if any other boats in area. Nice dive site at southwest
tip of bay, 45' deep.
Nice snorkel area. Anchor about 25' deep. Beautiful beach but
private island, please respect privacy, don't go ashore. Monkey Point - Very popular snorkel site. Moorings
available.
Great snorkeling. Use caution entering and anchoring. Do not
anchor here during ground swell, usual day anchorage only. We
have been fortunate that we have been able to find squid every time we stop
here.
Cane Garden Bay - One of the most
beautiful bays in the islands, but busy, perfect for sunset cocktails. Not a good place
during northern swell when crashing waves make dinghy landing difficult to impossible.
Moorings are available or anchor in 15-25'. Music can be loud and late, particularly on
Sat. night.
Paradise Club is now the Big Banana Holding, Happy hour 4-7 pm, live music
Wed. & Fri., dart board, good for sunset, CNN news on TV, serves breakfast too.
T-shirt shop.
Quito's Gazebo, good food, live music. Quito Rymer sings Tues.,
Thurs., Sun,
other nights live band, dancing. Take home one of his
tapes or CD's as an island remembrance.
Myett's is very popular, live music, could go till 2 AM on Saturday night!!,
great place for sunset cocktails, serving lunch daily and dinner upstairs.
The Wedding, is smaller now after hurricane damage, lunch
& dinner, good
seafood.
Stanley's, same old place but the tree with the swing is gone, lunch & dinner, 10 AM-10 PM.
Rhymers, Serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, All You Can Eat specials some
nights, open air beach bar, live music on Thurs., small market, ice. Trash drop
down the street.
Tour Callwood Rum Distillery, $1 each. Recommend the aged rum over the
new.
Carrot Bay
Sugar Mill Restaurant, pricey but one of
the finest restaurants in the islands, (Reserv), be sure to get a copy of their
cookbook, dress appropriately.
Soper's Hole - Moorings available or anchor in northeast area in 20-35'.
Customs House, full service marina, fuel, water, ice, trash drop, nice shops, ice cream
store.
Pusser's Landing for lunch or dinner and "Painkillers", live music weekends. Company store.
Harbour Market good provisioning
stop.
Baskin In The Sun Dive Shop, gearrental,
tanks and air fills.
Jolly Roger breakfast, lunch and dinner, pizza and other entrees, live music
some nights, fun place.
Two local markets, go upstream under bridge in
your dinghy. Duck your head.
Nice beach and hiking path around island. Suggest repellent for sand fleas and some
type of foot ware is a must. Great backdrop for photos. (This
is what Paradise looks like, great picture opportunity)
GREEN CAY
Good snorkeling on reef south of the cay.
Moorings are available, stay out as far as possible for
breeze.
Harris' Place, All can eat Lobster Mon., All can eat seafood buffet Thurs.,
All can eat buffet of pig, chicken and ribs Mon. & Sat. Ruben Chinnery Combo live
music on Sat. and Mon. They have a small grocery, ice, happy hour 11-3,
They make some of the best lobster in the
islands. (light garlic/butter sauce) If you haven't had a
bushwacker yet, now is the time.
Sidney's Peace and Love Restaurant, known for lobster & pig roast too.
They have T-shirts on ceiling from all over the world. Add yours.
Abe's By The Sea is bar and restaurant for fresh lobster, fish, conch, spare
ribs and chicken for lunch or dinner. Pig roast on Wed. nights in season.
Reserv.
Great Harbor: Anchor in 15-30', no moorings, check your anchor and the one
in front of you. Customs House, ice available up road past Christine's Bakery, trash drop.
Foxy's is rated one of the "Top 10 bars in Caribbean", Foxy sings
during lunch time. He makes up songs for you. Lunch & Dinner 7 days a week., Barbecue
Buffet Fri & Sat, make reservation by 5 pm. live music Thurs, Fri, Sat.,
Happy Hour 4-6pm. We
enjoyed a birthday dinner there one Friday night, great BBQ chicken, fish and ribs, great
band and dancing in the sand.
Christine's Bakery, good for fresh baked goods, up road past Customs House.
Try the cinnamon rolls. Lorna does excellent job of cornrow braiding. Corsairs Restaurant, good food, pasta dishes,
lobster, hamburgers, reasonable prices, host Vinny
is delightful, please say hello.
Rudy's Mariner's, dinghy dock, far left side of harbor, excellent lobster,
chicken, fish and ribs dinners, good prices, Rudy
is a delightful host, honor bar.
White Bay: Use caution entering bay
between buoys, not recommended for overnight anchorage during swells, mooring
balls available now. Good snorkeling on
reef if no surge or tourist boats from St.Thomas.
Sandcastle Resort - open for breakfast, lunch and outstanding candlelight
beachside dinners. (Reserv.) We stopped in for
breakfast one morning. It was wonderful! You must try the orange scones on
Sunday morning.
Soggy Dollar Bar - for the "original painkiller", swim ashore with
money in ziplock bag, no dinghy dock, nap in hammock . This
place is unique, a must stop, but they do get a lot of large tourist boats in. The crowds
usually clear out by 4 pm.
The Bubbling Pool - This
is a real find. Make your way around the east end of JVD and moor or
anchor in front of Foxy's Taboo. Go ashore and walk along the beach until
you find a path up and over to the north shore. There is a beautiful
little place where the water rushes in on a good day. It is like a natural
spa. Take a cooler with cold drinks. Enjoy.
Robert Lewis Stevenson's "Treasure Island" was apparently inspired here.
If you get settled
and think you have forgotten something important, not to worry. Call Deliverance on
Ch. 16. They bring ice, fresh breads, pastries, fruits, drinks, special orders and
pick up trash. They come by Cooper, Peter and Norman Islands every
afternoon.
The Bight - 30 new moorings installed, anchorage is 15-30' depth, some
backwinding, Some nice snorkeling along northeast and southwest shores, may see turtles,
nurse sharks.
Pirates, new restaurant ashore. Local and International
cuisine including lobster, fish, chicken and steaks. Happy hour 4-6 PM.
Reservations suggested.
William Thornton II, we call it the
Willie T, floating restaurant (old lumber schooner) and bar, serving
from 11 AM til .......Featuring roti, shrimp creole, ribs, steak and other
fare. Excellent bartender, great drinks, popular place for the
yachting crowd.! There is a prize for jumping off the top "you know
how" but we don't recommend it.
Benure's Bay - Alternate anchorage with good snorkeling on west end, usually
not too many boats.
The Caves - Great snorkel spot, very popular, may be lots of people,
obviously fish have been fed for some time. Moorings available or take dinghy from Bight.
Good dive or snorkel spot, several moorings available, very popular. East
side is shallow, good starting point for newcomers.
PELICAN ISLAND:
Good dive or snorkel spot, several moorings available.
ROAD TOWN/TORTOLA
Sunny Caribe Spice Shop - Nice spices, cigars, great gift ideas to take
home.
Pussers Pub - Burgers, pizza, salads, Painkillers, Company store, harbor
view, Nickle Beer Thurs. and great happy hour Fri.
Spaghetti Junction - Truly fine Italian food, great sauces, good service,
try the seafood pasta with cream sauce and chocolate mousse, (Reserv) Another
of our favorites. Tell Owners, John and April, the
Wildcat sent you.
C & F - Cab ride from Road Town,
good food at reasonable prices, try onion rings and conch in lime butter appetizers, great
ribs, and key lime pie for dessert.
Or
Or Call: US/Canada
1-800-811-1475, 10-6 EST
Outside US 1-520-575-6566
