Cruising the Virgin Islands

Culebra:

• Boats enter Ensenada Honda (Big Harbour) then should proceed to the head and anchor in sand just west of Cayo Pirata. If arriving from USVI or BVI all yachts must clear in. One should anchor off the main town of Dewey, which is in the narrowest part of the isthmus. Dinghies can be left at the town dock, which is west of the Dinghy Dock Restaurant. Clearance is done at the airport, about a 2 mile walk away.
• A fruit and vegetable truck comes on the ferry from Fajardo and parks outside the post office every Wednesday morning. The ferry to Fajardo takes over an hour and costs $2.50 each way. In Fajardo take two mini-buses to get to the Walmart complex. Provisioning can be done there at Pueblo and Walmart.

• US Customs telephone numbers: St Croix 773-1011, St John 776-6741, St Thomas 774-9700.
• US Customs next to St. Croix Marina.
• No fees are charged Monday to Saturday 0800-1700, after which overtime rates apply.

When coming from USVI's, check in at Great Harbour on Jost Van Dyke is easier (less crowded, far easier to anchor) than at Soper's Hole on Tortola.

If you want to keep your boat in BVI waters for more than 30 days during a calendar year, you will have to pay an annual $200 "temporary import fee" at Customs when you check in.

I finally got through to someone in BVI Customs. From what the customs officer said, you would be exempt from import duty for a year providing the boat was used as a personal vessel only (no chartering). At the end of that year you would have to apply for an import duty exemption at a cost of $200, and if you stayed another year you would have to apply for another year's exemption for $200.

However, if you are going down there, make sure you ask Customs when you first clear in. Sometimes you get different answers from different people!

This is the telephone number I finally got through on in case you want to call them: 284-494-3475.

• Yachts in transit may import spare parts free of duty. If the parts are to be fitted by a local company, 5 per cent duty on the value must be paid.
• Harbour dues and ships' dues depending on the size of the boat.
• BVI Cruising Tax: All visiting yachts must acquire cruising permits (available from Customs) upon entering BVI waters. Cost is $4 per person, per day, year round.
• Overtime must be paid for customs clearance outside 0830-1530 Monday to Friday, 0830-1230 Saturdays and on public holidays.
• Non-residents must obtain a recreational fishing permit in order to fish in BVI waters. Spearfishing, lobstering and the collection of live shells is prohibited.
• Mooring buoys have been laid in a number of sensitive areas.
  Cruising boats must obtain a National Parks moorings permit and follow these regulations:
  (1) The reef protection buoys are colour-coded: Red buoys: non-diving, day use only; Yellow buoys: commercial dive vessels only; White buoys: non-commercial vessels for dive use only, on a first-come first-served basis and a 90 minute time limit.
  (2) Vessels over 55 ft LOA or 35 tons may not use the mooring system.
  (3) Vessels must use the existing mooring line. To avoid chafe, the line may be extended.
• Jost van Dyke: Great Harbour:
  Customs and immigration offices are in the same (white) building by the dock. Customs Tel: 494-3430 Police Tel:495-9345
  
  Great Harbour is a spacious and sheltered anchorage, surrounded by small mountains. The holding can be uncertain, but there are moorings here. The entrance is straight-forward, but keep to the centre line, avoiding the large reef that extends 300 yards from the beach.
  
  Jost van Dyke Island has many attractive anchorages. One good anchorage, with moorings as well, is Little Harbour.
• Tortola: Road Harbour:
  Customs and immigration are at the government dock at Road Town. One should anchor off the dock and check in with customs and immigration before proceeding elsewhere. 0830-1630 Monday to Friday, 0830-1230 Saturday.
• Tortola: Sopers Hole:
  Offices are at the ferry dock at West End. Ferries from the US Virgin Islands stop here, which can mean clearance takes longer if a ferry arrives.
• Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour:
  Offices are in a new government office block by the ferry jetty.

... the British Virgin Islands are already ruined by too many boats, too many moorings, and too many beach hotels. ... [Good anchorages are] covered with $20-a-night moorings ... leaving the worst spaces open for those who want to anchor. ... the charter-boat industry has outgrown the available space. ...

Overnight moorings cost $25/day.
Parks permit to use day moorings is $10/week.
Government cruising permit is $2 per person per day.

Places where you can anchor for free:
NE corner of Benures Bay [on N side of Norman Island];
near Key Point in Key Bay [on S side of Peter Island, near W end];
among liveaboards near De Loose Mongoose in Trellis Bay [on E end of Tortola, N side of Beef Island];
NE corner of Cane Garden Bay [on W end of Tortola];
Brewers Bay [on N side of Tortola, NW] (enter between east reef and center reef);
anywhere in Great Harbour / Jost van Dyke.

Little Harbour, Peter Island: This always looks popular because the crewed yachts hang out there off-charter. They have a lot more anchor chain than bareboats, and air-conditioning. The bay is plagued with mosquitoes and has no breeze at night. Some have complained that the crews party all night and waterski all day. The surprising depth and lack of wind mean boats swing eclectically during the night. It would be quite simple to collide.

Looks very tempting but there are much better anchorages in the area!

Best snorkel -- George Dog [island off W end of Virgin Gorda, W of Long Bay], but don't miss the Baths [SW corner of Virgin Gorda] or the Caves [Norman Island, W end, Treasure Point] either.

Best beach -- the little one way around on the right at the Baths.

Best restaurant -- is a toss up between Paradise at Jost Van Dyke and the restaurant at the Bitter end YC Virgin Gorda.

The Baths can be crowded and, in general, if you're not on a mooring by around 1300, it's going to be a long dinghy ride. Anchoring works in many places but really and truly some charterers are utterly clueless about anchoring. Proceed accordingly.

Although not well-known, a drift snorkel (take the dinghy in tow) or shallow dive along Spyglass Wall, extending north from Benures Bay on Norman I (there's a single white dive buoy at the north end) is time well spent. It was one of my best dives ever and, staying around 20', went on for over an hour. I came up when the rest of the folks, who were snorkeling, called it a day. I still had enough air to hold on for a while longer.

...

Although not a tenable overnight anchorage, Sandy Cay, just east of Jost Van Dyke, has a superb beach.

...

Finally, I dove with Dive BVI and recommend them as a good, friendly, competent dive operator. There are light currents and the water can be cool (I don't chill too easily but I'm glad I wore a 3mm shorty and would wear a full 3mm suit for more than a couple of dives).

... all the reports from the BVI are that anchoring is increasingly not permitted in the more popular spots and you must pick up a mooring at $20 a night. This has come about for a number of reasons. First of all, it's because of the sheer number of boats in the BVI, due to both the charter trade and the larger number of baby boomers retiring aboard each year. Moorings ensure that you can get more boats into a given area because moorings are more space-efficient. Second, moorings prevent many of the anchoring mishaps that frequently cascade through an anchorage when one charterer screws up and in the middle of the night his boat pulls three or four loose. Finally, people on vacation, like charterers, don't mind forking over $20 a night (cruisers, on the other hand, do). But the islanders themselves like them because more boats in your harbor means more people eating ashore, shopping ashore, etc. I wouldn't let this discourage you, but it's something you should be aware of.

I recently got back from the BVI's. You need to have a cruising permit to sail in the BVI's which you can get at any of the Custom offices. The permit was around $3 per person per day in the winter, $.75 in the summer. But once you have this it's free to anchor. Without the permit the fines are hefty. I was told $1500 and up depending upon your crew. I was boarded twice in a month in the BVI's, so I would strongly advise you get this permit.

The 32-degree ice (was lucky to last one day) in the BVI was $3 - $4 per bag in the year 2000.