British Virgin Islands, Caribbean
"The Caribbean is not just a place; it's a state of mind."- Unknown
- More about your Oliver Guide: Melissa Cristo
- Trip type: Family, Group getaway, Beach
- Activity level: easy
- Ideal length of trip: At least a week on the boat (and maybe some land time after!)
to & from
We flew SFO to Washington DC (redeye) and then flew direct to Saint Thomas. We took a ferry from St. Thomas to Tortola which is where we boarded our boat.
- Going through customs can be slow, I highly recommend Dolphin Shuttle expedited taxi service to get through customs.
- Highly suggest a rental car in Tortola, after the boat portion of the trip.
Where to Stay
We rented a catamaran through Dream Yacht Charters. There are many Charter companies you can rent from when sailing in the BVIs – some large international companies as well as smaller family owned companies. We had a new boat (48ft catamaran for two families, 4 cabins, 4 bathrooms, 9ppl total) that was very nice and we had no problems. We hired a captain which is mandatory unless you are a certified captain, and highly recommended even if you are certified. The captain plans the itinerary (order of islands to visit etc.) with the guests input and also will make dining reservations. We did not hire a chef but next time we would go the chef route because the additional cost is minimal and the luxury and flexibility would have been an extra plus.
Our captain also recommended looking into smaller charter companies for our next trip as he reported the boats to be in better condition on whole and possibly better service. However, we were very pleased with our experience using a larger charter company.
After the trip, I highly recommend a few days on land. We stayed in Tortola in a condo in the Long Bay Beach Resort area. However, next time, I would stay in Virgin Gorda where there is a Rosewood and more going on.