We've had to anchor once at Caneel Bay in order to check in at Cruz Bay. If you draw less than 6' you can anchor in the creek near the customs house. Otherwise, high season/low season no problem getting a mooring in the National Park. Normally I would link to the NPS mooring map, but its no longer up on their web site. They updated the fees to $26/night in January, so maybe they are going through an update.

Our favorite Caribbean village in the VIs is Cruz Bay. It is completely walkable and has over 20 restaurants and bars. Dolphin Market is walkable for provisions. There is an ice house in the Lumber Yard development. Too bad the nearby Caneel Bay anchorage gets ferry wakes from 5AM-1AM. In our monohull we pretty much have to stow gear at that anchorage as if we were underway. Bonine for dessert.

Our favorite anchorages in the park are Maho/Francis Bay, Leinster Bay, Great Lameshur Bay and Salt Pond. All three have lots of turtles/rays/fish. We had an eagle ray jump next to our boat in Maho in January. There are no houses on the hills above Lameshur and it is incredibly nice at night. Hurricane Hole has lots of free day use moorings. Great spot for kayaking in the inner bays - Princess Bay has the best mangrove snorkeling.

Outside of the National Park, we love the anchorage at Hansen Bay inside of Coral Bay. The campground is there and friends can park and we can pick them up. Lots of good snorkeling at Pelican Rock and good holding in sand.

Coral Bay Harbor has provisions at Dolphin Market on the west side of the bay. No dinghy dock, but there is a dinghy line for tie up. Aqua Bistro there is a good restaurant/bar. The nearby Caribbean Oasis has good home cooking. Island Blues location is getting ready to reopen and is now owned by the group at Woody's in Cruz Bay.

At the north end of Coral Harbor is the floating dinghy dock. Its crowded, but most folks leave at least 6' painter so that you can tie up. Skinny Legs has solid bar food and is a good value. Indigo Grill, owned by the Rhumb Lines folks in Cruz Bay, is 100' west on the road and has good pizza and some Caribbean interpretations.

Cheers, RickG