TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Cruising Antigua (relative to BVI's)

I've got plenty of experience over decades cruising US and BVI. I've heard great things about Antigua - could anyone with real experience in both provide some compare/contrast for me? I'm interested in making it a key part (roughly 4 - 7 days) of a several week cruise though the Antilles. Thanks!

I spend a lot of time in Antigua and have come to like the island. Cruising there is quite different from the BVI.
There are fewer boats in the anchorages than in the BVI as there is less charter activity and many of the anchorages have no bars/restaurants on the shore. The island is bigger and more populous than the BVI and in recent years they've become friendlier and more service oriented than they used to be (well, apart from the customs and immigration folks).
Anchorages such as Green Island are wonderful. https://www.sv-zanshin.com/blogpages/2016/blog2016-05-05.php

I could write out a lot, but just saying "Ditto" will work.

Will add the beaches of Barbuda rival Anegada just a quick sail away.

We chartered out of Antigua last summer on a one-way to St. Martin. It was a great trip and I'd love to return to Antigua to explore the island more as we just barely scratched the surace. In my opinion it is not as charter-friendly as the BVIs in that most anchorages are not as protected, the sailing is more exposed with longer distances, more reefs to contend with and not as many mooring balls available for overnight stops. However, that being said, if you are fine with anchoring, can navigate reasonably well and you enjoy more spirited sailing then Antigua has a lot to offer. We also found that the charter companies (at least in our experience) are more lenient in terms of where you can cruise and more trusting of your abilities to make sound decisions.

I especially liked Nonsuch Bay as I am a kiteboarder and spent a day kiting off of Green Island. Barbuda was paradise for us where we were the only boat one night and only one of 3 boats total the other night on a 14 mile pure sand beach which rivaled Anegada. I will second the statement above though that beach bars and casual restaurants are tougher to come by and we generally dined at resort restaurants or on the boat during our time there.

I would say that if Antigua would just be a stop on a several week cruise then you should surely at least check it out. If it isn't for you just move on to the next island. But do be sure to get to Barbuda - presuming you like huge sand beaches with not a lot of people around.

Matt

If you're so inclined, search out Brian Turton on Facebook. We did a day sail with him about 10 years ago. Awesome boat. Awesome people.
I'm sure he could give you some pointers.
http://www.miramarsailing.com

Matt (and others) - great information and much thanks. I, too, am a kiter and will have all of my gear with me on our 8 week trip this May - June beginning in Tortola and going at least as far as Antigua, possibly further. Barbuda sounds great and clearly Mike also agrees - we're excited!

Breck, can you tell us more about your trip? I'm imaging this is a bareboat charter? Who is letting you take the boat all over the place? I dream about doing this someday when my two toddlers are a little older.

Fstorms - yes this is a bareboat charter through a major fleet. It is certainly unusual. I'd rather not share all of the particulars at this point only as they are not (100%) fully finalized, but we have basic agreement between me, boat owner (relatively new 40'+ cat), charter management company, and insurance company. What I'll say is that my approach to getting this done has focused on working with the Boat Owner rather than the Charter manager.

I have spent over 3 months working to put this together (think 10-15+ hours weekly - basically a part time job), so its not for the faint of heart! To get to this point of basic agreement, I posted many times of this board and others, while speaking to Owners, Charter Companies (generally not helpful for my needs), Boat Brokers, and untold others.

I am an early 50's "semi-retired" entrepreneur so I've got the flexibility to make all of this happen. Along the way, I've spotted a very unique business opportunity which I'll not discuss at this point, but which would be extraordinarily valuable to boat owners in charter fleets and also valuable to charterers and charter managers - the trifecta win-win-win! More on that later as I may decide to pursue that down the road!

I have very significant sailing experience which is certainly beyond the basic chartering experience, including being part of a number open ocean delivery crews (for gaining personal experience, not for the compensation), racing, and many, many personal charters - the basic stuff like east coast, northwest, and Caribbean charters, etc. Among other things I'm doing to prepare is retaking my basic coastal navigation course and also taking a diesel mechanic course.

The basic plan is Tortola through Antigua, possibly a bit further south east in the Leewards, and then back for a full roundtrip over 8 weeks beginning early May - my wife and 7 year old son will be aboard. We are excited to give our son a great opportunity and different type of education - while possibly setting ourselves up for a bigger sailing adventure down the road (though that's very uncertain). Frankly, this adventure is a way to "test the waters" for that larger adventure, even if this is really just a cakewalk compared to something grander.

I've been asking questions here and will continue to do so - I have much to do and learn in preparation for this adventure - stay tuned!!!

Following....

Wow, nicely done. I'll keep an eye out for your posts. Thank you.

Kevin and I talk often and he is mirroring what I was doing when my daughter was younger, (now 11). There really needs to be a better market for longer charters. Europeans do much longer charters than Americans, but the organization and pricing his very difficult. You can't pay rack rate for 7+ weeks. Someone using the boat long term is actually less wear and tear as you don't have a new learning curve every week. The owner doesn't have a $650 (perhaps more) turn around fee.

The hard part in organizing this is maintenance. In a BVI based boat what happens when you have issues on St Somewhere?

Mike - you in particular have been a great help and resource - many thanks! (PS: Many more conversations to go before we shove off!)

Kevin

SOL. We lost a belt on the starboard engine of a Lagoon 380 coming into port at St. Barth after sailing up from St. Kitts and didn't have it for the rest of the trip back to the BVIs. Lost the auto helm, electric winch and stern nav light on the Lagoon 450 the first day and weren't anywhere near a charter base the rest of the trip.

Will you adopt me? I want to go!

I just returned from Barbuda and agree with the above. However, there appeared to be little to nothing in the way of services of any kind. We encountered some confused sailors on the beach looking for a taxi to town.

It was easily a 30 min drive to town and we needed to arrange a taxi hours in advance.

In town, there was very little except homes and very basic shops.

yeah you basically have to plan everything a day in advance otherwise Uncle Roddy, Jala at Outback, etc. may not even know to open or if they do, may not have any fish or lobster except for those who reserved ahead of time. Just not enough tourist traffic for most places to stay open and stocked. We haven't been in 4 or 5 years but looking on Barbudaful.net, there are definitely some more amenities available than I recall so that's great.

we stayed at Barbuda Cottages when it was just one cottage, now it's four - which probably about doubles the number of tourists on the island at any given time.

Thanks for a couple of these recent posts, which I just took a closer look at since this thread resurfaced. We will absolutely plan to spend some solid time in Antigua and Barbuda (I'm a big fan of Anegada, though I really miss the days of 20 - 30 years ago, so expect Barbuda may be similar.)

Zanshin - I'd not previously seen your website, which I just briefly hit - thanks for this as its going to become more valuable to us as we plan our trip.

As for general planning, we are a solid green light on this trip which will begin May 7. In fact, I'm excited to meet our boat's owner in person this weekend at the Miami boat show. He'll be there "putting in his time" as an "active owner" with a charter fleet boat (even though his boat won't be there). I understand and know that drill well, having become acutely aware of how the charter industry works - much more so than I ever have, despite many years of chartering (as guest) and delivering boats myself.

Our current - albeit rough and fully adjustable plans depending upon May/June weather, and our own flexibility - call for us to sail as far as the northern coast of Guadaloupe (considering Dominica, though that will add another 3 - 5 days to the southern end of our trip), before heading to Antigua and back north and west to ultimately return the boat to Tortola.

Meanwhile, I'm retaking Coastal Navigation (ASA 105) just as a refresher (3 hours/week for 10 weeks), taking a diesel mechanics course, and spending much time thinking about other logistical items. Frankly, I'm enjoying all this as I prepare my family for our 8 week adventure.

With all of that being said, who knows??? We'll take it as it goes...

Just curious BreckSailor, but which route are you planning to Guadeloupe? We did essentially this exact same route with three charter cats in early December but it was over a long week so didn't have much time for exploration unfortunately. 8 weeks is going to be incredible. Were in a hurry on the way down to Deshaies and sailed in the lee of Saba, Statia, St. Kitts and Nevis, Montserrat. Picked up the remaining crew in Deshaies and had day sails on the return trip to Antigua, St. Kitts and St. Barth before crossing the Anegada passage again.

Deshaies was a glorious anchorage - that was my first exposure to the French islands and I think you will find well worth the sail down from Antigua. We didn't have the opportunity to get down to the Iles des Saintes but wished we had. Would love to do just Martinique, Dominica and Guadeloupe on a shorter charter sometime.

Probably obvious but find out what they have aboard for tools and spares. Among three boats on our trip, we had one tool set which were basically toys.

You don't mention which charter company but one thing you have going in your favor if things do go sideways is time - to wait for a part or a mechanic and adjust plans if need be. Our vessels were from the BVI Dream Yacht fleet so we probably could have had some repairs made at Guadeloupe, Antigua or St. Martin but we didn't have time (to wait for a mechanic to drive across the island or to lose a day sailing around to Point a Pitre).

Assume the charter company are allowing night passages? Those were by far my favorite part of the whole trip.

Mal:

Here's the basic plan:

BVI - Saba - St Maarten (Dutch side) - St Kitts - Nevis - Montserrat - Guadeloupe - Antigua - Barbuda - St Barts - St Martin (French side) - Anguilla - St Croix - USVI - BVI.

Other than that basic routing - which is very susceptible to change if warranted/wanted - I've not planned the particulars (ie: exact courses, anchorages, etc). I don't believe that the planning should be too "regimented" or "rigid" - even if I thing having a basic plan makes sense.

That general plan is very dependent upon many factors - particularly weather and appropriate routing, boat issues (as you've rightly pointed out), personal desires to move on/or not, etc.

As for tools, spares, maintenance equipment, you have a great point. I'm still working out what tools, spares will be on board, and what I will need to bring or put on board, etc. This is a charter boat even if its a newer boat (2015), and tools, spares and required maintenance is certainly a big item of concern/discussion/planning for me and this trip. Like your boat, no tools or spares will be aboard the boat as a standard of course.

However, I am also arriving a full 2 days earlier than my family (wife & son) - on island with access to the boat - just to sort that stuff out (as best as possible) and organize (as much as possible) on the island. Also, I'm planning about 5-6 days cruising aboard in the BVI's before leaving down island to effectively "shake down" the boat.

The international charter firm has multiple bases along the trip and each base has at least one same model boat in fleet - which is to say that I would hope there would be some "multiple" base experience with the exact same boat, as well as parts availability along the way. With 8 weeks, I've planned (and agreed as part of the full charter) to have some maintenance/repair days (2 days/nights to be exact with refunds for > 2 days). Moreover, I am taking a diesel course simply to get ready for the charter (I know my way around engines, but no formal training) and to be fully prepared to at least diagnose, if not fix, problems including basic maintenance/servicing. Frankly, I will treat the boat as if I owned it and I want to be responsible for taking care of the boat as if I were the owner.

As for night cruising, yes that's been approved by both charter company and boat insurer. I've personally been sailing and captaining (charter) boats for over 30 years. Ive also been part of several multi-day deliveries in open ocean as crew. I, too, love night cruising. However, this will be a new level of sailing experience for my wife and 7 year old son aboard - so that will be interesting. Clearly, we will only sail in the best of conditions - there is no need to push anything or go anywhere. We will have at least 3 overnights in the route.

Also, its worth mentioning that I'll be bringing aboard all safety gear for blue water cruising - as you know outfitting a boat for bigger travel/transits is very different than a week in the BVIs!

That, plus much more gear that I'll be bringing aboard - with only 3 people traveling - has made the logistical challenge of bringing gear from Denver a big factor (how do you get all that gear, plus my various sporting goods - kiteboards, inflatable SUPs and kayak, fishing gear, etc. - to Tortola - a real challenge.) You may have seen my posts elsewhere on this board about how to transport an unusual amount of gear. Unfortunately, there is no better way than simply checking gear as baggage. And I have a lot of gear - really, sporting goods and cruising equipment - only because this is a very different trip.

I am "semi-retired" and putting this trip together has taken me untold hours (think 10 - 15 hours a week) since October 2016. I've enjoyed it, but its been a challenge to arrange. Clearly, what I'm doing is very unusual. But, I think it will be quite an experience for my family!

I'd love any constructive thoughts that anyone might put forth!

Has your son been down the Caribbean before? I ask because we have a 11 yo and will offer some suggestions about things he has enjoyed over the years on several of the islands.

Cleo - My nearly 8 yo son has plenty of experience in the Caribbean (and boats), but only on land-based trips. We've waited until now to take him on a sailing trip in order to feel confident about his ability to handle himself on the water (strong, confident swimmer) and on a serious sailing trip (ie: quasi open water). I'd love to have any suggestions/thoughts you might offer. The one thing I'm really hoping to do is to find other boat-based playmates along the way - I suspect that we will even though our trip is May - June when many kids are still in school (unless full time live-aboards).

We are land people so I have no suggestions as it relates to sailing.

He probably has done most things I would recommend but I will share two things we did recently that he might like.

Caribbean Helicopters out of Antigua offers tours of the volcano on Montserrat. We did this last month and it was great. The pilot was very engaging and knowledgeable. Seeing it from the area gave a completely different perspective.

Our son loved the frigate bird sanctuary on Barbuda. You need to get a guide as access to the area is regulated. I assume the tourism office (such as it is) could give you names of providers.

Also, Gumption's tour of Necker is fun if your son (and the parents) like animals. We thought it was great.

I think we've got 12 charters. Most in the BVI but we've done Antigua twice, St Lucia to Grenada and back once and the Cyclades in Greece. I like Antigua, I've got a poor memory but we went south to Ile des Saints the first time and to Barbuda the second time. On the west side of Antigua is Jolly Harbor where we started and ended and I think that is the best/easiest for provisioning. There is a good grocery store right across the street. On the east side is English harbor and Falmouth Harbor. Both very interesting but more difficult to provision. Actually, we went to Falmouth, found a spot to dingy and walked a 1/2 mile to a grocery store that was pretty good. It was on the North side of the harbor, I can't tell you how to get there but I could find it again. At English they have C&I and a small/expensive grocery store but even when we walked a ways along the street to Falmouth there wasn't much in the way of provisioning. The area was very old, well preserved and interesting to explore. Up on the hill they have a gathering with many steel bands, we heard them from the boat but didn't go there, wish we had, it happens once a week, I think on Sundays? At the heart of Falmouth I found a grocery store on the dock but it was very expensive. There are some very impressive large yachts usually in the area. On the north east side you have to go around to the west to enter and head to Long Island and further. I found a short cut that was very shallow but lets just say the charter outfit was not pleased with that. Barbuda was fun, we were the only ones there. Compare to the BVI lets just say you can't go 10 km from bar to bar but the sailing is great, there are some great anchorages and some very interesting boats to see in the area. I would have loved to go to Monserrat but that was definately off-limits to our charter outfit. We like to sail and find nice anchorages, we eat on board so we aren't looking for land based night life, there is some but nothing like the BVI. It works for us and since you're doing more than the average BVI cruise this time I think it will work for you.