Hello all! We have been chartering in the BVI for many years, and this year I was hoping to switch things up a bit!

We will have a charter (10 days for the price of 7) so I will be heading down a couple days early, with my father. The remainder of our crew (8 family members) will fly down 3 days later, and my hope was to pick them up with the charter boat at St. Thomas.

TMM has confirmed we can head over to the US side, however I am not sure of the process under this scenario. If we don't step foot on US soil, and are simply picking crew up dockside w/ the dinghy - do we need to clear? We would then clear our additional crew at West End upon returning to the BVI.


Thanks all, definitely don't want to get arrested or have the boat impounded either in the US or BVI

Yes, you will need to clear into the USVI to do this. Are both you and your dad U.S. citizens? If not, you would need a visa for the USA as an ESTA or other automatic entry allowance doesn't count for entering by boat. The good news is that you only need to clear out of the BVI, clear into the USVI and then clear back into the BVI again upon your return.

That is correct we are both US citizens. So if I understand, we can clear out of the BVI, then clear at Cruz Bay into the US side.

Then when it’s time to depart with our additional crew, we don’t need to clear out of the US?

At this point we’re good until clearing everyone back into the BVI.

Cost wise, do you know what this might be, just ballpark is great! I’m hoping we wouldn’t have to pay for BVI cruising tax and permits again, since the boat would have originally had them paid for the 10 days…

I would only take a charter boat to USVI if you want to spend a couple days there. Otherwise, I’d just make arrangements to pick them up in the BVI. If you do want to sail to USVI, you will need to fill out a form on sailclear.com, a visit immigration, customs, cashier and immigration again (at Great Harbor they are all 15 feet apart but it will still take about 20 minutes. If your charter boat is registered and has a ROAM sticker you can clear customs once you’re in US waters ( and yes, everyone needs to be US citizens) . I just did this 2 weeks ago. There are some neat places to visit if you want to spend a couple days in the US.

We’ll have 3 days total so I think it would be fun to explore a couple new spots and deal with customs/immigration. For anyone that has done so, does the boat have to be docked in the US/BVI for inspection? Or can we anchor, fly a Q flag and take the dinghy in?

I always take a mooring ball at Salomon / Canelel Bay (free) and dinghy in to Cruz Bay for C&I. Unless a ferry has just arrived this doesn't take very long at all. As soon as I leave BVI waters I raise the Q-Flag. No docking is necessary or requested or wanted. All of the time and effort is on the BVI side when clearing out and back in. Typically it will be a better experience clearing in on Jost versus the West End. And I love the different anchorage on St. John in Trunk/Cinnamon/Maho bays for at least one night; take a park mooring and pay the fee at the floating pay stations. Well worth while!

Here’s a post I recently made in the “USVI to BVI” charter thread
:
On our last trip a couple weeks ago, we did just the opposite. We wanted to do some amazing hikes this trip and haven't sailed to St John since 2019. We started out in the BVI, sailed to Jost Van Dyke and checked out at Customes. They now use the apt Sailclear which make checking out very easy. Total fees for the 4 of us, $15. We spent the afternoon at White bay and headed for St. John at 7 AM the next mooring. Using ROAM, we checked into the USVI while moored in Leinster Bay. After being cleared which only took about 20 minutes we hiked over to the sugar mill ruins and then to the Murphy house. Next morning the girls hiked the trail to Coral Bay while my friend Bob and I sailed around St John to Coral Bay. We met up and had a great lunch at "Skinny Legs" before spending the night at Great Lamisher Bay. Since I have a "senior pass" to the national parks, mooring fees were only $13. Next morning we sailed over to Reef Bay and hiked to the sugar mill and on to the Petroglyphs. This is a must trail to hike. After that, we sailed over to Christmas Bay for pizza that evening from the pizza boat, Pizza PI. It's fun taking the dingy for carry out. Next morning we returned to Great Harbor and checked in again using the Sailclear apt. Spent that day at Norman, hiking and snorkeling the Indians before heading back to Fat Hog Bay the next day. We go down 5 or 6 times a year so it's fun to mix it up now and than. Heading back in 2 weeks for a 2 week sail with "the guys". Looking forward to spending a few days in Anegada this time.

We haven't done this for years. Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but is it really possible to do this without appearing in front of any officer in person?

Thank you all for the input, it is greatly appreciated!! If I’m understanding correctly, the skipper can clear everyone on the BVI side, while on the US side everyone must present themselves.

Have TMM get a US customs decal for the boat. $35.00 . You can then clear into the US with the ROAM app. You will need to clear out in person. But once you enter St John waters you can use the ROAM app to clear into the US on your smart phone.

I am looking at some July options. Clearing in with the Roam app is quick and works well. He is however picking up crew so would he not be required to clear out of the USVI rather than the normal clear in and out at the same time?

You do not need to clear out to go to the BVI's.

Please don’t get a

PLEASE do not get a TMM boat impounded in the USVI - especially if if it is mine. 😁

It really is pretty easy but we don’t bother with it unless we have at least a 2 week trip.