TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums Charter Boat Reviews and Questions Power boat bareboat Charter

Its been over a decade since we boareboated in the virgin islands and I cannot even remember all the details. The company we rented from is gone. Would love advice on charter companiesfor power boats and if starting in bvis or usvis is better (we are USA citizens). i believe we started in usvis last time but if memory is correct that meant a rough first day. Thinking flights are probably easier to usvis but really need to learn it all again. Eventually i will start reading through all the trip reports but want to make sure i get the right company and starting spot first. Also, is 7 nights actually enough? Its more expensive than last time plus more people to fly in so our last trip of 12 nights on boat seems out of reach. Thank you!!

in case it matters we are thinking mid december (home before the 25th).

I recommend checking with Waypoints Yacht charters. www.waypoints.com They have bases in both St Thomas, USVI and Tortola, BVI. Waypoints has taken over CYOA out of St Thomas but same great staff is there to help make sure you have a great boat and great trip. Cheers


Rob

Virgin Island Yacht Charters
Virgin Island Yacht Charter from Compass Point is an alternative. SailCats only, but nobody says you have to put the white floppy things up!
We did a 10-night two years ago, St. John and St. Thomas. May have been a bit too long according to some of our crew. Different vibe than the BVI.

We just got back from our first bareboat powercat charter - June 3-10. It was a fantastic trip & we have already booked again for next year.

We chartered out of the Moorings base out of Road City, Tortola (which was the company we used to do our powerboating course). The folks at Moorings were organized & communicative. Having never used any other company, I don’t have a good frame of reference, but they certainly answered all my questions quickly & clearly.

Our trip was entirely within the BVI (we are also US citizens). Half our party flew Delta into San Juan & then switched to Silver airlines for a direct flight to Tortola. The other half flew into St. Thomas & took Dolphin Water Taxi to meet up with us on Tortola. Next year we will all go through STT. Dolphin WT is super responsive & makes clearing customs very easy. Apparently, American Airlines is starting flights directly to Tortola (which won’t work for us, but might be a nice option).

No trip to the BVI is ever long enough, but 7 nights worked well for us. We hit most of the spots our group wanted to see.

Have a great trip!

My wife and I are interested in power boats, so I clicked on your post. We are doing a power boat because of the work we don't want to do on a sailboat. So,,, you asked if 7 days are enough? No, for us 10 days is the minimum, with 14 days being best choice for us. We have done 3 weeks many times over the years but, 3 weeks is all we can stand living on a boat. We have only used two charter companies. CSY and The Moorings. We started with The Moorings in 1986 and consider them to be the best. I would also recommend starting and finishing the charter in mid-week. Just remember 7 days are better than zero days and just getting there is good. All the best and have a great time!