We have sailed BVI's a few times, Thailand twice and most recently, Croatia. Thinking about another sailing trip this December and looking at St. Martin as a possible destination. How does it compare to BVI? Can we expect to anchor every night or are mooring balls available? Is there a sailing culture? Any thoughts or advice that you guys might be able to give me?

Most of the sailors are on the BVI forum. You might want to ask there or have Carol move your post. We have seen boats moored in Grand Case, Orient and Ance Marcel but don't know anything about fees or availability.
There are some big marinas spread across the island as well.

St. Martin is an interesting sailing destination and nothing at all like the BVI.

While the BVI tourist infrastructure is centered around charter boats, the one in St. Martin is not. There are few mooring balls, I can only think of the ones out at Tintamarre which are put up by the park service and they are free; but otherwise you will be anchoring every night.
There are some beautiful places to anchor in St. Martin and environs. In Philipsburg, outside the lagoon at Simpson Bay, Marigot and especially Grand Case you have numerous shoreside facilities for wining and dining and shopping. Grand Case is a little less busy and does offer great holding in sand in only 10-15 of water and you can scuba or snorkel at Creole Rock. Anse Marcel is an overnight anchorage with good holding but the wind swirls around a lot.
I have a deep draft boat so don't get into Pinel Island or Orient Beach, but a catamaran or shallower draft can get into there for a nice anchorage. Ile Tintamarre has the aforementioned moorings plus people anchor there. I've stayed overnight in both calm and rolly conditions; much prefer the former. Tintamarre has some good diving and snorkeling and is otherwise uninhabited (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bKI1Aq8F0s ).
Given enough time, from St. Martin one can zip across to Anguilla and, even better, down to Ile Fourchue and St. Barths. With even more time and calm conditions Saba is also a worthwhile trip.

Hi. There is a sailing community on SXM, but it is nothing like the BVI. It's a bit more difficult to sail in SXM. Here are a few threads that I found about the subject.

http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/s...rue#Post1171793

http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/showthreaded.php?Cat=0&Number=1676988&page=0


http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/s...rue#Post1648487

We initially chartered in the BVI many years ago and now have chartered from SXM for the last three years. We love it. Note that it's just me and my wife on the charter - we don't bring any kids or other people along so it's got that kind of skew for what that's worth. Also, we go in the low-season so the number of charterers is reduced even more.

I agree that SXM doesn't have the charter-centric feel that BVI has but there is a pretty big Moorings/Sunsail base and there are a few other smaller outfits as well. In general, at beach bars and restaurants, you don't tend to run in to fellow charterers. In fact, most people look at you like "Why in the world would you not want to be in a hotel?"

There isn't the Drake Channel type of protection around SXM. In fact, when I was first looking at boats to charter, it was funny to see that the smallest mono they rent at the Moorings is a 43 "due to the amount of open ocean sailing". I wouldn't necessarily call it open ocean sailing but it could get rough.

For overnights, you will mostly be anchoring. There are a few moorings in some of the marine parks such as Tintamarre and Pinel and at St. Barts but on our last charter, the Moorings rep suggested that we not use them because they are not trustworthy. You are supposed to pay for those moorings if you use them by paying a park fee at the charter base although I'm not sure many people do.

As another person posted, the anchorages inside Orient Bay (Pinel and Green Cay) are shallow and getting a keelboat in is dicey. We did it but we are thinking of making the switch to a cat next time (ugh) just to make that part easier and less rolley.

I could go on but I have a few blog posts that go into more detail if you want it.

I'm happy to answer questions if you have them. All in all, we recommend chartering in SXM.

We have chartered many times in the USVI and BVI and this year we choose a charter in St Martin. As pointed out previously, very different from the BVI charter scene. While the beach bar in every anchorage in the BVI has led to some great vacations and memories, so can much quieter anchorages with a much different atmosphere ashore that the St Martin area offers. You will much more often be in the company of those staying ashore or with cruisers rather than other charterers.
While Sunsail and Moorings both have a presence there, it is on a much smaller scale. Well run and a little more personal attention I found.
One of the cautions is you are checking in/out of countries as you move between countries, often taking 1 - 2 hours to complete the process. So you want to allow a lot of extra time for the formalities, limit the number of separate countries that you visit, or plan your itinerary to optimize your check ins/outs.
We did enjoy the different ambience that is offered by visiting the different islands /sides of the island.
Tintamare did have moorings, the same as the other poster mentioned, Sunsail cautioned using them as some are not well maintained. Regardless of using the moorings or not, there is a park fee payable to go to any of the park anchorages. Easiest to pay at the charter office.

- Dave

Thanks for all the feedback, folks!! We have a couple of sailing virgins coming with us on this trip and I am starting to think that this might be a little too laid back and not adventurous enough for them. And we really enjoy the protection of the channel and carefree overnights with the moorings in the BVI's. Looks like we might be heading back in that direction.

But if anyone has anything else to contribute, then please by all means let me know!!! The more information that we have, the better!!!

St Martin/St. Maarten "laidback" versus the BVI's?? Uhmn, no. The sailing is definitely much easier in the BVI's though.

On the contrary, I think, from a sailing and exploring perspective, the SXM sailing grounds are more adventurous than the BVI. We rotate between the BVI, the Grenadines and SXM. We're doing our fourth trip to SXM in two weeks.
We usually do couples trips or two families and all those that have sailed with us give SXM-AXA-SBH rave reviews. Its a different trip than the BVI and you'll really love it if you and your newbies are foodies. We generally dine ashore every night.
Our usual route is Oyster Pond>Grand Case>Road Bay>Crocus Bay>Baie Columbier>Gustavia (2 nights)>Oyster Pond.
Grand Case is full of great restaurants. take your pick.
At Road Bay taxi to East Shoal Bay or Meads Bay and enjoy a beach that rivals any on Anegada. There are a number of great places for dinner on AXA, too.
Crocus Bay is a quiet bay with snorkeling nearby and a good restaurant ashore.
From Crocus sail around the east end of AXA thru the cut and all the way to St Barts. This is a lively open ocean sail. Stop for lunch at Ille Fourche or Baie Columbier (can overnight in Columbier).
At Gustavia rent a car and explore the island, hit one of the beach restaurants for lunch and dinner at one of the great restaurants in Gustavia. We usually hit Saline or Gouverneur beach for a half a day, too.
Then we usually motor sail back to Oyster Pond.
I think of the BVI as laid back and funky beach bars and SXM-AXA-SBH as a more sophisticated villages with great restaurants. All with beautiful islands, trade winds and water.
Are your newbies sailors or just new to the BVI? If they're new to sailing perhaps the BVI is the better choice.
PM me if you decide to go to SXM and I can give you more specifics.

Sorry, I am not referring to the sailing. I am referring to the scene. BVI's have the WIlly T, Soggy Dollar, the Baths, Bubbly Pool, etc. Lots of things to do. Appears as though St. Martin is more relaxed and less adventure-oriented. That's what I meant to say

Newbie sailors. Which is why i am leaning towards BVI as well. But we WILL be doing St. Martin sooner than later and will be in touch when the time comes!!!

Again, that's not true at all. There is a lot more to do on SXM than the BVI and SXM is definitely NOT more relaxed than the BVI. There are a TON of bars in SXM, you can do parasailing, flyboarding, hiking, jet skiing, all kinds of trails, etc., and all kinds of other adventures on SXM. Sailing vacations are much easier to do in the BVI for sure though, if that is your primary focus.

Put the Grenadines on your bucket list, too. I like it a tad better than the BVI's. The best description I've heard is that its like the BVI's were 25 or 30 years ago. Although, since Sunsail and Moorings moved their bases out of St.Vincent/Canoun, it's harder to make work logistically. There are 2nd tier companies in St. Vincent that are supposed to be very good. However, since we only charter in the Caribbean every two or three years, I'd rather pay for a boat that's less than two years old. Just trying to reduce the odds that something major breaks.
Enjoy showing the newbies the BVI!

Grenadines are on our list!!