How long can I stay on a BVI Nat'l Park Mooring?

Hi All,

I'm trying to set up a rendezvous dive with Dive BVI to meet us at The Dogs. Some in our party want to snorkel and others want to dive. According to Dive BVI there is no problem meeting us at a mooring and taking to divers off for a few hours of diving the area. My issue is that according to the park website, these day use moorings have a 90 minute time limit. They will be gone 3-4 hours. Dive BVI told us it's no problem to stay the whole time on the ball. The divers in our party are also the ones capable of moving the boat, I don't want to be stuck waiting for them if other boaters are mad that we are staying too long. Can anyone advise?

The dogs are often busy. Personally, I wouldn't take up a mooring ball there for that amount of time.

Why not have them pick you up at Scrub or Marina Cay? Boat can be on a dock where you wouldn't have to worry about moving it for any reason and you can use the dinghy to go over to diamond reef to snorkel. And this way you aren't taking up a mooring for an extended amount of time.

Maytrix,
That's exactly what I was thinking. I was surprised the dive company didn't think it was an issue. I certainly don't want to be inconsiderate. Thanks!

Highly recommend Diamond Reef too - your snorkelers won't be disappointed

The dive outfits do not think the rules apply to them. We saw a dive company, not named, yell at a guy to get off a mooring ball and it was a public ball, not a commercial ball, which was already being used by another dive company.

They may simply figure that the time of year you are going is quieter and it may not be an issue. And simple fact is, it may not. You could possible be there 4 hours and have a ball or two free the whole time. But the opposite could also happen.

There's no mooring police that will do anything about it, so it really is up to you. You CAN take a ball and remain there the whole time if you want. No one will stop you and odds are no one will even know. I just know its not something I'd do. And personally, I think if no one left aboard would be capable of moving the boat that it is better being in a better spot with that in mind.

Meet the dive company somewhere you can snorkel from the boat. They can meet you at or near marina cay. You can spend the day snorkeling diamond reef , wandering marina cay and scrub island.

I'm one of the non-divers and I could get us off the mooring no problem, but I don't have confidence that the other non-divers would be able to help get me on a different mooring ball if needed.
I like the idea of keeping the boat in the slip at Scrub while they dive. The only issue with that is Dive BVI does full day trip dives on Thursdays which doesn't work for us as we have a reservation at Leverick that evening. Of course, it can't be easy.

Try sail Caribbean divers

We've used dive BVI before, from Scrub and it's been a 3-4 hour dive. 2 dives. They aren't doing this anymore? We would leave in the morning and are back after lunch.

Hi Matt!
I was wrong. I based my info of what I saw offered on their website but Kat just called me back and said that's a different dive. They do offer one that fits our needs and keeps us in the slip. Yay!!!! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />

Glad to hear it, that's always a good way to go. That way you can spend the night before at Scrub and everyone can get to do what they want the next morning.

We did this last week and it worked great. I would add, talk to the harbor master about a late checkout when you arrive. Check out is 11 and they need time to plan for incoming boats. They were great to us about it.

I have often used dive companies in the BVI who pick up my divers at one mooring site and drop them off at another mooring site where we had moved to .When I do that, I try to move my boat to a place where it is closer or easier to their route home to make it easier for both parties and use the VHF.