St. Thomas anchorages

We are beginning our charter next week and we are trying to decide where we should anchor for our first night on the water. I has to be on St. Thomas because more people are arriving the next day and need to be able to take a cab to where we are. We have it narrowed down to Lindbergh Bay, the bay where Abi's beach bar is or by Latitude 18 in Red Hook. Having never been to any of these anchorages before I would love any info you guys could give me. If any place is more "lively" than the others on a Wednesday then that would have a big influence on our decision - I'm sure we will all be craving a good beach bar. Since I don't think any of these places have mooring balls, which places have good overnight holding would also be a deciding factor. I appreciate any advice you guys can offer.

Congratulations you picked two rolly anchorages.
Lindbergh is rolly when the winds are a bit south and Red Hook is slammed by the wakes of the ferries.
I would anchor in CA the first night where there's plenty of bars and restaurants in dinghy range or grab a mooring ball at the anchorage near Caneel Bay on St John and meet your friends at one of the bars or restaurants in Cruz bay next to the ferry dock

The best option for this would be to go to Water Island and anchor overnight. Or hang out for the day and come back to the marina moorings for the overnight where teh restaurants in Frenchtown are open.

You can come back to the marina that night or the next day and pick up your additional guests here. We have eight moorings in front of the marina. You can simply dinghy in and have the cab drop them here.

The anchorage at Green Cay/Abi is not great holding and can be exposed. Until they put in their permanent moorings it is more of a day stop. It would be nearly impossible to get a cab to take your guests down that hill. It also would mean a rolly beach landing for luggage.

The beach at Linbergh Bay is also exposed and potentially rolly.

Lattitude 18's new beach bar will be limited hours and impossible to pick up guests via cab as the road into Lattitude 18 is closed due to storm damage.

Thanks for the advice sail445 and Captain Jay. That's exactly the kind of info I was looking for. I think our best option is to pick up a ball at Caneel Bay and dinghy over to Cruz Bay. I really wanted to try some anchorages where I've never been to but if it doesn't work it doesn't work.

I agree with Captain Jay.

That said.... If you wanted a longer sail you could go up to Christmas Cove (1 hour motor, 2 hour sail), Great St. James and then back to CA to pick your guests up in Frenchtown.

If you are sailing a mono, Caneel might not be your best bet either, as far as being rolly. This would also make your guests spend $30 on a taxi and then transfer to a ferry. I would stay in St.Thomas area. A ball at CYOA or a slip at Crown Bay would be your best options. Christmas Cove is awesome, one of our favorite anchorages. You will have to cook your own food

Sail2wind, we will be on a 50' cat so Caneel won't be a problem. Most of our group is arriving on the 28th and doing a sleep aboard. Some of our guests will be arriving around 3:45 on the 29th. Assuming we are done with our checkout by noon it won't be a problem to make it to Caneel at a reasonable time on the 29th. Thats what I think we have decided to do. Our late arriving guests will catch the 5:30 ferry to Cruz bay and we will meet them in one of the restaurants. Our plan for the 30th is to check in at Sopers then snorkel the Indians and overnight at either Nanny Cay or Norman. If we overnighted at Water Island the night before it would make for a very long day - it would be much easier if we overnighted at Caneel or Latitude 18. Besides, we will be at Water Island on our last night anyway. Since you guys are telling me that Latitude 18 isn't the best of anchorages and they have limited hours, I guess Caneel Bay it is. I would love to do Christmas Cove but my late arriving guests wouldn't be able to get there.

You could also get a skip at The marina in Red Hook lots of bars and restaurants open.

Thats not a bad idea Captain Jay. I'll run it by the group and see what they think.

If going to CruzBay from Caneel by dingy, especially after dark, have good flashlight(or 2 or 3) and remember PFDs for the trip.

And a hand-held VHF, in case your engine quits!