TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums US VI and Puerto Rico Buck Island St. Thomas

Looking to spend a night on Buck Island when chartering catamaran from St. Thomas. I'd like to hear from anyone who has been there recently about the condition of the mooring balls after hurricanes. Is anchoring still prohibited? Are the balls that are present there for day boats and only available for our use when they have left? If so when do the day boats clear out typically and make them available? It appears Mouillage Cove would be more protected but I guess we could try to grab a ball in Turtle Cove and move around once dive/day boats leave. Thanks for any advice.

Mouillage Cove is much more protected. We were in there 6 weeks after Irma - we had it (and the entire USVI and BVI waters) all to ourselves and the balls were OK. Perhaps they have all since been replaced as they did at Christmas Cove. The day boats are mostly gone by 3 pm and you'll likely have the bay to yourself. Even in high season pre-Irma, I've always been able to find an empty ball midday.