TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Few questions for our upcoming trip...

I hope everyone is well! We are headed down for a few weeks in the 2nd half of May, and I'm hopeful that you all have some thoughts on the following:

1. We really like grabbing a ball in Kelly's Cove (Norman) because it is calm in there in the summer and the snorkeling is pretty good. We also like Long Bay, VG for similar reasons (we cook on the boat these nights). I've always wondered about Little Harbour, Peter, but I recognize that most of the boats are charter boats and they rear tie to the shore. What are your thoughts on this anchorage? Also, we are comfortable anchoring after 10+ charters, but we have never rear tied. For those who have done it, is it worth the effort? Last, with all the charter boats in there throwing scraps overboard, I wonder if there are large baracuda in there under the boats. My wife and daughters don't like it when they are right under the back of the boat, so this would actually affect things for us.

2. How is the restaurant in the new Peter Island resort? I saw Matt's notes about staying on the dock, which is appealing. However, it would add to the experience if the restaurant is worth it that night. We like good food, but we are turned off by overly expensive prices. For example, Wonky Dog is not cheap, but it is totally worth it to us. We also love Hendos. However, we are not a $100 per plate family.

3. Last, we typically go in the 2nd half of June. However, due to my daughters' summer activities, we are moving the trip up a month. I realize the weather is difficult to predict, but what has your experience been with weather and crowds in late May if you have visited during this time of the year?

Thank you so much for any replies!
Steve

Little Harbor is getting (or already has) a mooring field, which might make it more difficult to anchor with a stern line as boats have done.

I don't think barracuda hiding under boats is in expectation of scraps, it's hunting behavior.

Peter Island has two restaurants -- one fancier, the other more casual. In the rebuild they swapped their locations. Their menus are online, but I can't get a direct link. You have to go to peterisland.com, click on the 3 horizontal bars at the top right, then click DINING.

The fancier restaurant has a dress code in the evening. It's explained on the web site.

On our most recent trip (2025) we ate onboard while at Peter, so I can't comment on the food. We always enjoyed it in the past, but that's going back to 2017 and earlier.

Dan

Thank you! I found the menus. For some reason, I thought they didn't have the prices, but they do, and it seams reasonable overall.

Regarding Little Harbour, someone said that the charter captains immediately cut out the moorings when they installed them last year, but maybe this wasn't true or they have been reinstalled. Does anyone know?

Regarding the barracuda, I heard that they parked under the boats because the charter boats cleaned their fish and threw the discarded parts overboard. Regardless, my wife and daughters don't like them under there. One year, I was out snorkeling in Kelly's Cove, and my daughters wanted to get rid of a big one under the boat. So, they took the paddleboard paddle (black paddle), and they started splashing it in the water from above to scare him off. Guess what, the barracuda bit the paddle - hard enough that he held on when for a second when they pulled it up! They were going nuts when I got back to the boat, and sure enough, there were some pretty nasty gashes in the plastic paddle. Lesson learned - splashing triggers a hunting instinct for them!

Anyway, thank you for your help!

For Little Harbour, I've always wanted to try this as well, but I think you'll find most bareboats don't have long enough lines. Perhaps you can arrange for that before you leave the marina. You'll need to stern tie as that's how everyone always anchors. Sometimes a larger crewed yacht drops anchor in the deeper water towards the middle of the bay - 50 feet or so. I've heard it's called Unemployment Bay, as that's where the crewed yachts go to hang out when they don't have charter guests aboard.

Little Harbour at Peter Island is indeed predominantly larger crewed charter boats. Some rafted together, no issues with them there. Looked like lots of hugs, shared food, drinks etc. I was told they nicely enforce quiet hour after 10pm.

Med moor (not “rear”!) isn’t difficult, just takes practice and experience. And somebody to tie the knots and get wet! Drop the anchor first!
Matt is right, need 200 feet of line port and starboard. Anchor drop is much more than 50', more like 150+.

I didn’t see any mooring balls there 10-11March. Did see day boats land in the corner on the beach, and a couple of smaller boats anchor near the beach too. None were there overnight.

We saw many large sea turtles and tarpon. Kids were swimming looking at the turtles. Not sure about cudas. I heard there is the Occasional porpoises too. Nice place, we will probably be back in April with other friends.

Confirming other responses: Little Harbor on Peter is referred to as "unemployment bay" by the crewed yachts. Everyone anchors stern-too there because you tend to swing a lot in the swirling winds (usually very light). In my experience, stern-too (or med-moor) there can be tricky. It's important to drop anchor such that you have enough chain to get close enough to shore for your stern lines to reach. I don't think most bareboats have long enough lines, but I could be wrong. One also has to be careful how to tie off on shore as the rocks are sharp and I've seen lines chafe through. Watch out for sea urchins close to shore!

Mostly we see tarpon hanging out under boats. Barracudas are loners, so you typically only see one. Tarpon are attracted to the underwater lights many boats have these days....and maybe expecting food scraps. They are big fish, totally harmless, and will keep their distance if you jump in. Its actually fun to snorkel with them at night.

That said, Little Harbor is one of our favorite spots. Its calm, quiet, beautiful, nice snorkeling along the rocks. Definitely worth the extra effort.

You guys are great - thank you for the feedback! I'll continue to think about this and talk to the Moorings about the length of the rope they provide for the other anchor in the front compartment of the PCs. We like a safe challenge, and we like trying new things each year, but I also need to be cognizant of the fact that my wife and youngest daughter struggle with us getting ourselves into any hairy situations on these boat trips.

If we were to try this, are there limited "good" spots (i.e., should we get there early in the day)?

I would target early afternoon and allow yourself an hour to pull off the maneuver. Easy enough to swing by and have a look and if its too crowded, Great Harbor is an easy plan b. For myself, I would not attempt it with an anxious crew.

We've done Little Harbor many times in our monohull. We used our 150-foot 3/4" spare anchor rode. It is a bit of work. Worth noting, you need good screens as there are a lot of black flies. Breezes are light.

Cheers, RickG

Again, great info and suggestions, thanks everyone for replying!