We are making our first trip over to Anegada this year and didn't know how many mooring balls they have in the area or how early we should arrive to catch one?
Also thought about renting scooters for the 6 of us to get around for the day or should we just grab a taxi?

Thanks!

Mooring balls are usually not a issue. If they are full the holding to anchor is excellent. I would think about a jeep instead of scooters. Scooters can be hazardous to your vacation and probably more money.
G

My wife and I rented a scooter when we were there in June. It was fun while we were on pavement but as soon as you hit the sand it was very hard going with the little front tire and a lot of the roads are deep sand.

We will probably not be renting a scooter there again.

Scooters are a blast, highly recommend! Just be aware that they will run you between $45-60/day, depending on how busy they are. Or you can rent a car, minivan or safari truck for about $85/day. So if you are in a large group, it will definitely cost a lot less to go that direction. The only reason I would recommend a cab was if you wanted someone to give you a guided tour of the island or something like that. But it's not a big island and a map comes with your scooter or vehicle rental.

What time of year are you going? We've never had an issue finding a mooring ball. We generally leave NS near first light and arrive by 11ish, though. Don't see any reason to arrive any later than that. We don't mind eating breakfast underway and we want to have as much time at Anegada as possible since we love it so much. You definitely do want to arrive with the sun high in the sky. Apparently, this has been a busy winter/spring season. It very much depends when you go. I have definitely seen the mooring field very full and it should be noted that not all balls have adequate depth for even a shallow mono. We saw someone hard aground on a trip about a year ago on one of the balls closer in to the beach.

Excited for you, you will love Anegada!!

We were there several weeks ago and most of our group did use scooters, mostly to go from the harbor to Loblolly bay and it was a lot of fun. One member of our group was not comfortable riding so she cabbed over to loblolly and met us there so that's an option if not all members of your group want to ride. If your group has some experience with either scooters or motorcyles you'll be fine (scooters we were on had automatic transmissions - no clutch). However, the roads are not the best with road work and trenches cut across the road every few miles (watch for red road markers) and a small amount of off-roading may be necessary depending on where you go. As far as mooring balls don't think you'll have a problem, but we left early from Leverick Bay, followed the line of boats going to Anegada which made navigation a non issue and got settled on a mooring ball early just to be sure.

We rented scooters one year and ended up running off the road after taking a right turn to quicky. I went over the handlebars and ended up cracking a rib. The rest of the vacation was VERY painful. I have stuck to cars ever since!

We rented scooters and we had a blast! I was the only one who had never driven a motorized 2 wheel vehicle before. She gave me a 5 minute lesson, had me go around the roundabout twice and told me at least 5 times that I did not need to keep up with my friends! It was raining off and on that day and there were huge puddles which just added to the fun.

Thanks everyone...probably take the cab route since we will be spending the day there I'm sure adult beverages will be consumed.
June can't get here soon enough!

Much of the road on Anegada is rough.

REALLY rough.

Besides the cost, scooters leave you with little protection in a collision (albeit quite unlikely in Anegada) or in a spill (actually pretty likely on those roads).

We rented two scooters in Honolulu some years ago. We ended up on the freeway (bad idea) and were carefully making our way back into the city when one of them blew a front tire. We waited for nearly two hours for help.

A flat tire on the back roads of Anegada would be no fun.

I say, go with the jeep.

Do the jeep unless you have experience riding in the dirt. Arrive by around noon and get a mooring. Anchor to the east of the balls. To the south has poor holding.

You will probably only go to Loblolly and Cow Wreck. (That you would need a car to get to.) So taking cabs is not too bad.

We plan to rent scooters again. The dirt roads, puddles, etc, was all part of the fun. My youngest is currently quizzing us to see who will go faster - Dad or Mom - to figure out who he wants to ride with. (We vetoed the older brother who he rightly thinks would be most exciting to ride with.)

Just responding to the comment about a blown tire on the back roads of Anegada being no fun. No doubt that would be a bummer, but not that big a deal either.

One trip, we had one where the battery died. We left the dead one on the side of the road and my wife hopped on with me. We drove to Cow Wreck, grabbed a beer and put in an order of conch fritters before calling Anjuliena's. Within 20 minutes, they pulled up with a fresh scooter for us, asked where we left the dead one and that was that.

Not too rough!

Small world, I rented a scooter in Honolulu, ended up on the expressway accidently, no fun but at least no flat!

I would not rent a scooter anywhere in the BVI's ..I have seen so many accidents here on Tortola..as for Anegada..ask Walker about his scooter experience! Back in the sixties I went all over the UK on a Lambretta but that was a different time on decent roads..

I go with Manpot on this. I have seen way to many vacations ruined by scooter accidents. Broken wrists are the most common. Ribs probably next. They are however fun!
G

What is really silly here on very hilly Tortola is scooters being rented to a couple jointly weighing over 400 lbs..I have literally seen the scooter run out of steam on a corner and both of them fall into the bushes..a fortunate soft landing compared to the road....!!!At least Anegada is flat but soft sand and rocks are hard on a scooters small wheels..

Totally agree regarding Tortola. You could not pay me enough to get on a scooter there. Interested to hear about Walker's story. I mean, you definitely need to keep an eye out for traffic both in front and behind so you don't get run over by a cab driver or a tourist in a safari bus staring at the flamingos instead of watching where they are going, but Anegada is flat, the roads are for the most part plenty wide and there just aren't that many cars on the road. I've really never thought it was that bad at all. And I'm the kind of guy that HATES taking dumb risks, especially when on vacation.

Anyway, if you're not up for the scooter thing, or even think you're not, probably a good idea not to tempt fate, just rent a car. No doubt there!

And watch out for the cows! I was riding up front with (one of the sons from the ARH - don't remember any more) and he passed by two different cows way too close. So I asked who owns them and he said nobody, unless you hit one and then everyone on the island owns it and wants money! Had he ever hit one, yep...

I don't think the risk on Anegada is the same as Tortola. On Tortola you risk death. On Anegada you risk your vacation. The scooters hit a soft spot in the sand and you go over the handle bars. Broken wrist follows. I did however see one enterprising person diving at the dogs with a cast on his wrist after a Anegada scooter crash. Quite a lash up of glad bags and tape to waterproof the cast!

As someone who almost had two head on crashes with scooters on the wrong side of the road stick with the cab if you plan on drinking. Fortunately our brakes worked. The sand roads were rougher this year due to all the rain.

I rented one our last trip. It was fun and inexpensive. Only problem was when we went to Cow Wreck the sand road was not any fun. We went down one time no real injuries my wife bruised her thigh and me my leg. Our next trip I'll rent something with 4 wheels. I don't want to take a chance on screwing up our trip. Also had a great dinner at Neptunes Treasure and a fun dingy ride back to the resturant after dark to get a couple of Pam's deserts. They were the best! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />