Must do's

Hello all! This is my first post in this forum, so let me start by thanking you for the wealth of information that I have aready received from your thoughtful posts. My wife and I are heading down in June with our two daughters (10 and 12) for our first bareboat adventure. We have traveled to St. John annually as a family trip and aleady have so many cherrished memories. On our last trip, we realized that most of the things we like to do are on the water, so after some discussion we decided to bareboat next (no captain). My uncle has had large offshore fishing boats for years, so I am comfortable driving the 38 powercat we are renting from MarineMax. We have also explored the BVI on private charters from St. John with Capt. Cleve (Local Flavor). He is the best by the way! My question for the forum requires you to put yourself in our shoes as an active family that likes a balance of fun family activities, snorkeling, partying and peaceful time with just the 4 of us. Beyond the norms for St. John day charters (Baths, bubbling pool, caves, indians, Jost), what are the must do's in the BVI? So far, the north sound, Guana, Cooper, and potentially Anegada are jumping out. I am trying to finalize a loose itenerary, so if you have must do's and top anchorages, I would enjoy your thoughts on both. We also tend to prefer less formal dining at places that have really good food. Thank you in advance for your replies!

You won't get it this trip, but in the future, book your time in the BVI early enough to catch a Micheal Beans show at Leverick. Your kids will turn into instant Pirates and love you forever for doing it.

We like mooring at Bitter End, renting a Hobie Cat in the afternoon, and having pizza in the evening at Crawl Pub.

If you haven't yet snorkeled over the Rhone, that's a fun activity.

If you are feeling really adventurous, you could do a discover scuba dive. Sounds like the girls are great in the water so I'd bet they'd take to it faster than you guys. This would take most of a day, since you would need to do a short lesson, shallow water practice, and then the real thing.

We have 11 and 13 boys that have made several trips in the past on a Marine Max 484. Their favorite stops are Peter Island, Leverick Bay, and Scrub Island but you will find the kids will have a fantastic time wherever you stop. I would also recommend Little Jost with the bubbly pool although that has become more crowded in recent years.

Steve,
If you like:
-fun family activities
-snorkeling
-partying
-peaceful time

I recommend visiting the BVIs..

LOL
I guess what I am trying to say is regardless of what you do you will complete your list above.

I guess if you spent more than a minute on this site you have learned the following and since writing about it never gets old... I'll rehash some highlights: party for a family like yours would either be Friday night at Leverick Bay, a full moon at Trellis, most days at White Bay JVD. Also, CGB... and if your girls need braids in their hair (<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Doh.gif" alt="" />) Marsha is there and my girls love her so we go... the dolphins led us into the anchorage last year.

For peace... it is in random spots peppered throughout the BVIs... but a sure thing is Cow Wreck for sun down. So rent a jeep/sidekick on Anegada so you can venture there...

Cane Garden is nice as well. Nice beach and bars and plenty of mooring's. There is also an old rum distillery you can tour - Callwoods (it think it has been there since the 1700's). As Kryssa noted below, we are doing the scuba this year. We have two boys 13 and 15 that can't wait to try out scuba diving. We are using Sail Caribean Divers at their Cooper Island location. We will be sailing 5/30 to 6/8 - maybe we will cross paths. We'll be on a 46 mono - named Xenia.

Don't forget to check out the CBG webcam post to see a real time shot of Cane Garden.

That's CGB not CBG of course.

Honestly, there is a daily " must do" anywhere and everywhere in the islands while on vacation.

Enjoy where you are. Don't be wishing you were somewhere else, or wondering if somewhere else would be more fun, or hurrying to get " somewhere else".

Every minute is a now. Live in the now.

very true - everywhere you are - that's where the party is.

Your daughters are old enough that they might enjoy geocaching. I know there are a couple on Anegada and I'm sure there are others around the BVI...

We've just returned from our 3rd charter with our daughters, now 12 and 10. Highlights are always Bubbly Pool on JVD, snorkeling Cistern Point at Cooper Island, and Norman. They really love Norman and jumping off the Willy T (we go for early lunch before it gets too crowded). As for North Sound, Leverick is great, but we also like staying over by Saba Rock and getting them onto the beach at Prickly Pear. Beach trips on Anegada over to Cow Wreck are fun for everyone. We also added Scuba Certification in on this trip (did classroom and pool sessions up north and referral dives down there). This was a huge addition to the trip, but not a small commitment from a time and financial standpoint. Still, watching my 10 year old figure out Scuba diving was pretty cool. The truth is, there are very few places down there they have not enjoyed. The way we try to do it with the kids is wake up, light breakfast, get going early and get to our days destination by 11-12. Quick swim, then lunch on board followed by whatever fun thing we are going to do (hike to bubbly pool, snorkel cistern point, whatever), then chill on and around the boat until 630 dinner ashore because EVERYONE is usually too cooked to go any later than that. Its really a great way to do a family trip, and I found this last trip to be the most satisfying yet because 12 and 10 are great ages for boats. Hope you have an amazing time!
-pk

Thank you all for replying! It sounds like Anegada is worth it. We have the boat for 10 nights, so we should be able to fit it in. How far in advance should I rent the car if we plan to arrive mid-morning? Can you get them that day in case we alter our itenerary and go on a different day? I have also read that it is fun to rent a car for the day on VG. Any thoughts on this are also appreciated!

On VG Nick at Leverick can order a car for you..Dean Wheatley rents cars on Anegada..someone else can post his #...best to book a little in advance..

Email: DWJeep@hotmail.com
Telephone: 284-495-9677 (office)
284-544-3703 (cell)
284-545-0118 (cell)

Dean & Henni's info above, would also recommend their 3 D & H Sunshine Villas.

Thank you! Has anyone stayed overnight in Guana (White Bay) using the new moorings? I am seeing conflicting information about being on the beach - even on the south end. This seems like a great stop if it is allowed. We would not approach the resort area.