What to Know Before Booking a BVI Sailing Vacation

BVI sailing is one of the best ways to experience the Virgin Islands! Forget about crowded hotels and resorts-charter a sailboat, yacht or catamaran, and experience the Virgin Islands on your own schedule. On a BVI sailing vacation, you can explore beautiful scenery, snorkel, swim, read and relax! Stay on the boat, or pull into harbors to experience what each island has to offer-on a BVI sailing vacation, the itinerary is up to you!

BVI Sailing: Boat Options

Most BVI sailing companies offer a range of yacht sizes to accommodate different groups-small sailing yachts, typically 30 to 50 ft, work well for groups of up to 8 adults. BVI sailing vacations are great for honeymooners, groups of adults, families, couples and more.

If you’re an experienced sailor, you may want to reserve a bareboat charter. On a bareboat charter, you sail the boat yourself, and the boat contains the bare essentials. Despite the name, most “bareboat” charters aren’t totally bare-the BVI sailing company should offer provisioning, gear for water activities and more.

Alternately, you can sail a crewed yacht charter. Great for those who are less experienced, a crewed yacht allows you to sit back, relax and let a professional handle the sailing! Crewed yachts are fully equipped, professionally maintained and crewed by a professional, licensed captain and chef.

BVI Sailing: The Islands

The major islands of the British Virgin Islands include: Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada and Jost Van Dyke. The capital, Road Town, is situated on Tortola, the largest island in the BVI. As is the largest and most populated island in the British Virgin Islands, Tortola is great for watersports, shopping, dining and sightseeing.

The three other major islands are great to explore on a BVI sailing vacation. Columbus named the Virgin Gorda (“fat virgin” in Spanish) in reference to a protruding mountain on the island. Anegada is the only reef-based island in the BVI, and Jost Van Dyke is known as “Barefoot Island.” The BVI also consists of approximately 50 smaller islands and cays. On a BVI sailing vacation, you can explore these small, uninhabited islands-people live on 15 of these islands.

The remaining islands in the Virgin Islands archipelago make up the U.S. Virgin Islands. The major islands include St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John.

BVI Sailing: Weather

The rainiest months, in order, are typically November, October, September, August and May. Temperatures are warm year-round, and steady trade winds make the Virgin Islands perfect for BVI sailing.