After three years of planning, Scott and I finally are heading to the British Virgin Islands. Thanks to the pandemic, our bareboat charter was postponed three times since 2020. We could have taken the trip in 2021, but the entry & quarantine requirements were too restrictive. Finally, a few months ago, the BVI government changed the requirements and removed the quarantine.
What Charter Company Did We Choose?
When we decided to do a bareboat charter, we wanted only a powerboat. That left us two options in the BVI, Marine Max and The Moorings. I reached out to both companies with inquiries and ironically I never heard back from Marine Max after a few attempts. So we chose The Moorings. Since our crew was only two couples, we picked the Leopard 433 PC.
I reserved everything online and spoke to our vacation specialist, primarily via email. When our original charter was postponed, The Moorings gave us a credit instead of refunding our money. In fact, a refund was never an option. However, they did lock in our pricing, which was great because the prices did go up significantly.
Let’s Talk Costs
A lot of people have asked us about the costs, so let’s break down the trip. I should mention that once you book an inquiry, The Moorings will send you a full quote before you pay. Our invoice looked like this:
- 5 Nights $6839 (reg $8000)
- Sleep Aboard $1087
- VSIR Contribution $8
- Damage Insurance $345
- Fuel $325 (we chose the fuel package so we wouldn’t have to fuel upon return)
- Wi-Fi $125 (necessary to take the proctored covid tests)
- BVI National Park Permit $25
- Paddle Board Rental $140
- Inverter $30
- Winter Cruising Tax $120
Obviously you can see that things add up quickly. We had originally booked the Mariner Inn at the base for $300/night, but then our flight was scheduled to arrive later in the day on Friday and we wouldn’t be able to catch the ferry in time. As a result, we ended up reserving a room at The Windward Passage hotel in Charlotte Amalie, that The Moorings recommended.
Provisions & Extras
You have a few options for ordering provisions. You can order directly from The Moorings, you can use an outside source (click here for a list) or you can provision yourself at Rite Way.
Not knowing when our provisions would arrive to the boat and not having a way to store our perishables, we chose to have Moorings do our provisioning. They have a great portal and the prices were similar to what you would expect (and some were cheaper). They do offer a “starter kit” for $110, but after looking at the list, it included items we would never use like ketchup, mustard, etc. Our group chose to purchase what we wanted a la carte.
The boat did come with snorkel fins, but if you wanted snorkel masks or anything else, you had to order those as an extra. We ordered a paddle board from The Moorings and then some water toys from BVI Water Toys. Again, we were able to order everything online.
Testing & Portals
Just like last year, we had to take a covid test and upload to a portal. This year, was a bit more complicated. For starters, Scott and I flew to St. Thomas before arriving to the British Virgin Islands. We took a covid home proctored test five days before we arrived. The proctored process was super easy and convenient. After 30 minutes we uploaded our results to the USVI Travel Portal and waited for our approval. Another thing to note, is my first test was not usable. The adhesive was missing and they would not allow me to use it. Luckily, we had ordered lots of extras, so it was not a big deal.
If you use the Emed tests, you will get your test results via a pdf. That pdf will be password protected. It’s very important that you print a copy as a pdf (not save as) and rename it, before you upload it to the portal. My first submission to the USVI travel portal was denied because my test was not accessible. Once approved, we received a green QRCode allowing us entry into the territory.
On top of that, the British Virgin Islands required a negative covid test 48 hours prior to arrival and we were told they would not accept a home test. We found a local lab in Seattle that gave us our results in 15 minutes. There is no portal for the BVI, you simply need to bring your negative test results with you when you go through customs. The British Virgin Islands also had testing available at the airport and ferry terminals for $65/pp.
It’s Time to Leave for the British Virgin Islands
Tune in next week to see how our arrival process was for both the British Virgin Islands and The Moorings. Our goal for our blog and vlog, is to help other travelers using the lessons we learned during our first bareboat charter experience. As we have also mentioned, we have big changes coming in our personal lives, so be sure to subscribe and follow us on social media.
As always, thank you for following our journey. You can subscribe to our YouTube Channel (link below) and follow us on social @BoatingJourney. Cheers, Scott and Ally