St Thomas to St Thomas (BVI itinerary)

A 7-night crewed yacht charter that starts and ends in St Thomas and spends five of its nights in the British Virgin Islands. St Thomas has more direct flights from the US mainland than Tortola, and a number of the yachts we offer are based in the US Virgin Islands or pick up in St Thomas and St John as well as in Tortola, which makes this the simplest way into the BVI for many of our guests. Starting on the American side means clearing into the BVI on the way out, clearing out of the BVI at the end of the week and clearing back into the USVI; the crew handle the paperwork, it takes an hour or so each time and normally goes smoothly. Everyone aboard needs a passport, US citizens included. The route runs east through the Virgin Islands National Park on St John, across to Norman Island, Cooper Island and Virgin Gorda, back along the north side to Jost Van Dyke and home to St John and St Thomas. The longest leg is about 25 nautical miles; most are an hour or two.

Across the Narrows to West End, Tortola, where the yacht clears into the British Virgin Islands at Soper’s Hole; the crew take the passports ashore and the clearance usually takes under an hour. From there it is a short crossing of the Sir Francis Drake Channel to Norman Island, the uninhabited island said to be the model for Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. The yacht anchors or picks up a mooring in The Bight, the large sheltered bay on its north side. The Willy T, a converted ship moored in the bay, is the floating bar of the BVI and a drink on board is part of the week. The snorkelling is at the Caves at the western point, three sea caves where pirates are supposed to have hidden their treasure, and at the Indians, four rock pinnacles off Pelican Island half a mile away, with the best reef on this side of the channel. Night in The Bight.

An hour north-east to Virgin Gorda and The Baths, the granite boulders the size of houses piled along the south-western shore, with pools, tunnels and grottoes between them and white sand beaches at either end. From the yacht the visit is by swimming in from the mooring, through the boulders and out at Devil’s Bay; from the dock at Spanish Town it is a taxi to the top of the trail and a walk down. Either way it is half a day, and best done early, before the day boats arrive. The afternoon is at anchor off Spanish Town or on the way round to the north of the island. Dinner is at Coco Maya on the beach at Spanish Town, on board on the beach, or at the new marina at Biras Creek in North Sound, if the yacht carries on round in the afternoon. Night off Spanish Town or in North Sound.

The longest passage of the week, west along the north coast of Tortola, and a sail if the yacht has sails, with the trade wind behind. The stop on the way is Sandy Spit, a hump of white sand with a few palm trees and nothing else, off the east end of Jost Van Dyke, where the yacht anchors for a swim and lunch. In the afternoon she moves round to Great Harbour, the main bay and village of Jost Van Dyke, an island of about 300 people with no traffic lights. The evening is at Foxy’s, the beach bar at the end of the harbour that Foxy Callwood opened in 1968 and still sings in; his New Year’s Eve party is the biggest in the Caribbean. Night in Great Harbour.

Everyone aboard clears back into the United States in person in the morning, at customs and immigration in Cruz Bay on St John or in Charlotte Amalie. Disembarkation is at Yacht Haven Grande or Red Hook, where you boarded, with the airport 15 to 30 minutes away. Afternoon flights give time for Charlotte Amalie itself, the old Danish trading town with the alleys of shops between Main Street and the waterfront, or for the beach at Magens Bay on the north side of St Thomas.