BVI Charter

[nimrod1230]

Looking to bareboat in the BVI's next early spring. Have been with Moorings, Footloose and Sunsail in the past but would welcome recommendations of other companies to look at. Any tips on saving money on flights and transfers would also be useful though with scheduled flights I suspect prices are pretty much fixed.

 

[Moonshining]

Looking to bareboat in the BVI's next early spring. Have been with Moorings, Footloose and Sunsail in the past but would welcome recommendations of other companies to look at. Any tips on saving money on flights and transfers would also be useful though with scheduled flights I suspect prices are pretty much fixed.

Worth looking at BVI Yacht Charters, TMM and Horizon.

 

[Whiskey Bravo]

Worth looking at BVI Yacht Charters, TMM and Horizon.

Bad experience with Horizon who will charge the earth for anything, including labour costs to come and fix 'their' boat when it was faulty. Over many years and charters we've never experienced that. And they didn't say anything about charging until the end of the charter with the taxi waiting to take us to the airport and therefore no time to argue. Thay also insist you 'rent' a mobile phone from them at more than cost price [$15]and then charged us $100 when it got wet. Avoid if possible or wrap the yacht in bubble wrap.

 

[Jeannius]

TMM. My boat was with them for 6 years so I know them well. Look after charterers very well.

There are no guaranteed easy or cheap ways to get to the BVI. Just keep looking and when you see a price you are happy with then book it. No need to rush into it though unless you are going Xmas/New Year. I've never failed to get a flight even booking only a couple of weeks before departure.

 

[FistralG]

Look at latesail.com for discounts on charter prices.
Use airmiles or similar to save money on flights.
I did that 2 years ago and got 7 nights in a 44' Cat with air con for under £3000. I wasn't the latest model and not everything worked but perfectly seaworthy and we had a fantastic week's sailing.
The only hassle was because the boat wasn't registered in the BVI's we had to pay a higher cruising tax than we'd been led to believe but it wasn't a deal breaker.

 

[Moonshining]

Bad experience with Horizon who will charge the earth for anything, including labour costs to come and fix 'their' boat when it was faulty. Over many years and charters we've never experienced that. And they didn't say anything about charging until the end of the charter with the taxi waiting to take us to the airport and therefore no time to argue. Thay also insist you 'rent' a mobile phone from them at more than cost price [$15]and then charged us $100 when it got wet. Avoid if possible or wrap the yacht in bubble wrap.

I've been very happy with them. We had an exhaust problem during our first charter with them. Two guys immediately came over in a RIB to check it out and do some temporary repairs, they then returned early next morning with a replacement manifold. They knocked something (can't remember how much) off the bill to cover the inconvenience.

 

[Greg2]

I posted a week or so ago for some tips. We are booked for the BVI back end of Oct with Sunsail. Got a package with flights that we thought was reasonable for two weeks (it was an offer on their website). No idea how good they are but spoken with a couple who have been with them and they were very happy.

 

[photodog]

I've been very happy with them. We had an exhaust problem during our first charter with them. Two guys immediately came over in a RIB to check it out and do some temporary repairs, they then returned early next morning with a replacement manifold. They knocked something (can't remember how much) off the bill to cover the inconvenience.

+1

Entirely happy with horizon.

Had a problem with the forsail furling drum... Entirely my fault as it turns out... Blokey came around in a rib... Sorted it out... No charge.

Never got a charge for the mobile phone.

Good clean boat... In better shape than our previous sunsail or moorings boats... Nice base with a pool and a beach... Nice shops and a decent cafe.

Good service from British owners...

Would recomend.

Mooring was also good... Though the boat was not as nice..

Sunsail was adequate... The staff were not as good at the base...

Sunsails service to sort problems was also good... Though if the boat had been in better shape There would not have been any problems...

 

[KellysEye]

Footloose are part of the Moorings group and have all the old boats, I wouldn't touch them. Horizon is worth looking at but as said go to www.latesail.com. They guarantee not to be beaten on price.