Appleyard
Well-Known Member
Planning a couple of weeks next year .... can't decide between Moorings or Sunsail...Can I draw on the experience of the forum to help make the choice? Cheers
Chartering in the BVI
- Thread starter Appleyard
- Start date
bobupanddown
Well-Known Member
Unfortunately Moorings and Sunsail are now the same company but having said that I have had several trips to the BVI's with Sunsail and had a great time. Sunsail is usually cheaper than moorings especially if you take advantage of their special offers (usually 20-30% off). These are quite often difficult to find on the website but a quick phonecall will usually bring results.
Mooring boats always look to be better though!
Mooring boats always look to be better though!
sonic
Well-Known Member
Give Ryan Bird at Cosmos Yachting a call we have chartered in BVI this year and he got us a great price. Did Croatia last year with him and he beat all the competition.
Moonshining
Well-Known Member
It's definitely worth looking beyond Moorings and Sunsail. There are several second tier charter companies who can be a bit less corporate and usually a fair bit cheaper.
tcm
...
I have done sunsail a lot and wandered around moorings close up tho not rented from them meself. If money no problem probly moorings, but it is not s simple as that...
I agree with thos who suggest looking at others altho i spose that wasn't the question...
Moorings is corporatey americanish service yessir nosir...and Tortola is where they started, i think. I beleive they are still run sepretly from sunsail so not the same thing or outfit at all. You can expect quite decent boats, good kit and so on.
Sunsail is almost 100% english customers and for many (esp on flotilla) that tips the balance. It's now (for the past ten? years) part of First Choice tho where the CEo goes on telly to say his customers don't mind paying "a lot". Hm. well, okay...
The normal deal with sunsail is you take the fligt (air 2000) as well, and altho the flights are cheap they are bit blimmin grim. okay, not utterly grim but grimmer than most transat flights. I am a well known cheap yorkshire git but blimey it's all a bit squeezey. Try and get the premium class which begins to be a bit closer to Virgin bog standard.
I believe sunsail's air2000 still lands st thomas and then urg clear into the US takes ages, then massive taxis that pretend they haven't been paid(they have) to a boat ferry wait for everyone else 2 hours, then 1 hour to the british virgin islands. Actually the boat ferry is ok - a fast whizz straight up through BVI to the base at east end of tortola. You need small Usdollars to buy things, and US dollars all the way is fine.
But again, air2000/sunsail is good and bad. Bad cos it's a bit poxy plane, but good cos it's cheap AND you can clear in to BVI actually at the marina nowadays AND the plane will wait if your connexion /buses to airport is late.
Pricewise sunsail should be cheaper.
Generally,most sunsail buyers are solentish on their trip of a lifetime thing, or just winter family hol, and a ten berth boat is filled with ten people. Urg. Yet the place is hot, so you are not ok sharing cabins (no, praps even with swmbo!) cos it is phew just so not and you are jetlagged. You will win some space on the boat cos the best place to sleep is in a mossie net (buy one each from camping shop, it's all you need at night) and sleep on deck/cockpit, but i used to get 4 cabin boat and just have four of us in it, altho that is praps a bit ott...
To be fair, sunsail in bvis has better equipment and less manky boats than sunsail in europe, and is miles better than in the solent where it is gag awful. This is partly cos you are more likley to take wife and kids, and also (i reckon)cos of Moorings upping the game where yanks expect a bit better than english public school types good at roughing it who just love the place cos it's sunny.
The sunsail base itself at eastern end of tortola island is almost "their" marina (perhaps it is?) and has nice pool and bar too, so quite paradise really. Moorings is in a bigger marina at nanny cay, more going on but a bit airless for first and last nights imho.
I'd go sunsail with loaded options - yes to the newer boat, yes to premium class and so on. I think that could be even better than "standard" moorings.
Bearin mind that bvi's is a bit er rough anyway. So in general the population are slowish on service and all the old ccars are just leftlying about. It's only even remotely posh in private resorts, and even then it is posh but the staff are the same slow laid-back types whocan't do enough for you - bcause they are half asleep and/or a bit idle.
Against this backdrop there is no level of bareboat charter that is gonna make it godwonderfully luxurious which is a bit how moorings pretend it's gonna be: you anchor the boat and tender ashore in blue water to beachy restuarant. And what's for lunch eh? It's same as always innit -chicken caesar salad or burgers or (perhaps)unlikley-ambitious fish/lobster that might be a week old. Hence cheeseburger safest, again.
Note that aircon is worth having - but not if the boat has no generator else it only works in marinas. Catamaran worth considering for better (non-rolly) sleep as most nights are at anchor/mooring buoy. Tho more thrashy saily fun on mono. But the cats will overtake.
Yes, there are other options, though you need to get the flight sorted yerself then the boat - there are loads of boats, not many flights. The whol thiong (incldiing LIAT connexions) is entirey doable by internet of course.
Moorings are v helpful btw with booking flights and so on.
Nicish option flightwise wd be eg Virgin to antigua, then LIAT to antigua on the bus-plane which might stop a few places on the way. This lands at beef island airport, 5ish minutes taxi ride from the sunsail base, 15 max from moorings.
NOTE if antigua, there are loads of flights into antigua and for most of these distant-europe-linked islands the big planes land in the afternoon all within a short time: you want to arrive on the first (or early) one in so definitely not the BA flight like I did once never again which is the last one in of four and hence three planeloads of people are ahead of you and the queue into immigration stretches back 500yards to the tarmac.
Other options: if you are self-sufficient, realised that the flotillas go slightly to the wrong places cos they get free food for flot leaders, and a bit wimpish protective of their boats and ban youfrom the only-slightly-dificult places...then loads of options all the way from cheap Conch charters "the cheapest deals on keels!" to rental of individual boats. BUT a slight downside of these is that if anythingis wrong with the boatyou gotta hope they fixit or just live with it. Whereas sunsail or moorings have a dozen or moe of the same boat so could just swap you to anothr boat quickish; so check autopilot etc and spec of your sunsail/moorings boa tis what you wanted/ordered asap, don't unpack and ask for a different boat.
There again- because sunsail/moorings have such massive market dominance their boats get used/thrashed more and hence (in sunsail) the "debriefing" where hey go thru the boat as tho checking you havebroghtit back in onepiece, hm, tick, yes, tick....however aftr about three years each with debriefings i toldem bollx to debriefing, this isn't a debrief this is me helping you shortcut your maintenance, tighten the rig for crissakes and other obvious things, i'm off to the bar for last night drinks, and they said ok fair enough.
Finally, if you have your wits about you, there is healthy competition: so i know of people who have priced up both moorings same sort of boat as sunsail and played one off against the other. They won't chop too much ( and over xmas is top money) but they will cut a bit to get the order off those other lot.
It is a fab time.
I agree with thos who suggest looking at others altho i spose that wasn't the question...
Moorings is corporatey americanish service yessir nosir...and Tortola is where they started, i think. I beleive they are still run sepretly from sunsail so not the same thing or outfit at all. You can expect quite decent boats, good kit and so on.
Sunsail is almost 100% english customers and for many (esp on flotilla) that tips the balance. It's now (for the past ten? years) part of First Choice tho where the CEo goes on telly to say his customers don't mind paying "a lot". Hm. well, okay...
The normal deal with sunsail is you take the fligt (air 2000) as well, and altho the flights are cheap they are bit blimmin grim. okay, not utterly grim but grimmer than most transat flights. I am a well known cheap yorkshire git but blimey it's all a bit squeezey. Try and get the premium class which begins to be a bit closer to Virgin bog standard.
I believe sunsail's air2000 still lands st thomas and then urg clear into the US takes ages, then massive taxis that pretend they haven't been paid(they have) to a boat ferry wait for everyone else 2 hours, then 1 hour to the british virgin islands. Actually the boat ferry is ok - a fast whizz straight up through BVI to the base at east end of tortola. You need small Usdollars to buy things, and US dollars all the way is fine.
But again, air2000/sunsail is good and bad. Bad cos it's a bit poxy plane, but good cos it's cheap AND you can clear in to BVI actually at the marina nowadays AND the plane will wait if your connexion /buses to airport is late.
Pricewise sunsail should be cheaper.
Generally,most sunsail buyers are solentish on their trip of a lifetime thing, or just winter family hol, and a ten berth boat is filled with ten people. Urg. Yet the place is hot, so you are not ok sharing cabins (no, praps even with swmbo!) cos it is phew just so not and you are jetlagged. You will win some space on the boat cos the best place to sleep is in a mossie net (buy one each from camping shop, it's all you need at night) and sleep on deck/cockpit, but i used to get 4 cabin boat and just have four of us in it, altho that is praps a bit ott...
To be fair, sunsail in bvis has better equipment and less manky boats than sunsail in europe, and is miles better than in the solent where it is gag awful. This is partly cos you are more likley to take wife and kids, and also (i reckon)cos of Moorings upping the game where yanks expect a bit better than english public school types good at roughing it who just love the place cos it's sunny.
The sunsail base itself at eastern end of tortola island is almost "their" marina (perhaps it is?) and has nice pool and bar too, so quite paradise really. Moorings is in a bigger marina at nanny cay, more going on but a bit airless for first and last nights imho.
I'd go sunsail with loaded options - yes to the newer boat, yes to premium class and so on. I think that could be even better than "standard" moorings.
Bearin mind that bvi's is a bit er rough anyway. So in general the population are slowish on service and all the old ccars are just leftlying about. It's only even remotely posh in private resorts, and even then it is posh but the staff are the same slow laid-back types whocan't do enough for you - bcause they are half asleep and/or a bit idle.
Against this backdrop there is no level of bareboat charter that is gonna make it godwonderfully luxurious which is a bit how moorings pretend it's gonna be: you anchor the boat and tender ashore in blue water to beachy restuarant. And what's for lunch eh? It's same as always innit -chicken caesar salad or burgers or (perhaps)unlikley-ambitious fish/lobster that might be a week old. Hence cheeseburger safest, again.
Note that aircon is worth having - but not if the boat has no generator else it only works in marinas. Catamaran worth considering for better (non-rolly) sleep as most nights are at anchor/mooring buoy. Tho more thrashy saily fun on mono. But the cats will overtake.
Yes, there are other options, though you need to get the flight sorted yerself then the boat - there are loads of boats, not many flights. The whol thiong (incldiing LIAT connexions) is entirey doable by internet of course.
Moorings are v helpful btw with booking flights and so on.
Nicish option flightwise wd be eg Virgin to antigua, then LIAT to antigua on the bus-plane which might stop a few places on the way. This lands at beef island airport, 5ish minutes taxi ride from the sunsail base, 15 max from moorings.
NOTE if antigua, there are loads of flights into antigua and for most of these distant-europe-linked islands the big planes land in the afternoon all within a short time: you want to arrive on the first (or early) one in so definitely not the BA flight like I did once never again which is the last one in of four and hence three planeloads of people are ahead of you and the queue into immigration stretches back 500yards to the tarmac.
Other options: if you are self-sufficient, realised that the flotillas go slightly to the wrong places cos they get free food for flot leaders, and a bit wimpish protective of their boats and ban youfrom the only-slightly-dificult places...then loads of options all the way from cheap Conch charters "the cheapest deals on keels!" to rental of individual boats. BUT a slight downside of these is that if anythingis wrong with the boatyou gotta hope they fixit or just live with it. Whereas sunsail or moorings have a dozen or moe of the same boat so could just swap you to anothr boat quickish; so check autopilot etc and spec of your sunsail/moorings boa tis what you wanted/ordered asap, don't unpack and ask for a different boat.
There again- because sunsail/moorings have such massive market dominance their boats get used/thrashed more and hence (in sunsail) the "debriefing" where hey go thru the boat as tho checking you havebroghtit back in onepiece, hm, tick, yes, tick....however aftr about three years each with debriefings i toldem bollx to debriefing, this isn't a debrief this is me helping you shortcut your maintenance, tighten the rig for crissakes and other obvious things, i'm off to the bar for last night drinks, and they said ok fair enough.
Finally, if you have your wits about you, there is healthy competition: so i know of people who have priced up both moorings same sort of boat as sunsail and played one off against the other. They won't chop too much ( and over xmas is top money) but they will cut a bit to get the order off those other lot.
It is a fab time.
HoratioHB
Well-Known Member
We did Sunasail from Tortola last year - flight was with First Choice to Antigua - bloody good - best seats outside of Club class. The internal flight to Beef Island was late (but this apparenlty because they all seem to run in 'Island time')
Checked on the web the weekend before and saw they had a Gib Sea 51 still unbooked and got an upgrade for £600 for six of us from a 42ft - excellent deal.
Boat was tired but OK, navigation brief a joke - it consisted of a damn good brief on all the bars and restaurants, but there again navigation in the BVIs is hardly a test.
Slightly miffed to bring all my skippers documentation etc and never asked to once to show it!!!
The 2 weeks sailing - wonderful, we even jumped off Willy Ts (I might explain this if asked), saw Richard Branson on Virgin Gorda (low point), did some excellent diving and drank far far too much rum in the form of 'painkillers'.
Sunsail lets us get on with it - came out to us when the log failed and fixed it straight away. I would do it again like a shot but as I've just bought my own boat and am heading out there in the Autumn full time - it won't be with Sunsail /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
Checked on the web the weekend before and saw they had a Gib Sea 51 still unbooked and got an upgrade for £600 for six of us from a 42ft - excellent deal.
Boat was tired but OK, navigation brief a joke - it consisted of a damn good brief on all the bars and restaurants, but there again navigation in the BVIs is hardly a test.
Slightly miffed to bring all my skippers documentation etc and never asked to once to show it!!!
The 2 weeks sailing - wonderful, we even jumped off Willy Ts (I might explain this if asked), saw Richard Branson on Virgin Gorda (low point), did some excellent diving and drank far far too much rum in the form of 'painkillers'.
Sunsail lets us get on with it - came out to us when the log failed and fixed it straight away. I would do it again like a shot but as I've just bought my own boat and am heading out there in the Autumn full time - it won't be with Sunsail /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
scottie
Well-Known Member
try this site http://www.viyachts.com/index.html
they will give you a variety or http://www.horizonyachtcharters.com/
they will give you a variety or http://www.horizonyachtcharters.com/
Marsupial
Well-Known Member
Went bareboat with TMM (Tortola Marine Management) in 2000, the yacht was first class, needed to show qualifications to go to Anegarda - well worth it!!
TMM were good flights (then) were very short of legroom DVT has eased that. BWI airlines (Be Well Insured) were great.
larger boats (over 45ft) had an easier time with the atlantic swells.
Mooring up every night was easy, tie on a buoy, free Pussers in Virgin Gorda when you moor there - trouble leaving the next day. . . .
TMM were good flights (then) were very short of legroom DVT has eased that. BWI airlines (Be Well Insured) were great.
larger boats (over 45ft) had an easier time with the atlantic swells.
Mooring up every night was easy, tie on a buoy, free Pussers in Virgin Gorda when you moor there - trouble leaving the next day. . . .
cgull
Well-Known Member
Did Sunsail earlier this year....very good, flights good, advantage they have is inclusive price flights/boat/transfer to base. Boat good. and I found the provisioning on line service excellent.
jeremyshaw
Well-Known Member
Another vote for TMM - they have a UK agent I think. Their boats start at 37'. A lot of their boats are privately owned, so they all get a lot more attention than with the big boys.
Jeannius
Well-Known Member
My 44ft cat has been in the TMM fleet on Tortola for the last 4 years. You will get a great personal service from TMM.
Obviously I am biased but if you check out the BVI forum on TravelTalkOnline you will find lots of independant praise for them.
Obviously I am biased but if you check out the BVI forum on TravelTalkOnline you will find lots of independant praise for them.
