40 places to stop in the British Virgin Islands, written for the person at the helm: whether to take a ball or drop the hook, whether it is a lunch stop or a night stop, and what a winter north swell does to it.
These are our own notes from years of working these waters. They are a starting point, not a substitute for your chart, your charter briefing and your own eyes.
Map of BVI anchorages and mooring fields
All 40 stops on one map. Tap a pin to see whether it is a night stop or a lunch stop and how you tie up, then jump to our notes. The filter buttons below work on the map too.
Not for navigational purposes. Positions are approximate. Navigate with official charts and your own eyes.
- Overnight on a mooring
- Overnight at anchor
- Marina or dock
- Day stop
- Reef: keep clear
Jost Van Dyke and the cays
Foxy’s, the Soggy Dollar, the Bubbly Pool and two of the best sandbars in the Caribbean.
Great Harbour
Take a ball. The bottom is deep with poor holding, so this is not the place to trust your anchor overnight. Customs and immigration, Foxy’s and the village shops are a short dinghy ride in, which makes it the natural stop if you are clearing in from the USVI.
White Bay
A day stop, not an overnight. A shallow reef guards the entrance and the wind clocks around after dark. Come in through the marked cut with good light, anchor in sand, swim ashore to the Soggy Dollar, and be gone by late afternoon. In a north swell skip it entirely.
Little Harbour
A snug harbour on the south coast with a reservable BoatyBall mooring field. Sidney’s Peace and Love and Harris’ Place are ashore for lobster. One of the better places to sit out a north swell.
Little Jost Van Dyke (Diamond Cay)
BoatyBall moorings off Diamond Cay. Dinghy in for Foxy’s Taboo and the walk to the Bubbly Pool, which is at its best when a north swell is running outside.
Sandy Spit
The postcard sandbar. Make your snorkel your anchor: pick a clear sand patch and never drop on reef. A lunch stop for most boats, and only an overnight in properly settled weather.
Sandy Cay
An uninhabited national park cay you can walk around in twenty minutes. National Parks Trust day moorings only, no overnighting, and you need a parks permit from your charter base.
Tortola
Where most charters start and end, plus the north-shore beach bays.
Soper’s Hole (West End)
Moorings and a marina dock at the west end of Tortola, with customs, fuel, water, provisioning and Pusser’s. Handy first or last night, and the usual clearing-in point coming back from Jost or St John.
Nanny Cay
South-shore marina and charter base with a haul-out yard, chandlery, pool and restaurants. If something on the boat needs fixing, this is where it gets fixed.
Road Town
The capital and home to the biggest charter bases. Best supermarkets in the territory, so do your main provisioning here. Not somewhere you come back to mid-week for fun.
Cane Garden Bay
The prettiest beach bay on Tortola, with live music most nights. First-come and BoatyBall moorings, and you can anchor between the swim buoys and the mooring field. Busy on cruise-ship days. Wide open to the north: if a ground swell is forecast, do not go.
Brewers Bay
A quiet north-shore bay next door to Cane Garden Bay, with reef snorkelling off the beach and the old Callwood rum distillery a walk away. Park moorings and room to anchor in sand. Same rule in a north swell: stay away.
Maya Cove (Hodges Creek)
Tucked behind the reef on the south-east corner of Tortola, with a marina and moorings at Penn’s Landing. Follow the markers in. Flat water in almost anything.
Norman Island
The Caves, the Indians, Pirates Bight and the Willy T. Most first nights end up here.
The Bight
The big, deep natural harbour and the main overnight stop. First-come moorings fill by mid-afternoon in season. If you anchor, tuck in close along the shore where the holding is best, because the middle is deep. Pirates Bight is on the beach and the Willy T floats in the south-west corner.
Privateer Bay
Just south of the Bight, right beside the Caves. Quieter than the Bight and you can snorkel the Caves from the boat before the day-trip crowd arrives. Can be rolly.
Soldier Bay
A small north-side anchorage for settled conditions, with good snorkelling and rarely more than a few boats.
Benures Bay
On the north-east side. Well protected from the usual trades, good holding in sand, and a fraction of the Bight’s traffic. One of the better quiet nights in the southern islands.
Peter Island
Deadman’s Bay beach and a handful of quiet anchorages close to Road Town.
Great Harbour
A large, deep bay on the north side with first-come moorings. Quiet, and close enough to Road Town to work as a first or last night.
Little Harbour
A dramatic little hurricane hole where boats anchor and stern-tie to the rocks. That takes practice and extra hands. If you have never stern-tied before, this is not the place to learn.
Sprat Bay (Peter Island marina)
Dockage at the resort marina, with the resort ashore. Call ahead.
Deadman’s Bay
Anchor off the famous palm-lined beach on the north shore. Lovely in settled weather, but swell works its way in and it can roll at night.
Salt Island
The old salt ponds and the wreck of the RMS Rhone.
Salt Pond Bay
Anchor below the old salt ponds and take the dinghy round to the National Parks moorings over the Rhone. Most boats treat it as a day stop and spend the night at Cooper or Peter.
Cooper Island
The Beach Club, a rum bar and turtles under the boat.
Manchioneel Bay
First-come and BoatyBall moorings off the Cooper Island Beach Club. No anchoring: the bottom is seagrass. It gets uncomfortable in stronger winds and seas, and the current runs hard off the point, so keep swimmers close to the boat.
Hallovers Bay
A quieter alternative on the south side. Watch for coral heads on the way in and anchor in sand.
Marina Cay, Scrub, Trellis and the Camanoes
Easy first and last nights, ten minutes from the airport.
Marina Cay
A tiny cay inside the reef with a big mooring field. A classic easy first or last night and a good bolt-hole in a north swell.
Scrub Island
A resort marina with pools, restaurants and a spa. The splurge night, or a comfortable place to start and finish.
Trellis Bay
On Beef Island, a five-minute walk from the airport terminal. Moorings and room to anchor, an artist community ashore and the Full Moon party. The easiest crew change in the BVI.
Cam Bay (Great Camanoe)
Quiet, undeveloped and good snorkelling. Park moorings and some room to anchor.
White Bay (Guana Island)
Anchor off the beach of a private island and dinghy round to Monkey Point for the silversides and tarpon. Day stop.
Virgin Gorda
The Baths, Spanish Town and the long west-coast beaches.
Spanish Town (Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour)
Marina, fuel, water, customs, provisioning and taxis to the Baths. When the Baths moorings are full or the red flag is up, leave the boat here and go by road.
Savannah Bay
A long white-sand bay north of the yacht harbour. Eyeball your way in between the coral with the sun high. Settled conditions only.
Long Bay
On the north-west coast. Dinghy to the Kodiak Queen art-reef wreck. Open to the north-west, so check the swell forecast first.
The Baths
The granite boulders and grottoes everyone comes for. National Parks day moorings only, no anchoring, no overnighting, and no dinghies on the beach: tie to the dinghy line and swim in. Get there before 9 am. A red flag means the mooring field is closed.
North Sound, Virgin Gorda
A reef-protected lagoon with half a dozen places to spend the night. The best shelter in the BVI.
Leverick Bay
Fuel, water, ice, a small supermarket, BoatyBall moorings and dock space. The Friday night jump-up is an institution.
Saba Rock
Moorings off the rebuilt resort, bar and restaurant. Tarpon feeding at happy hour.
Bitter End Yacht Club
Moorings and a marina at the rebuilt Bitter End: watersports, restaurants and provisions.
Vixen Point (Prickly Pear)
No mooring balls here, which is the point. Sand, good holding, room to swing and a beach bar ashore. The best place in the Sound to use your own anchor.
Gun Creek
Ferry landing with a dinghy dock and customs. Anchor off, then taxi or hike up to Hog Heaven for the view.
Deep Bay and Biras Creek
Protected, quiet and usually empty.
Oil Nut Bay
A high-end marina village in the south-east corner of the Sound. Reservations required.
Anegada
The flat coral island, eleven miles of open water north of Virgin Gorda, and its lobster.
Setting Point
The island’s one anchorage. The approach is reef-strewn and low-lying, so leave North Sound early, arrive with the sun high and follow the marked channel. Take a ball if you can; otherwise anchor in sand in seven to nine feet. Book your lobster dinner by radio or phone before mid-afternoon. Some charter companies want a briefing before you go, so ask at the base.
BVI anchorage questions we get asked most
Can you stay overnight in White Bay, Jost Van Dyke?
We would not. White Bay is a day anchorage: a shallow reef guards the entrance, the wind clocks around after dark and a north swell sends surf straight in. Spend the day at the Soggy Dollar, then move round to Great Harbour or Little Harbour for the night.
Where should I go in the BVI when a north swell is running?
Head for water that faces south or sits behind a reef. Our usual refuges are The Bight at Norman Island, Great Harbour and Little Harbour on Jost Van Dyke, North Sound on Virgin Gorda, Trellis Bay and Marina Cay. Avoid Cane Garden Bay, Brewers Bay, White Bay, Sandy Cay and The Baths until it drops.
Do I need to reserve mooring balls in the BVI?
Most moorings are first come, first served, and in high season the popular fields fill by early to mid afternoon. The orange BoatyBall moorings can be reserved online and are found at places like Cane Garden Bay, Cooper Island, Leverick Bay, Little Harbour and Little Jost Van Dyke. National Parks Trust moorings at dive sites, Sandy Cay and The Baths are day use only and need a parks permit.
Can you anchor or stay overnight at The Baths?
No. The Baths has National Parks Trust day moorings only. There is no anchoring, no overnighting and no dinghies on the beach: you tie the dinghy to the line and swim in. Arrive before 9 am for a ball, and if the red flag is flying the mooring field is closed.
What is a good first night on a BVI bareboat charter?
Keep it short and easy. From Road Town or Nanny Cay, The Bight at Norman Island or Great Harbour on Peter Island are about an hour away. From the Beef Island and Scrub Island end, Marina Cay or Trellis Bay are minutes from the dock.
Is it difficult to sail to Anegada?
It is about eleven miles of open water from North Sound, and the island is so low you do not see it until you are close. The anchorage at Setting Point is surrounded by reef, so go in settled weather, leave early, arrive with the sun high and follow the marked channel. Some charter companies ask for a briefing first.
About the north swell tags. From November to April, long swells from North Atlantic storms reach the islands a few times each winter. “Exposed” means we would not plan to be there when one is forecast. “Good” means it is where we would go instead. No tag means it depends on the size and direction of the swell. Check the live marine forecast each morning. BoatyBall moorings are the orange reservable ones: book online, they go fast in season. Everything else is first come, first served.