A BVI crewed catamaran charter is the easiest way we know to see the British Virgin Islands from the water. The islands sit close together around the Sir Francis Drake Channel. Most passages, apart from the run to Anegada, take an hour or two in sheltered water, and you anchor somewhere new every night. A catamaran sits level at anchor and gives each cabin its own bathroom, so a BVI yacht charter on one suits families and groups of friends.
If you can, spend a night or two ashore before you board. You’ll arrive rested, and your first day on the water can start with a swim. The route below is a sample. The captain sets the real one each morning around the wind and swell, so expect the order to change.
D A Y 1
Boarding in Tortola – Your week starts at a marina on Tortola. The captain and chef meet you at the dock, your bags go below, and within the hour you’re anchored off Peter Island for a first swim.
THE CREW’S CALL
The chef has already shopped from the preference sheet you sent before the trip, so the first dinner aboard is food you chose, down to the wine.
D A Y 2
Norman Island and Cooper Island – Norman Island is a short sail south, and you can snorkel into its sea caves at the waterline. The Indians, a cluster of rock pinnacles nearby, is one of the best-known snorkel sites in the islands. After lunch, the captain heads east to Cooper Island, where you’ll sleep.
THE CREW’S CALL
The tender runs you right to each site, with fins already sized and waiting on the swim platform. When you get back, the paddleboards are in the water.
D A Y 3
The Baths, Early – The Baths, on Virgin Gorda, is a beach of granite boulders the size of houses, with tidal pools and narrow passages between them. Set an alarm for this one. By mid-morning the day-trip boats arrive and the trail fills up.
THE CREW’S CALL
You stopped at Cooper last night for this. The captain leaves at first light and has you ashore before the crowds, with breakfast waiting when you come back aboard. In the afternoon you sail north into North Sound.
D A Y 4
Anegada – Anegada is the odd one out. The other main islands are steep and volcanic; this one is flat coral and sand, with Horseshoe Reef running off its southeast end. Ashore you’ll find long, nearly empty beaches at Loblolly Bay and Cow Wreck Bay, flamingos in the salt ponds, and lobster grilled on the beach. If you’d rather eat ashore tonight, tell the chef at breakfast and the evening gets planned around it.
D A Y 5
Guana Island and Marina Cay – The sail back south is one of the longest of the week, a good afternoon for a book on the trampoline. You stop at Monkey Point on Guana Island to snorkel, then anchor off Marina Cay or in Trellis Bay.
THE CREW’S CALL
In winter, swell from the north can roll into the north-facing bays. The captain watches the forecast and picks the calmest anchorage, so you sleep well. You’ll probably never notice there was a choice to make.
D A Y 6
Jost Van Dyke – Jost Van Dyke is small, with a few hundred residents and a handful of beach bars. People swim ashore from their boats at White Bay for a drink. At the island’s east end, near Diamond Cay, the Bubbly Pool fills with foam when waves push through the rocks. Sandy Cay, an uninhabited speck of sand and palms nearby, is a good lunch stop. The towables and inflatables come out at whichever stop has the flattest water that day.
D A Y 7
Last Night – The last day swings back toward Tortola. There’s time for one more snorkel, perhaps over the wreck of the RMS Rhone off Salt Island. The Rhone lies shallow enough in places to see from the surface. The final anchorage is a short run from the marina, and you step off after breakfast the next morning. The captain picks that spot so the morning isn’t rushed. Many chefs save a signature dinner for the final night.
What “All-Inclusive” Covers on a Crewed Catamaran
An all-inclusive catamaran has one weekly rate covering the yacht, the crew, every meal, a stocked bar, fuel, and the water toys. Across the 250 crewed sailing catamarans we book in the BVI that list a high-season rate, a week runs a median of about $32,000 (our count, October 2026).
The crew gratuity is the main cost beyond the rate, customarily 15 to 20 percent and always at your discretion. On a luxury crewed yacht charter, you know the price of the week before you fly.
Plan Your Week
A few nights in a villa on Tortola or Virgin Gorda, before you board or after you step off, pairs well with a week on the water.
To plan a crewed catamaran week in the BVI, contact Vital Charters:
Phone: 407.922.9696
Email: info@vitalcharters.com
Website: www.vitalcharters.com
