As I make way into the semi-submerged cavern, beams of light dance along the multi-colored stones of the cave floor, very reminiscent of Ariel’s grotto in “The Little Mermaid.” Just outside the entrance, cerulean water stretches as far as the eye can see. Off to the right, a passage appears; it’s narrow but passable, and the current flows swiftly through the boulders, pulling you along to an unknown destination. Perhaps a hidden beach or a pirate’s lost lair?
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Much has been written about chartering in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), a rugged volcanic island chain located in the Caribbean, and for good reason. It’s arguably home to one of the best cruising destinations in the world, especially for newbie charterers.
I recently spent a week exploring the BVI aboard a Moorings 464 powercat (to learn more visit moorings.com). And while you can fly there and stay at a resort or visit aboard a larger cruise ship, the best and most unique way to truly explore this region is from a charter boat (or your own vessel if you’re lucky), especially if you want to visit smaller landmarks like the caves I mentioned above.
The last time I visited the BVI was in 2018, almost a year after the archipelago was hit by not one but two hurricanes in two weeks—hurricanes Irma and Maria. The devastation was profound. So many people lost their homes, businesses were shuttered, and mooring fields were practically empty. It was very different from the “typical” BVI experience, but it left a lasting mark in my memory. And ever since I have been dreaming about returning.
In subsequent articles in this series, I plan to share more about the logistics of planning a charter with The Moorings, but for now, I want to focus on our time on the water.
An Easy (and Exciting) First Day
It’s hard for me to pick a favorite island because each one has its own unique personality but “The Little Sisters,” comprised of Norman, Peter, Salt, Cooper, and Ginger Islands in the southern half of the BVI, hold a special place in my heart. Namely Norman, Peter, and Salt islands. While Norman certainly gets a lot of love, the others are often overshadowed by destinations such as Virgin Gorda, Jost Van Dyke, and Anegada.
Norman Island is an easy first stop for many after leaving their charter base. This island is definitely a “must” in my book, and you could easily spend multiple days here, either back-to-back or bookending your trip.
The Bight at Norman Island is an extensive mooring field with numerous first come, first serve mooring balls. It’s a short cruise from The Moorings base in Road Town and thus the perfect shakedown cruise to make sure everything on your yacht is running smoothly. And because there are so many balls, chances are you can find one away from the pack and practice your mooring skills with a little more elbow room if things don’t go so smoothly on the first pass.
Where you grab a ball will come down to personal preference. The right side of the mooring field is home to the Willy T, and dead center is the Pirates Bight Restaurant. Because we wanted to experience the action but have a quieter evening, we posted up on the left side of the Bight where we were close enough to snorkel towards shore with the rock walls towering above us. From there it was a short dinghy ride to both the caves at Treasure Point and the Willy T.
Pirate Lore and Sunken Caves
If you’re trying to start the wow factor off early, you can’t go wrong with the caves. The four semi-submerged caverns are just a short swim from the designated dinghy tie-off, and you will quickly feel as if you have entered another world.
The entrance to the far right cave is wide enough for a few people to swim side by side and is marked by massive boulders. It’s not a particularly large space but once inside, the cave ceiling towers overhead and your senses take over. The interior is dim, but dip below the water’s surface and you’ll notice beams of light dancing along the floor of the cavern. Voices echo along with the constant whoosh of water as it flows through narrow passageways, and slick rocks can be felt underfoot.
Take the passage to the right, if you dare, and you’ll be rewarded with a beautiful little beach around the corner from the busier mooring field. The cave opening on this side is draped with roots and moss hanging down from the cliff top above.
While traversing the caves, it’s not hard to imagine the tales of buried treasure that might have inspired Robert Louis Stevenson to pen “Treasure Island.”
According to legend, it all started with a mutiny. The year was 1750, and some of the crew aboard the Spanish treasure galleon, the Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, made off with some of the vessel’s valuable cargo. They eventually found themselves at Norman Island where they stashed the loot. Unfortunately for them, they were arrested soon after and word of the treasure had spread. Nearby residents of Tortola traveled to Norman and eventually dug up the treasure for themselves. Part of the treasure was also recovered by a Lieutenant-General of the Leeward Islands who traveled to Tortola with a company of soldiers.
Was all of the treasure from the mutinous crew recovered? We may never know. There’s another tale that involves a local fisherman who took shelter in one of the caves during a powerful storm. As the water rose, the waves continued to batter his small boat against the walls of the cavern. The story goes that when he awoke, a number of rocks had broken off into his boat, along with a small chest filled with gold doubloons. While the story was never verified, rumors of pirate gold hidden amongst the caves and shorelines of Norman Island persist to this day.
A BVI Rite of Passage
The last time I was in the BVI, the Willy T was beached on the shores of Norman Island, a stark and eerie reminder of the past year’s hurricanes.
Naturally, this time around we had to visit this quintessential BVI hangout. Our charter boat was comprised of myself, my parents, my younger brother, and my husband, but for this outing, jumping off a barge didn’t sound too appealing to my parents. So, the three young folks hopped in the dinghy with nothing but some cash in our already wet swimsuits after a day spent snorkeling through caves and dreaming of pirate treasure.
It felt only natural to pull up alongside what was basically a large black pirate ship, grab some rum punches, and “walk the plank.” It’s very bare bones (and I hate to admit I didn’t even know they served food at the time), but I was there for one thing and one thing only. Okay two things—a stiff drink for courage and to finally make the jump and check off this BVI rite of passage.
From the top deck the views of The Bight are spectacular, particularly at sunset. Everyone we met was ready to cheer you on (or lightly tease you, but all in good humor). If you’re nervous, I promise you won’t be the only one. The jump is just high enough to get your blood pumping, and after a few leaps, we had our fill. Before long we were ready to grill out aboard our boat and fall into bed after a long day in the water.
I couldn’t believe how much we had experienced in just our first full day on the boat. And that’s the beauty of a charter vacation. You have no one’s schedule to follow but your own, and the options are nearly limitless.
Because we still had the entire week ahead of us, we decided to save the Indians, a premier snorkeling spot just north of Norman Island, for the end of the trip when we made our way back around to our starting point.
Life Aboard
The rhythm of life on a boat is simpler. Chances are you wake up at dawn as the first rays of light peek into your cabin windows. Or you may even be woken up by the nostalgic smell of sizzling bacon (thanks, Mom). From sunup to sundown, we found ourselves in the water or on short cruises from mooring field to mooring field. By dusk, even if there’s still plenty of light in the sky, you’ll be feeling the effects of a full day of sun and salt and are ready to turn in early and do it all over again the next day.
I wouldn’t say we were living on “island time;” in fact our days had a sort of frenetic quality, waking up and immediately wanting to get moving to the next place, and the place after that. Was it relaxing? In some ways, of course. But adventurous trips such as these are rejuvenating in other ways.
Time is marked by sunrises and sunsets, and a good day entails going to bed without a sunburn. I’m normally an avid reader, but each evening I fell into my bunk exhausted, and pretty much the only thing I read the entire trip was our BVI Cruising Guide.
My favorite place to be while underway was sitting on the flybridge while my brother, our captain, skillfully navigated our boat and music wafted from the speakers. It was a bumpier trip this time around with frequent whitecaps, but the flybridge provided a welcome respite for any mild seasickness. My Reliefband bracelet was also a godsend on those first few days while I got my sea legs under me, especially while trying to fall asleep in a rolly anchorage.
I developed a renewed love of charts and learned to appreciate a good pair of binoculars for spotting mooring buoys. The ones on the boat were fine, but my husband, ever the Boy Scout, brought a scope from home that proved invaluable, especially when our boat was rocking and rolling.
I took pride in my job as “mooring buoy grabber,” and by the end of the trip my dad and I had it down to a science. I should have had someone time us.
Despite all of our pre-provisioning I found that smaller simple meals would suffice much of the time. I learned to embrace salty hair and the constant white-blue tinge of mineral sunscreen. For all the clothes I packed, I frequently re-wore the same T-shirts (which always felt a little damp thanks to the humidity) and went sans makeup or hair products for the entire trip. I learned to take speedy showers to conserve water. I was usually barefoot and sandy but felt more comfortable in my own skin than in any of the nicer outfits I would typically wear back home.
Bathing suits signaled a day beneath the waves; they were freeing, while real clothes felt oppressive. I wasn’t there to get a tan (though I certainly wasn’t complaining). My body was a machine propelling me through the water. I felt capable and strong.
It was both cozy and nostalgic spending an entire week with my family, almost as if my brother and I were kids again; only now we could enjoy a beer on the deck or a cocktail on shore.
And that is the true magic of a trip such as this. While we weren’t living on island time, we certainly adopted an island state of mind. And that is a mindset I hope to take with me as I transition back to land life.
If white sand beaches and tiki bars are what you seek, you can definitely find them here. But you can also find those things in so many other places around the Caribbean. If shipwrecks, adventure, rugged shores, and deserted islands are what really call to you, stick around, because we’ll cover all of those things and more in this charter series.
By Kaylie Jasinski