The British Virgin Islands draw sizeable numbers of visitors each year, including many yacht lovers who come to enjoy its enchanting Caribbean cruising grounds.
A catamaran moored in Leverick Bay, British Virgin Islands (Photo: Fairphotos via Flickr / CC BY 2.0)
Among the world’s most breathtakingly beautiful beauty spots, the turquoise waters that surround this idyllic island chain make the BVI a hugely popular yacht charter destination. Catering to its yacht-loving visitors are several companies offering private charter deals in the area, each featuring vessels and itineraries to suit a variety of tastes, preferences and budgets. Here are three charter company online platforms we’d recommend for finding your perfect BVI charter.
Ritzy Charters
Ritzy Charters is our number one resource for finding crewed yachts charters in the BVI. The company offers over 300 yachts in the area across several categories, including motorboats, sailing boats, large luxury yachts and catamarans. According to our searches, the cheapest available boat currently listed for charter in the BVI is priced at $5,750 per week, which gets you a 52-foot monohull sailboat that sleeps three and has a crew of two.
The booking process with Ritzy is easy and intuitive, too – all you need to do is simply fill in a query form with some necessary details, including number of guests, dates of travel, proposed itinerary and any special requests, then you ask for a quote and wait for the company to send back a short-list of available yachts that fit your criteria. You can then pick your favoured vessel from there.
Boatbookings
Among the most renowned operators in the yacht charter sector, with over 2,000 vessels available for charter adventures across the globe, Boatbookings are particularly well equipped when it comes to bareboat charter. When we searched for yachts in the BVI, we found an impressive 118 bareboat vessels ranging from 10 to 50 metres.. It was also notable that Boatbookings have an impressive choice of catamaran with a captain deals available, with this type of boat being the most commonly requested by prospective charterers. Other useful features include a dedicated review section so you can read what former charter customers have to say about their experience when booked through the site.
SamBoat
A market leader in peer-to-peer boat rentals, SamBoat are our favoured pick for charters of anything from one to three days. You search for your ideal boat according to price, size, dates of travel and other requirements, then when you’ve found an available vessel that fits the bill you send a booking request to the owner. If the request is accepted, you pay your rental online, with the amount deposited to the owner on the first day of your rental. When the day comes, you board the boat and make sure it corresponds to the descriptions before signing on the dotted line and embarking on your charter adventure. When we searched for BVI charters, we found hundreds available, with charter prices starting at $233 per week for an 9-metre motorboat that accommodates up to four people and is available with or without a skipper.