This 10-day superyacht itinerary is built for boats that can comfortably run the open-water legs and then slow right down for the BVI’s short hops: St Maarten for arrival and provisioning, St Barths for two days of Gustavia and its beach clubs, an overnight passage into the BVI, five days on the classic run, and a final morning at Norman Island before crossing to St Thomas for departure.
Two practical notes before you book. Entering the BVI by sea means clearing Customs and Immigration on arrival; Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda is a standard port of entry and open daily until 7pm, which is why this route times the overnight run to land there in daylight. And the open-water hop from St Maarten to Virgin Gorda is roughly 90 nautical miles, route-dependent, which is long enough that running it overnight while guests sleep is the better use of the time than losing a whole day to it.
Day by Day Route
- Day 1: St Maarten
- Day 2: St Barths, Gustavia
- Day 3: St Barths, beach club and a quiet cove
- Day 4: Overnight passage to Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda
- Day 5: The Baths and North Sound
- Day 6: North Sound water day
- Day 7: Reposition to Sandy Spit
- Day 8: Sandy Spit and Jost Van Dyke
- Day 9: Cane Garden Bay, Tortola
- Day 10: Norman Island to St Thomas
Day 1 – St Maarten
Midday: boarding in St Maarten
St Maarten is the practical start for a boat this size: a real international airport (SXM), serious provisioning, and marinas built for superyachts rather than 45-foot catamarans. If your guests are flying in from different directions on different days, this is the easiest place to absorb it without losing charter time.
Afternoon: the preference briefing
This is the working afternoon, not a lost one: food and wine preferences, the watersports training level for anyone new to foiling or wakeboarding, and a short safety orientation. The captain also finalises the routing for the St Barths hop and the overnight passage later in the week, which is easier to get right with a calm first day than a rushed one.
Evening: dinner at anchor
A calm first dinner on board rather than ashore. Everyone sleeps well, and you wake up for St Barths rather than recovering from travel.
Overnight: At anchor or alongside, St Maarten.
Don’t Miss
- A real safety and preference briefing, done properly
- Provisioning for the whole ten days
- An easy first night, no logistics
Day 2 – St Barths, Gustavia
Morning: into Gustavia
Timing the arrival matters here more than almost anywhere else in the Caribbean: Gustavia’s harbour is small, and the boutiques, galleries and yachts along the quay are the whole point of being there. Your captain will have called ahead for a berth or a mooring rather than arriving and hoping.
Lunch: a swim first, then ashore
A clear-water swim stop before lunch, to shake off the travel days, then a tender run into town for lunch or a walk through Gustavia.
Afternoon: the town
St Barths does casual luxury better than almost anywhere in the Caribbean, and Gustavia in the afternoon is where that shows: good food, immaculate beaches nearby, and a crowd that is stylish without trying hard.
Evening: dinner ashore, or on deck
Sunset is best with a view back over the harbour, either from the yacht or a reservation ashore. Your broker will match the restaurant to the evening you actually want rather than whatever is trending that season.
Overnight: Gustavia, St Barths, on a mooring or berth.
Don’t Miss
- Gustavia’s harbour at golden hour
- A proper walk through town, not just the dock
- Dinner booked ahead, not chased
Day 3 – St Barths, beach club and a quiet cove
Morning: toys and snorkeling
Early water while it is calm and clear, with the crew running the toys before the beach clubs fill up.
Lunch: the beach club moment
One high-energy stop is worth having on a St Barths week, and lunch is when to take it: a beach club with the crowd, the music and the see-and-be-seen that St Barths is known for.
Afternoon: a quiet cove
The contrast is the point. After lunch, the captain moves you to a calmer bay for a slow afternoon, private and quiet after the noise of the club.
Evening: preparing for the passage
Tonight the yacht gets ready for the overnight run: everything secured on deck, cabins made comfortable for guests who will be asleep while the crew works, and the route to Spanish Town planned around the weather and the customs office hours.
Overnight: At anchor, St Barths, before the overnight passage.
Don’t Miss
- Toys out early, before the crowds
- One real beach-club afternoon
- A quiet bay to end the St Barths days
Day 4 – Overnight passage to Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda
Overnight: St Barths to the BVI
This is the reason a boat this size is worth having: instead of burning a whole day of the charter on open water, the crew runs the roughly 90 nautical miles overnight while you sleep. You go to bed off St Barths and wake up off Virgin Gorda, two headline destinations inside one week.
Morning: clearing in at Spanish Town
Arrival is into Spanish Town, a standard BVI port of entry open daily until 7pm. The captain clears Customs and Immigration first thing; your broker will have the paperwork ready in advance so it is fast rather than a morning lost to it.
Afternoon: the rhythm changes
Once you are cleared in, the cruising style changes completely. No more open-water legs: short hops, protected anchorages, and the classic BVI pattern where you can swim, explore ashore and still be at the next postcard bay before lunch.
Overnight: Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda, once cleared in.
Don’t Miss
- Sleeping through the longest leg of the week
- A fast, planned-ahead customs clearance
- Two territories, one overnight
Day 5 – The Baths and North Sound
Morning: The Baths
The Baths are the reason people fly to Virgin Gorda: granite boulders, pushed up as molten rock millions of years ago and slowly uncovered by erosion, forming swim-throughs, ladders and hidden pools. Go early, before the day-boat excursions land, and it feels like a private adventure rather than a tourist stop.
Lunch: on the move north
Lunch on board on the way around the top of Virgin Gorda and into North Sound, the BVI’s luxury hub.
Afternoon: into North Sound
North Sound is calm, protected water with a concentration of the BVI’s best-known stops, and it is where you will spend the next two nights. Your crew positions the boat for the evening ahead.
Evening: sundowners at Saba Rock
Be on the dock at Saba Rock for 5pm and the tarpon feeding, when fish the length of your arm boil the water under the lights, then stay for sunset cocktails. You will be cruising in the orbit of Necker and Moskito, Richard Branson’s islands, which have become part of BVI yachting lore whether or not you set foot on either.
Overnight: North Sound, Virgin Gorda.
Don’t Miss
- The Baths before the excursions arrive
- Tarpon feeding at Saba Rock, 5pm
- North Sound at sunset
Day 6 – North Sound water day
Morning: dive and snorkel while the light is best
North Sound is built for a serious water day: conditions are typically calm, the distances are short, and the crew can run it like a private resort. Morning is when visibility is best, so this is when the dive and snorkel sessions happen.
Lunch: toys staged, no downtime
A relaxed lunch that does not interrupt the day, toys staged and ready so guests move straight from the water to the table and back.
Afternoon: a Necker moment, if access allows
Necker Island is Richard Branson’s private island, and it is genuinely private: access for charter guests is occasional and arranged in advance through your broker, never guaranteed. When it happens, it adds a different layer, the island is known for its resident wildlife (flamingos, giant tortoises, lemurs) as much as for its exclusivity. Even cruising past it with the story from your captain is worth the detour.
Evening: staying protected
The Sound stays calm after dark, which is exactly why the second night here works: no repositioning, just a comfortable evening at anchor.
Overnight: North Sound, Virgin Gorda.
Don’t Miss
- Dive or snorkel sessions before the wind builds
- A Necker story, arranged or cruised past
- A second calm night in the Sound
Day 7 – Reposition to Sandy Spit
Evening: an after-dinner hop
One of the better moves on this route: after dinner in North Sound, the yacht repositions west to Sandy Spit while everyone is asleep, so the whole transit costs nothing but the crew’s night.
Overnight: waking up in a postcard
Sandy Spit is one of the most photographed islets in the BVI: white sand, a handful of palms, clear shallows, and nothing else on it. Guests wander onto the sand with coffee in the morning and lose track of what day it is.
Overnight: Sandy Spit.
Don’t Miss
- Sunrise on an island with nobody else on it
- Coffee on the sand before anyone is properly awake
- Paddleboards out before breakfast
Day 8 – Sandy Spit and Jost Van Dyke
Morning: Sandy Spit, or the Bubbly Pool
A slow morning on Sandy Spit, or a short hop to Jost Van Dyke’s Bubbly Pool, a rock basin where the swell pushes through a gap and fills it with fizzing seawater. It only bubbles when there is a north swell; your captain will know before you go.
Lunch and afternoon: White Bay
By afternoon you are anchored off White Bay, home of the Soggy Dollar Bar, named for the guests who swam ashore with wet cash and the birthplace of the Painkiller. Wade in from the tender; the whole beach is unapologetically barefoot. This is a day to let it run long, floating and drinking something cold, which is what Jost does better than anywhere else in the territory.
Evening: back to Sandy Spit
The captain returns you to Sandy Spit for the night rather than staying in White Bay, which rolls after dark. Same quiet anchorage as last night.
Overnight: Sandy Spit.
Don’t Miss
- The Bubbly Pool on the right swell
- A Painkiller in the water at Soggy Dollar
- A second night at Sandy Spit
Day 9 – Cane Garden Bay, Tortola
Morning: a structured watersports day
Cane Garden Bay is Tortola’s classic beach bay, lively without being chaotic, and the layout suits a proper toy day: the shoreline is close and the crew can rotate guests through activities without dead time. Wakeboarding and tow toys work best early, while the water is flat.
Lunch: paddleboards and snorkeling
Paddleboards and snorkeling through the middle of the day, at whatever pace the group wants.
Afternoon: the beach, and Callwood Rum
A late-afternoon stretch on the sand with cold drinks and music. If anyone wants a walk ashore, the Callwood Distillery has been making Arundel cane rum in the same stone building for over 200 years, the oldest continuously operating pot still in the Caribbean, and it is a five-minute walk from the beach.
Evening: the last easy night
Cane Garden Bay is relaxed after dark. Dinner aboard or ashore, and a calm night before the final day.
Overnight: Cane Garden Bay, Tortola.
Don’t Miss
- A real toy day, properly rotated
- Callwood Distillery, five minutes off the beach
- One last easy Tortola night
Day 10 – Norman Island to St Thomas
Morning: Norman Island, one last time
Norman Island is the strong final-day stop: the pirate-island reputation, good snorkeling at The Caves, and easy water time without a long transit to get there. Use whatever toy nobody has touched yet.
Afternoon: the crossing to St Thomas
A short, clean hop to St Thomas from here, nothing like the overnight passage on Day 4.
Return: Yacht Haven Grande
Yacht Haven Grande in Charlotte Amalie is a proper superyacht marina, ten minutes from the airport: dock, luggage, a quick transfer, and guests are on their flight fast. Two premium weeks in one charter, St Barths polish and BVI barefoot, and nobody spent a day getting between them.
Don’t Miss
- The last snorkel of the trip at Norman Island
- A clean, short final crossing
- Off the boat and at the airport within the hour
