Is there Wi-Fi on a BVI charter yacht?

Leonidas Marousos
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

Almost always some kind of internet, but not always Starlink. Around 210 crewed yachts in the British and US Virgin Islands list internet of some kind, and about a quarter of them, 51 boats, name Starlink specifically. Those 51 are not all superyachts: the median is a five-cabin catamaran around 55 feet, which is the ordinary BVI charter boat.

Two things still vary, and both are worth asking before you sign. Some yachts include the internet in the charter fee; others use a shore-based marine Wi-Fi service that guests pay for on arrival, at roughly $30 to $40 a day or $135 to $205 for the week. And a small number of listings cover one territory only, or run the service at anchor but not under way.

Your mobile phone is a separate question. It roams onto Digicel, Flow or CCT and works in the towns and busy anchorages, but it drops out mid-channel, at the empty anchorages, and across the north shore of Anegada.

The full breakdown, including which yachts list it and where the dead spots are, is in Wi-Fi and Starlink on a BVI Yacht Charter.