FAQ

Leonidas Marousos
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

It is the best first charter destination in the world, and that is not marketing. The islands sit in a ring around the protected Drake Channel, so navigation is line-of-sight, hops are under an hour, mooring balls wait at day’s end, and if anyone gets nervous, land is always in view.

The infrastructure flatters first-timers too: all-inclusive catamarans remove money decisions, crews here host more first charters than anywhere on earth, and the beach bars give every evening a destination. If the family loves it, and they will, the harder Caribbean and Med grounds are all still ahead of you.

Our first-timer formula: a crewed all-inclusive cat, seven days, the classic loop with the Baths, Jost Van Dyke, and Anegada if weather allows. Start with when to go, and tell us your group; the rest is our job.

Leonidas Marousos
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

No visa, yes passport. The British Virgin Islands are a British Overseas Territory, so US citizens (and Canadians, Brits, and EU nationals) enter visa-free for stays this length, but everyone needs a valid passport, children included, even when arriving by ferry from St Thomas.

Arriving via St Thomas? You will pass US customs on the way in and BVI immigration at the ferry terminal, both routine. Your captain handles the boat’s clearances; you mostly notice a form and a short stop.

Send passport details with your preference sheet before the charter and the paperwork is ready when you are; the full document list is in our BVI entry requirements guide. If your itinerary dips into the USVI mid-week, the captain manages those clearances too.

Louis Lamprell
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

Yes, with one piece of paperwork: the BVI requires a fishing license, and in practice only the one or two genuine anglers in the group need a personal license, about $45 each, arranged around boarding. The boat itself must hold its own permit, which is why we check the yacht’s fishing status when fishing matters to you.

The fishing earns it: trolling the drop-offs for mahi and wahoo on passage days, and the famous bonefish flats of Anegada for the fly crowd. Many catamarans carry basic trolling gear; serious sportfishing setups are rarer, so tell us early if that is the priority.

The best part is dinner: hook a mahi on the way to Anegada and the chef turns it into ceviche before sundowners. Ask us to flag the yachts whose crews genuinely love to fish; it changes the week.

John Boullin
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

Crewed BVI charters run from about $15,000 to over $100,000 per week depending on yacht, season, and luxury level. Our practical advice: budget at least $30,000 for a proper one-week crewed catamaran, and the sweet spot for a family of six to eight with a strong chef sits in the $30,000 to $60,000 band.

The good news on extras: with 0% VAT and many boats all-inclusive, the gap between headline rate and real cost is smaller here than almost anywhere. On all-inclusive cats you add only the small local fees and crew gratuity, commonly 15 to 20% in the Caribbean; APA-model yachts add their 25 to 35% provisioning budget.

We quote the complete number from the first email. Full breakdown with examples: How Much Does a BVI Yacht Charter Cost?

John Boullin
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

The headline is the best in yachting: the BVI charges no VAT on charters, 0%, against 20%+ across most of the Mediterranean. What you pay instead is a short list of small per-person fees.

The main one is the BVI cruising tax, $4 to $16 per person per day depending on where the yacht is based (BVI-based boats sit at the low end, which is one reason base matters). Add a $10 per person environmental levy, national park fees of roughly $25 to $55 for the week, and mooring balls at $25 to $55 a night, usually inside the price on all-inclusive boats. Yachts starting from the USVI add a customs clearance, around $65 per person.

Every one of these is itemized in our first quote, so the number you approve is the number you pay. Full detail: the BVI cruising tax explained.

Daniel Asmus
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

Two pricing models for the same vacation. All-inclusive means one price covers the chef’s food, the standard bar, fuel, and mooring fees; you step aboard and stop thinking about money. APA means a base rate plus an Advance Provisioning Allowance, typically 25 to 35%, an onboard budget the captain spends and reconciles, with the unspent part refunded.

The BVI is the world capital of the all-inclusive crewed catamaran, and for most groups here it is the better experience: no accounting, no fuel anxiety, just the week. The usual exclusions are premium alcohol and dinners ashore, which the contract lists explicitly. Larger motor yachts more often run APA.

Neither is universally cheaper; it depends on how your group eats, drinks, and cruises. We translate every quote into the same all-in language so you compare like with like: what is included in a crewed BVI charter.

Leonidas Marousos
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

You do not need to do anything; your captain handles moorings, and that is genuinely one of the BVI’s luxuries. Almost every anchorage has a mooring field, so evenings end on a secure ball in a calm bay rather than an anchor watch, and the reefs stay protected.

Behind the scenes there is some strategy. Popular bays fill in high season, some fields take advance reservations through the BoatyBall app while others stay first-come, and captains plan arrival times accordingly, which is exactly the local knowledge you are paying for. Fees run about $25 to $55 a night and are inside the price on most all-inclusive boats.

If a specific bay matters to you, the Bight for the Willy T, say, tell us at preference-sheet stage and the captain builds the route so you are there when the balls are free, not when they are gone.

Chris de Kock
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

Not in BVI waters: the territory bans personal watercraft, full stop, to protect its bays and quiet. Yachts here do not carry jet skis for BVI itineraries, and no license or workaround changes that; it is the law of the territory.

The realistic options: several yachts we book carry jet skis and use them legally on the USVI side, so a combined itinerary gives you a jet ski day off St Thomas or St John before or after the BVI leg. We keep the current list here: charter yachts with jet skis. And if riding is the trip’s centerpiece, the Bahamas allows them freely and we can point you there.

What fills the gap in the BVI itself: seabobs, efoils, paddleboards, tubes, and dinghy adventures, all legal, all aboard most of the fleet, and honestly better suited to these bays anyway.

Chris de Kock
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

Yes, and it is a superb combination: the BVI’s mooring-ball ease and beach bars plus the USVI’s national park bays on St John and the restaurant scene on St Thomas. One week can hold both sides comfortably; ten days does it luxuriously.

The practical layer is customs. Crossing between territories means clearing out and in, roughly $65 per person entering the BVI plus form fees, handled by your captain with your passports and a bit of scheduling. Where the yacht is based also shapes the math, because USVI-based and BVI-based boats carry different tax and clearance profiles: BVI-based vs USVI-based yachts explained.

Our honest advice for first-timers: if you only have seven days, the BVI alone is the fuller week; add the USVI when you have the extra days or a jet ski agenda. Tell us your dates and we will sketch both routes.

Chris de Kock
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

Short answer: sometimes for the first installment, but we almost never recommend it. The card company’s exchange rate plus processing surcharges, direct or hidden, usually cost more than any points are worth on amounts this size.

There is also a reason the whole industry runs on bank transfers: chargebacks. Card payments can be reversed months later, so owners and managers price that risk in or refuse cards outright. A transfer clears cleanly, which is also why it gets you the better terms.

Our advice: send a bank transfer, and put the card points toward the flights instead.

Louis Lamprell
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

Yes, and the BVI has one of the Caribbean’s iconic dives: the wreck of the RMS Rhone off Salt Island, a national park and a genuinely world-class site. Add the Indians, the caves at Norman Island, and reef sites the whole way down the Drake Channel; our top 10 BVI dive sites maps them all.

The usual setup is rendezvous diving: a licensed BVI dive operator meets the yacht at the day’s mooring with tanks and a divemaster, you dive, and the boat never breaks its rhythm. Some catamarans also carry their own gear and dive-qualified crew; if diving is central to your week, say so and we shortlist those.

No license? Discovery dives with an instructor cover beginners, shallow and supervised, and the snorkeling, the caves, the Indians, the Baths, is so good here that non-divers barely feel left out.

Chris de Kock
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

On a fully crewed charter you are a guest; on a captain-only charter you are the crew. Crewed means captain plus chef: meals cooked, cabins made, bar stocked, toys launched. Captain-only gives you a professional at the helm while provisioning, cooking, and dishes stay with your group.

The BVI is the world capital of the crewed catamaran with chef, and the price gap to captain-only is smaller here than most guests expect, especially on all-inclusive boats where provisioning is already inside the price. In our experience the crewed version is what people picture when they imagine this vacation, and it is worth stretching for.

If the numbers do not work, talk to us before settling: a slightly smaller crewed cat or different dates often closes the gap without losing the chef.

Marcelle Hailwax
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

Yes. DMA Yachting carries professional indemnity insurance up to EUR 500,000 with ITIC, the International Transport Intermediaries Club, the specialist insurer for yacht brokers and other transport intermediaries.

This matters more than it sounds. Chartering runs on large wire transfers, so before sending a deposit to any broker, check that they are insured, reachable, and working under a proper charter contract. We are happy to be checked.

This covers our work as your broker; trip cancellation insurance for you as the guest is separate, and we recommend arranging that too when you book.

Chris de Kock
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

No. Our service is free to you. Like a travel agent, we are paid commission from the yacht’s side, and the charter fee is the same whether you book through us or go direct. There is no markup for using a broker.

What you get for that same price in the BVI specifically: we know which catamarans and crews actually deliver, which chefs earn their reputations, which boats hold their all-inclusive promises, and we handle the preference sheet, the route, and any accounting questions afterwards.

The one thing we ask: pick one broker and work with them. The same inquiry sent to five brokers means managers see your name five times, and nobody can negotiate well for you after that.

Daniel Asmus
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

It depends on your contract, so we make sure the right terms are in it before you sign. For June through November bookings, hurricane season, we add a hurricane addendum, which sets out what happens if a named storm affects your dates: typically rescheduling or credit rather than losing your fee. Do not book a summer BVI charter without one.

Day-to-day weather is a different matter, and it is the captain’s call; on questions of safety the captain’s decision is final, and that is written into every charter contract for good reason. In practice, BVI weather days are rare and mild: the Drake Channel keeps things sailable even when the Christmas Winds blow, and a windy afternoon usually just means a more sheltered mooring, not a lost day.

For protecting the fee itself, pair the contract terms with cancellation insurance.

Louis Lamprell
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

Yes, day charters run well here, typically out of Tortola or from the USVI side: a catamaran or powerboat day to the Baths, the Indians, and a beach bar or two. For visitors staying in villas on Virgin Gorda or Tortola it is the classic way to see the islands properly.

We have also arranged single-day events, birthdays and small celebrations, with the boat, catering, and transport coordinated.

The threshold worth knowing: at 2 to 3 days you cross into proper crewed charter territory, sleep on the water, and wake up at the Baths before the day boats arrive, which is the whole magic of chartering here. Tell us the occasion and we will show you both versions.

Leonidas Marousos
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

The holy trinity: the Soggy Dollar on Jost Van Dyke, home of the Painkiller, named because you traditionally swim ashore and pay with wet money; the Willy T, a floating bar off Norman Island where people jump from the top deck; and Foxy’s at Great Harbour, the calypso institution. Add Saba Rock and the Anegada lobster shacks and you have the circuit.

By yacht is the only correct way to do them: you anchor off, dinghy or swim in, and leave when the mood turns, with your own boat waiting instead of a ferry schedule. Crews know the rhythm, which bars roar at sunset and which are magic at 11 am with nobody around.

Tell us your group’s energy on the preference sheet, party circuit or one quiet Painkiller at anchor, and the route gets built to match. The full circuit, with what each bar does best: 7 legendary BVI beach bars to visit by yacht.

Daniel Asmus
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

The BVI is about the kindest place in the world to find out you love being on boats. The islands wrap around the Sir Francis Drake Channel, so you sail in protected water with the open Atlantic swell blocked by the islands themselves, and the hops between anchorages are short, often under an hour.

Nights are calm too: you sleep on a mooring ball in a sheltered bay, not rolling at open anchor. Catamarans, which dominate the BVI fleet, add their own stability: two hulls, no heeling, wide flat decks.

The honest caveats are the Anegada passage, the one truly open leg if you head there, and the breezier Christmas Winds weeks in early winter. A good captain times both, and if anyone in your group is nervous, tell us and we will shape the route gentle.

Marcelle Hailwax
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

For Christmas, New Year, and the February-March prime weeks: 9 to 12 months, and the most-loved catamarans with star chefs book even earlier, some the day their calendar opens. The BVI has the most loyal repeat clientele in chartering, and repeat guests rebook their favorite boats before the public ever sees the dates.

For the rest of the winter season, 4 to 8 months out still gives a real choice; the rate calendar shows exactly when pricing shifts. Late spring and summer are the flexible months, where good boats can be found weeks out, sometimes with an offer accepted.

Not sure yet? Inquire anyway: if the trip is even half likely, it is the right time to look, and asking costs nothing.

Chris de Kock
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

Two good routes. Fly into St Thomas (STT) in the USVI, direct from many US cities, then take the ferry to Tortola: about an hour on the water, roughly $115 round trip, and usually the best value. Or fly into Beef Island/Tortola (EIS) via San Juan or Antigua and start ten minutes from the marina.

The tip that saves clients a hotel night: the last ferries from St Thomas leave in the late afternoon, around 5 pm, so do not book an afternoon arrival into STT unless you plan a night there. Morning arrival, lunchtime ferry, aboard by mid-afternoon is the pattern that works; current boats and prices are in our USVI to BVI water taxi guide.

And book the flights only after the charter agreement is signed; it is far easier to move a flight than a yacht. Send us the times once booked and the crew plans boarding and the first anchorage around your arrival.

John Boullin
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

The standard structure: 50% of the charter fee is due when you sign the charter agreement, and the remaining 50%, together with any APA and local fees, is due about six weeks before you step aboard. Far-in-advance bookings can sometimes run 25/25/50 with the owner’s agreement.

A pleasant BVI difference: many crewed catamarans here run all-inclusive, so there is often no APA at all, just the charter fee plus the modest local taxes. The contract states exactly which model your yacht uses, and we walk you through it before you sign.

Payment is by bank transfer, the industry standard for amounts this size. Wondering about cards? See can I pay with a credit card?

John Boullin
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

The balance of your charter fee, plus the APA if your yacht uses one, is due about six weeks before the charter starts; your agreement shows the exact date.

In the BVI many crewed catamarans skip the APA entirely and run all-inclusive: food, standard bar, fuel, and mooring fees inside one price. Larger motor yachts more often use the classic APA model, an onboard budget of 25 to 35% of the fee, reconciled by the captain before you disembark, with the unspent balance refunded.

Either way we check the numbers with you: on APA boats we review the captain’s accounts, and on all-inclusive boats we confirm up front exactly what sits outside the price, usually premium alcohol and shore dining. Details: What Is Included in a Crewed BVI Yacht Charter?

Daniel Asmus
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

In the BVI, very often yes, and it is one of the destination’s best features. Most crewed catamarans here run all-inclusive: the chef’s menus, the standard bar, fuel, and even mooring fees inside one price. The usual exceptions are premium alcohol, dinners ashore, and special requests, which the contract lists explicitly.

Larger motor yachts more often follow the classic Caribbean model: base rate plus an APA, your onboard budget for provisioning and fuel, with the unspent part refunded after the charter.

When you compare a BVI quote against a Mediterranean or Bahamas one, remember this difference: a BVI all-inclusive rate that looks higher can be the cheaper week once taxes and provisioning are counted. We always translate quotes into the same all-in language so you compare like with like. See what is included in a crewed BVI charter.

Daniel Asmus
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

Because the extras differ by yacht and model, though the BVI’s headline is a happy one: there is no VAT on charters here, 0%, which is a major reason the BVI wins value comparisons against the Mediterranean’s 20%+ rates.

What does exist is a set of small local fees: the BVI cruising tax of $4 to $16 per person per day depending on where the yacht is based, a $10 per person environmental levy, and modest national park and mooring fees. On all-inclusive catamarans, the yacht’s own running costs are already in the price; on APA boats, provisioning and fuel come from your APA budget.

Our quotes list every one of these from the first email, so the number you approve is the number you pay. Full breakdown: the BVI cruising tax explained.

Nadja Asmus
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

Yes. The BVI is the world’s most popular bareboat ground for good reason: line-of-sight navigation, short hops, mooring balls waiting at day’s end. If you have the skipper resume, we can arrange it; charter companies here will ask for a sailing CV rather than a specific license.

That said, our specialty is the crewed side, and the honest pitch is this: the gap between managing the boat and being hosted on it is bigger than the price difference suggests, especially with a chef aboard and the bar stocked. See crewed vs captain-only.

A good middle path for confident sailors: captain-only for the first BVI trip, then decide whether you missed the wheel or loved the freedom from it.

Daniel Asmus
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

Sometimes. Outside the Christmas and New Year peaks, and especially in the late-spring and summer months, managers will consider a serious offer. The way to do it is through your broker: we know which managers negotiate and what number is worth putting on the table. For built-in value without negotiating, start with the affordable all-inclusive catamarans.

Know two things before you offer. An offer is treated as binding, so be ready to sign quickly if accepted. And shopping the same yacht through several brokers creates no leverage; managers see every inquiry arrive under your name.

One BVI-specific caution when comparing quotes: check what the price includes before celebrating a lower number. An all-inclusive quote against a base-rate-plus-APA quote is not a like-for-like comparison, and a shaved APA is not a discount; you pay the difference on board.

Nadja Asmus
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

First we confirm reality: whether the yacht you asked about is free on your dates and at what price, and, just as important in the BVI, what its crew and chef are like this season, since the crew makes or breaks a catamaran week. At the same time we shortlist comparable boats so you choose from real options, not one listing.

Once you pick, the steps are: charter agreement, payments per the contract terms, then the preference sheet, where the trip gets personal: food, drinks, celebration plans, watersports, and how much beach-bar energy your group wants. The crew provisions and plans around it.

From inquiry to signed contract can take a day or a month; it moves at your pace, and asking questions costs nothing.

John Boullin
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

In the BVI, first let us check for one boat: this is one of the few destinations with a handful of catamarans licensed beyond 12 guests, and a group of 13 can sometimes stay together on a single yacht. Beyond that, two boats is the answer, and usually the better vacation anyway.

Two yachts cruising together, a tandem charter, fits the BVI perfectly: short distances mean the boats are never far apart, they pick up neighboring mooring balls in the same bay, and the group mixes at Soggy Dollar or over dinner ashore. It usually prices 20 to 50% below one huge yacht. We wrote the full guide: BVI tandem charters.

Tell us your headcount and dates and we will price both versions, including the boat pairings we know work well together.

Leonidas Marousos
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

Charters here mostly start from Tortola, where the marinas and provisioning are, and some yachts are based across the channel in the USVI. It matters more than it sounds: a USVI-based boat starting a BVI itinerary means clearing customs on arrival, around $65 per person in fees, and a different tax picture; BVI-based boats skip that step.

Starting from another island, Virgin Gorda say, is occasionally possible with a repositioning fee, but with distances this short it rarely buys you anything; the first anchorage is under an hour away wherever you board.

We wrote up the BVI-vs-USVI-based question in detail, because it changes cost and paperwork more than route: BVI-based vs USVI-based yachts.

Louis Lamprell
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

Emphatically yes, if your dates and boat allow it. Anegada is the outlier: a flat coral island off the main chain, reached by the one genuinely open passage in the BVI, and it repays the trip with the territory’s best beaches, bonefish flats, and the famous lobster dinners at the beach restaurants.

The practical bits: the passage wants a settled-weather day, the approach threads a reef so captains time it carefully, and an overnight is far better than a day trip; the island empties beautifully in the evening. Book the lobster ahead, which the crew handles, and try the conch tour if your group likes local color.

We build Anegada in as a weather-flexible day rather than a fixed one, so the captain crosses when the window is right; our 7-day Anegada extension itinerary shows how it fits a week. Tell us it is on your wish list and we will plan the week around making it happen.

Marcelle Hailwax
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

Usually not, and it is worth knowing why: every yacht has licensed limits for day guests and overnight guests, set by its registration and insurance rather than the crew’s goodwill. Managers hold that line even for small children, with occasional case-by-case flexibility for infants under 12 months.

The BVI wrinkle: a few catamarans here can legally take a 13th guest, and captains sometimes have discretion for day sailing, so the answer is genuinely boat-by-boat. Tell us the real headcount, including the little ones, and we shortlist yachts where it works rather than hoping.

The standard fixes otherwise: a yacht with Pullman berths, one size up, or two boats cruising together; see one yacht or two?

Louis Lamprell
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

A tandem charter is one vacation spread across two yachts that cruise together: shared route, neighboring mooring balls, one lead captain, and the group mixing freely between boats and beach bars. Three or more boats doing the same is a flotilla charter, the same idea with more logistics.

Nowhere does it work better than the BVI. The short hops mean the boats are never separated, every anchorage has room for two, and the whole group lands on the same beach for sundowners.

The pairing matters: matched speeds, compatible crews, and both managers agreeing the plan. We keep a catalog of BVI pairings that have run tandems well before, and we clear the coordination before you sign rather than improvising on the water. Full guide: BVI tandem charters for 14-20 guests.

Marcelle Hailwax
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

We recommend it, and for summer and fall BVI bookings, hurricane season, we recommend it strongly alongside a hurricane addendum in the contract itself. Cancellation and curtailment cover protects your charter fee if illness, travel disruption, or weather forces you to cancel or cut short.

Charter contracts have firm cancellation terms because the owner holds the yacht exclusively for you; past certain dates, payments are not refundable. Insurance is the clean answer, and it costs a small fraction of the fee.

Your broker can point you to suitable cover when you book. It is separate from our professional insurance as brokers and from the yacht’s own cover.

Leonidas Marousos
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

High season runs December through April, and the true peaks are Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year, when the best catamarans book out the better part of a year ahead at premium rates with longer minimums. February through April keeps the perfect sailing weather with slightly less calendar pressure.

Two seasonal quirks worth knowing. The Christmas Winds, strong easterly trades, often blow through late December and January; the Drake Channel keeps it all very sailable, but it is breezier than the postcard. And June through November is hurricane season: the quietest, cheapest months, best booked with a hurricane addendum in the contract and honest expectations.

Our favorite value windows are early December and May: high-season weather on the edges of high-season pricing. For what the calendar does to rates, see How Much Does a BVI Yacht Charter Cost?

Nadja Asmus
Yacht charter broker, DMA Yachting

Yes. On a crewed charter the captain and chef, plus a stewardess on larger yachts, live aboard for the whole trip in their own crew quarters, separate from the guest cabins. A yacht listed with 4 guest cabins genuinely sleeps 8 guests; the crew occupies none of them.

They are also on duty in the ways that matter: meals, drinks, watersports, moving the boat while you swim, and the local knowledge of which bay’s mooring balls fill by 3 pm and which beach bar is worth the dinghy ride.

On captain-only charters the captain still sleeps aboard, in a dedicated cabin or the saloon depending on layout. If cabin privacy matters, ask us how a specific yacht arranges it before you book.