INTRODUCTION TO THE CARIBBEAN
Enjoy world class yacht charter throughout the Caribbean chain from the British Virgin Islands in the Leewards to St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the Windwards.
Discover seven destinations where you can enjoy warm, steady trade winds and perfect surroundings. Choose from short and easy hops with line-of-sight sailing or an open ocean yachting adventure in lesser sailed areas for more of a challenge. In the BVI the rum flows, the steel drums play and there are plenty of new friends around on this sociable sailing holiday. It’s a popular choice where the stunning anchorages are shared with friendly fellow sailors and welcoming locals. Further south in the Grenadines explore from our St. Vincent base and step back to the Caribbean some thirty years ago in towns and harbours not so used to tourists.
You’ll find sunshine and blue skies, perfect snorkelling and diving, watersports and endless activities… enjoy a barbecue on board as the sun sets or venture ashore to find a bustling bar or a hidden local treasure…
The Caribbean is wide open for adventure and waiting for you…
Guadeloupe
Sailing Conditions…
Currents in westerly direction
Tidal range of 18 inches
Local Information…
Currency – Euro
Language – French
Time Zone – GMT – 4
Local Activities/Attractions…
Snorkelling & diving
Game fishing
The Carbet Waterfalls
It’s the island on the map that looks like a butterfly – the French island of Guadeloupe is perfect for sailors with calm lagoons and coves, easterly trade winds and line-of-sight sailing. A fusion of two landscapes; Grande-Terre has the commercial capital and the main port and Basse-Terre has the administrative capital and is a vast, fertile, nature reserve. On Grand-Terre enjoy the classic Caribbean beach holiday on white coral sands, while in contrast on Basse-Terre find yourself in a green land of tropical rainforest and mountainous slopes.
The 74,000-acre Parc Naturel on Basse-Terre contains the Soufriere volcano, the beautiful 350ft Carbet Falls and is marked with nature trails and information centres through the island’s magnificent tropical rainforest. Enjoy a good day’s walking and be rewarded by spectacular views of the landscape at the end of your climb or take a dip in the many rockpools, some containing water warmed by the volcanic activity.
On Grand-Terre’s beautiful beaches enjoy café society and join in the windsurfing, waterskiing and other watersports. Grand-Terre has 650 acres of mangrovre swamps and a marine park where you can see such birds as pelicans and doves. And if all that activity works up your appetite, you’ll find excellent cuisine heavily influenced by Gallic flavours and why not dance it all off to the lively and loud sounds of zouk and ragga in the discos!
Martinique
Sailing Conditions…
Currents in westerly direction
Tidal range of 18 inches
Local Information…
Currency – Euro or US dollar
Language – French
Time Zone – GMT – 4
Local Activities/Attractions…
Rain forest safari trips
Game fishing
Snorkelling & diving
Martinique is one of the showcases of the French Caribbean. The capital, Fort de France, fully lives up to that description celebrating every aspect of the island’s all-encompassing French culture with style and panache. Shops sell the latest goods from France, art galleries, theatres and museums encompass French culture and old men play boules in the squares whilst crowds sit at the pavement cafés watching the Citroens and Renaults drive by!
If it weren’t for the tropical climate, it could almost be Paris, and while the capital and other towns provide the comforts, elegance and sophistication of France, other parts of this popular tourist destination offer visitors the classic Caribbean package. There are flawless beaches – white sand on the south coast, black in the north, secluded coves for swimming and snorkelling, reefs, unspoiled fishing villages, hot springs, lush rainforests, rugged peaks and exotic flowers and fruit everywhere.
St. Martin
Sailing Conditions…
Prevailing wind NE
Tidal range of 18 inches
Local Information…
Currency – Euro or US Dollar
Language – French, Dutch & English
Time Zone – GMT – 4
Local Activities/Attractions…
Duty free shopping
Game fishing
Snorkelling & diving
Good winds and medium seas allow sailors to enjoy exhilarating open-water sailing in this stunning yachting haven. Rivaling the BVI as the Carribbean’s most popular destination, St. Martin provides a good mix of island hopping and open blue water cruising. St. Martin is divided between two principalities: French in the North and Dutch in the South, which makes for a perfect combination of Caribbean style with European food and flair.
Sint Maarten is the smaller, Dutch part of the island shared peacefully with France’s St. Martin. It’s the world’s smallest island on which two separate nations, with two very different characters and sets of laws and customs, co-exist on either side of a border marked only by welcome signs.
The Dutch section of the island, only 17 square miles, has become one of the Caribbean’s most popular holiday and shopping destinations. Not only can visitors hop across the invisible border to get a taste of French Caribbean life, they can also enjoy the advantages of shopping in one of the world’s few completely tax-free ports.
In the capital Philipsburg there are more than 500 stores in pastel-coloured, clapboard Dutch-style buildings selling luxury goods at 25% to 50% below normal prices. For truly local shopping with a Caribbean flavour, don’t miss Philipsburg’s Saturday market.
The sporting highlight of Sint Maarten is the March Heineken Regatta which draws yacht crews from across the world providing an excuse for parties and steel bands shows on both the Dutch and French sides of the island. The annual carnival, after Easter, is an extravaganza of calypso competitions, costume and dance, as is the official holiday celebration marking Queen Juliana’s birthday on April 30. If that isn’t enough partying, islanders and visitors can pop across the border to the French side to enjoy the festivities on Bastille Day – June 14. Another advantage of this one-island, two-nation destination.
British Virgin Islands
Sailing Conditions…
Tidal range 12 – 18 inches
Line-of-sight sailing in sheltered waters
Occasional strong ‘Christmas’ winds
Local Information…
Currency – US Dollar
Language – English
Time Zone – GMT – 4
Local Activities/Attractions…
The Baths, Virgin Gorda
Scuba diving
Kayaking
Welcome to one of the finest and most protected sailing areas on the planet. The Virgin Islands in the Lesser Antilles is a well-known and much-loved “sailor’s playground”. It’s the ultimate Caribbean yachting destination for those who know how to sail and anyone who has yet to try. With a brand new RYA sailing school at our base here on the BVI capital of Tortola, you can learn to sail from scratch in one of the world’s most idyllic settings.
These islands have everything you could wish for in a sailing holiday. All year round, you can enjoy short hops from one blissful anchorage to another with easy line-of-sight cruising in steady, comfortable trade winds. This is a great choice for people of all ages and abilities, families or groups of friends and couples looking for a romantic getaway. If sailing isn’t a passion already, you will fall in love with it by the time the BVI has finished with you.
Located in the northeast Caribbean, 60 miles east of Puerto Rico, the BVI stretch more than 30 miles around the Sir Francis Drake Channel. The waters between these tightly clustered islands are almost like lakes. Low-lying Anegada to the north has the furthest distance at 10-15nm from the rest of the island group. All cruising guides will advise you to give a good, wide berth to Horseshoe Reef that lies between Anegada and Virgin Gorda.
CRUISING NOTES
Norman Island
Legendary pirates and buried treasure… Norman Island is a highlight in the BVI. Said to have inspired the story of Treasure Island, it’s here you’ll find the famous Caves – a top snorkelling spot at the mouth of the Bight. North of Norman also lie The Pelicans and The Indians, tall skinny rocks sticking up out of the water, that are a main attraction for a huge variety of undersea life. The Bight to the West of Norman Island is a safe, sheltered anchorage. Dine and dance and get into the party games on board the 1915 converted Willy T topsail schooner.
Virgin Gorda
This island hit the headlines in the 1960s when Rockefeller built Little Dix Bay Hotel here, but it was long before and since well known and loved for its beautiful lagoons and beaches. Swim or snorkel at The Baths, a unique rock formation with a myriad of secret pools and caves where you can take the cool walk through the tunnels to Devil’s Bay where surf is sometimes ideal for body boarding or surfing. Visit the famous Bitter End Yacht Club in North Sound or head for Spanish Town – a popular stop-over and the centre of shopping and sailing activity on the southwest side of the island.
Jost Van Dyke
Lying three miles NW of Tortola, Jost Van Dyke has less than 200 inhabitants and is an unmissable must on any BVI sailing holiday. Named after a Dutch pirate, this is a hilly island of perfect anchorages and sandy beaches. White Bay is a yachting favourite. The Painkiller cocktail originated here at The Soggy Dollar Bar which got its name through people diving off their boats, swimming ashore and hanging up their wet dollars to dry and pay for their drinks. There are hammocks and places to relax for the day. In the evening, head to infamous Foxy’s for great food and live music and entertainment.
Peter Island
The largest in the group between Virgin Gorda and St John, Peter Island has three very good anchorages a marina. Sprat Bay has 20 berths and some mooring buoys available. Deadman Bay can be a rolly anchorage in any swell but has good walks up for a great view when you can get ashore.
Anegada
Known as The Drowned Island this wildlife sanctuary is a refuge for colonies of flamingos, herons and ospreys. It’s also home to the endangered rock iguana, which can grow to five feet long. It’s well worth the careful navigation through the reef and age-old shipwrecks to reach the endless fine white sand beaches for a cast-away experience.
Antigua & Barbuda
Sailing Conditions…
Tidal range 12 – 18 inches
Line-of-sight sailing
Local Information…
Currency – Eastern Caribbean Dollar & US Dollar
Language – English
Time Zone – GMT – 4
Local Activities/Attractions…
Antigua Carnial – St. Johns, end of July
Antigua Race Week – April / May
International Test Cricket
Barbuda – bird watching
Water sports & beaches
The two separate islands that make up the joint country of Antigua and Barbuda may be within a 30 mile easy reach of each other, but they are world’s apart when it comes to character and lifestyle. Antigua is a party place where you can join the locals in a ‘jump up’ dancing to steel drums all night and enjoy duty-free shopping and all kinds of watersports. The unspoilt sister island of Barbuda with perfect pink sandy beaches and wild birds is where to go when you really want to get away from it all.
With warm, steady trade winds and so many idyllic safe harbours, Antigua is a fantastic yachting destination. The wonderful conditions make it an ideal venue for one of the world’s biggest sailing event, Antigua Race Week, renowned for world-class racing and all night partying, Caribbean style.
Neighbouring Barbuda is so undeveloped that it sometimes seems deserted, a tranquil paradise with pink beaches and complete solitude. Both islands offer a great range of anchorages.
St. Vincent
Sailing Conditions…
Tidal range of 18 inches
Prevailing wind – NE
Local Information…
Currency – Eastern Caribbean Dollar or US Dollar
Language – English
Time Zone – GMT – 4
Local Activities/Attractions…
Rainforest safari
Wind surfing
scuba diving
glass bottom boat cruises
Enjoy exhilarating sailing in steady, warm winds through a chain of more than 30 islands of varying beauty and character. The spectacular St. Vincent cruising area offers line-of-sight sailing and wonderful beaches with excellent snorkelling. Don’t be surprised to see turtles, and at certain times of the year, you may be accompanied by dolphins and even whales while out on the water.
The wild beauty and theatrical scenery of St. Vincent itself incorporates alluring landscapes of towering peaks with an endless variety of stunning palm-fringed beaches and superb snorkelling and diving. Our base on the southern tip of St.Vincent at the Lagoon Hotel and Marina, enjoys a delightful, protected anchorage, perfectly positioned for your sail south and for trips around the island itself. Capital of and gateway to the Grenadines, St.Vincent has adventure instore with a hike up La Soufriere volcano through the banana estates and rainforest for a breathtaking view. The tropical vegetation of the island creates a stunning backdrop for a powerboat trip to the Falls of Baleine, a quick drive to the Botanical Gardens or a trek inland on one of the nature trails.
