BVI Sailing Journal 2026 - By Isla, Nautilus

This year, after 13 years, we decided to return to the beautiful British Virgin Islands for a fantastic celebratory holiday. The last time I visited the BVI I was only 14 years old and I feel I did not appreciate the beauty and specialness of the area. Having now re-visited this special destination, I can really see why it is referred to as the sailing mecca of the world. We chartered a spacious Lagoon 46 for two weeks from one of Nautilus’ long-standing industry partners, Navigare. Despite the weather being ever so tropical and having to adjust our proposed itinerary a fair bit, we still had an incredible holiday; so come along with me as I share the details of our charter.

Day 1 - Travelling to Nanny Cay

An early alarm call started our exciting journey to Nanny Cay. We took the 09.30 flight from LGW, arriving in ANU at 14.15. This gave us a few hours at Antigua airport to clear customs and self-transfer to our InterCaribbean flight leaving ANU at around 17.30. The prop plane to Beef Island was definitely more exciting than the 777 we had arrived on. I had pre-ordered airport-to-base transfers with the base team, and our brilliant driver took us to the base at Nanny Cay. We arrived at the base, jumped on board our new home, Taisia, and unpacked our Riteway food shop I’d ordered in advance (best decision), before getting an early night ahead of our first day on the water.

Day 2 - Normal Island

Sunday morning consisted of collecting our boat papers and charts from the office, having our technical check-in with one of the base engineers, Jason, and securing our SunChill and noodles from BVI SUP Co and SUP from Island Surf & Sail.

We left the marina just after midday and one of the deckhands took us out of Nanny Cay. The concierge service is a wonderful perk that is offered free of charge with their charters. Our first night's stay was Bites Bay, Norman Island, and this was the only bay on our planned itinerary that did not have a reservable mooring on BoatyBall, so we were very fortunate to come across an empty buoy. We had literally just moored up and were greeted by an enormous turtle swimming past our boat, and it really felt like we had arrived in paradise. In Bites Bay, you will find the famous Willy T’s floating bar and Pirates Bite restaurant, both of which you must visit. We all enjoyed getting in the warm Caribbean waters for the first time this trip.

Day 3 - Soper’s Hole, Tortola

I woke early on Monday morning to book our BoatyBall Buoy for Sopers. BoatyBalls can only be booked from 07.00 on the day you intend to stay overnight, so you need to get online quickly to book your preferred location if you are sailing during peak season. A successful mission was accomplished and we had our first booking confirmed on BoatyBall. After breakfast, we enjoyed our sail down to Soper’s and located our buoy with ease. We spent the afternoon soaking up copious painkillers at Pusser’s Landing and managed to fit in a little walk around the area in between the tropical downpours. Dinner that evening was served on board with steaks on the BBQ, followed by a couple of games of cards. We went to bed praying for a drier next day …

Day 4 - Soper’s Hole, Tortola

Rain, rain, rain and more rain! The weather was not on our side today, so our itinerary had to be amended slightly and we had to stay at Soper’s for another day. I booked a BoatyBall first thing in the morning and we changed buoys a few hours later. As the weather was slightly less favourable, we spent the day playing cards, reading and dodging the rain showers on our dinghy journeys to shore. Today’s highlight was finding double-raspberry Magnums in the supermarket and my outfit unintentionally matching one of the boutiques in the marina. For the second night in a row, we went to bed praying for a drier day…

Day 5 - Great Harbour, Jost Van Dyke

It was a miracle, I woke today with blue skies and an instantly brighter mood. We had decided last night that we would go to Foxy’s for dinner in Great Harbour and I managed to secure our BoatyBall to moor there overnight. Very soon after we dropped our bow lines and headed out of the channel, the heavens opened and we experienced rain like never before. We had planned to have a relaxing sail over to Great Harbour, but this plan was quickly changed. We looped outside the entrance of Great Harbour until we could see our BoatyBall become available, and just as we went to moor up, the rain started to ease. By this point in the week, we had become very sleek with our mooring up, with everyone having a designated role in setting up the bridle. We were so grateful to see the blue sky return and enjoyed an afternoon swimming in the sunshine, snorkelling with the fish and turtles, and making good use of our SunChill, SUP and Noodles.

I dinghy-ed us to shore, tied the dinghy up on Foxy’s dinghy pontoon, with one crew member almost ending up in the water …, and walked across the road to the restaurant. We shared a gorgeous selection of starters between us, and I had the famous Foxy’s spare ribs and they did not disappoint. On a Wednesday at Foxy’s, they have karaoke, which is always a good way to end the night!

Day 6 - White Bay, Jost Van Dyke and Diamond Cay, Little Jost Van Dyke

I think looking back, the next 36 hours were my favourite of the trip. After a quick swim and trip to the supermarket for the essentials (crisps, tonic water, lemons, wine & ice), we headed out of Great Harbour and headed round the headland to White Bay. As it was looking pretty full directly opposite the Soggy Dollar, we decided to anchor on the east side of the bay, which has great hold, and dinghy over the reef to the other side of the bay. We beached the dinghy and strolled down the beach and found a table to claim for the afternoon at the Soggy Dollar Bar. We enjoyed a few rounds of painkillers, had a wonderful lunch, a paddle in the sea and played the swingy hook game many times. I had WhatsApped people back at home to log onto the live webcam at the Soggy Dollar and made sure to wave at them throughout the afternoon. After a sensational afternoon at the Soggy, we had a gentle sail back up Jost Van Dyke to Diamond Cay. We enjoyed the late afternoon rays on the bow of the cat and as the sun began to set, we were treated to a beautiful pink sky, which just rounded off the day perfectly.

Day 7 - Cane Garden Bay, Tortola

One of my colleagues had told me that we must visit Bubbly Pool if we moored at Diamond Cay, so this was our adventure this morning. The walk there is around 1km each way and you will definitely want water shoes for this. Once you reach Bubbly Pool you are greeted with the most incredible natural jacuzzi. We were fortunate that there were only two other people in the pool when we arrived. The force at which the waves roll in through the rocks is extraordinary, and what blew my mind was the next bit of land outside the pool is Halifax, Canada!

We enjoyed a quick drink at Foxy’s Taboo before heading back to Taisia and making our way to Cane Garden Bay. We enjoyed a very leisurely sail across the channel and enjoyed the peace and quiet of turning off the engines for a few hours. We grabbed our mooring buoy in CBG and I enjoyed taking the SUP around the bay before showering and getting ready for dinner. We were treated again to a beautiful sunset before heading ashore for dinner at Rhythm & Sands, which we had visited 13 years ago pre-Irma. I had been craving a big bowl of pasta and a good glass of rose all week, and dinner did not disappoint!

Day 8 - Monkey Point, Guana Island and Marina Cay

Between all the crew we had many errands to run this morning, consisting of bin emptying, morning runs and taxi journeys to the pharmacy (on the other side of Tortola…). We all reconvened at the Paradise bar on the beach for a quick coffee before starting our journey to Monkey Point on Guana Island. We had visited here for a lunchtime swim the last time we were here, and coming back 13 years later I had not appreciated quite how beautiful this bay was. The colour of the water was so strikingly blue against the crisp white sandy beach that lay behind it, and I truly felt like I was in paradise. We had a paddle in the water, enjoyed snorkelling with the fish and a quick lunch before motoring past both Little and Great Camanoe Island and Beef Island watching the planes land as we arrived at Marina Cay. Marina Cay is a tiny island, about 8 acres in size, which has one restaurant and a little boutique shop. There is a magnificent reef in the waters here, which is certainly worth swimming over to as you feel as though you are standing in the middle of the sea! We had to chance the weather for our dinghy ride over to Marina Cay as, you guessed it, it started to rain just as we had showered and got ready. Thankfully, the rain stopped and held off for us to get to shore. That evening I opted for a spicy margarita and their popular Thai Caribbean Fusion Curry, and this was certainly a wise choice. The weather seemed to deteriorate the further we got through our meal, which only meant one thing - another round of post-dinner cocktails!

Day 9 - Leverick Bay, Virgin Gorda

It's Super Bowl Sunday! My brother had only one request for this holiday, and that was to find somewhere decent to watch the game. Prior to our charter, I had done some research as to where a good place would be to watch the Super Bowl, and after phoning Leverick Bay, I spoke with the lovely Tyreek and he booked us in for the night. As we sailed up towards the North Sound, we passed the Dog Islands before coming round the reef at the far end of Moskito Island, and entering through the channel towards Leverick. We were moored dockside today, which was quite a nice treat as it meant I had the evening off dinghy driving duties. Leverick Bay was the one place that I had very fond and prominent memories of from our last visit. Even though the hurricane had hurt Leverick Bay, it still looked exactly the same with its red-roofed buildings and swimming pool that I remembered playing in with friends on our last visit. It was very nostalgic. Tonight we were also blessed with a land shower which I made full use of, before getting dressed and heading to The Cove for dinner and the Super Bowl showing. There was a wonderful atmosphere in the restaurant and there was a large group of Seattle Seahawks fans, who really encouraged us to join in and explain what was going on. Needless to say, I was clueless watching the entire thing, but with good company, a good cocktail and a bowl of broccoli pasta (I know, a strange dinner in the Caribbean), it was a brilliant evening all round!

Day 10 - Leverick Bay, Virgin Gorda

We had plans of heading to Saba Rock today; however, the winds were extremely strong, and so we decided to stay another night at Leverick Bay. Which was great for me, as I got to go on a lovely (but hilly) morning run. I spent the late hours of the morning enjoying a couple of chapters in my book before taking a little stroll around the resort. On our way back to the boat, one of the waitresses collared me and invited us to the Pirates show that evening. Being a little unsure of what this would entail, I chose one of the tables set back from the stage. We joined the Pirates party just before 17.00 to make use of the last of Happy Hour and I can hand on heart say that we had not laughed so much on this trip yet. If you are planning on visiting Leverick Bay, you must go on a Monday to experience the show. We ate dinner while watching the show and joined in the conch-blowing competition and sea shanties that were being sung.

Day 11 - Bitter End Yacht Club, Virgin Gorda

Bitter End Yacht Club … my favourite place in the BVI. Although the mooring here, whether on the dock or mooring buoy, is a little more expensive than other locations in the BVI it is certainly somewhere you must visit, especially if you are there celebrating a special occasion. I had pre-booked our mooring on the dock for Tuesday evening, and we arrived in such glorious weather that it just made the stay feel that bit more special. We motored up from one end of the North Sound to the other, with the fantastic deckhands on the quay to help guide us in. From the moment you arrive at BEYC, you just know you are somewhere special. Fun fact - the BEYC sign on the beach is the OG sign pre-Irma, which was reclaimed from the seabed amongst the hurricane wreckage. I was very fortunate to receive a guided tour of the property by Chris during the afternoon, before we were invited to have sundowners at the Quarterdeck bar. We enjoyed a glorious dinner at the Clubhouse restaurant on Tuesday evening, and I had a wonderful seafood fettuccine dish, which was just superb.

Day 12 - Bitter End Yacht Club, Virgin Gorda

I did not succeed in my mission of booking a BoatyBall for Saba Rock on Wednesday morning due to the island wifi having a wobble. However, after asking the extremely helpful Treyvon, he had one mooring buoy left for that evening, which we were able to reserve. I took the opportunity to go for another run up and down the length of the resort, before enjoying a mid-morning coffee and bun at the Reef Sampler. After leaving our dockside mooring and picking up our mooring buoy in the bay, I managed another couple of hours reading before it was lunchtime and a couple of us headed to the Buoy Room for one of their amazing pizzas for lunch. The family who own BEYC also own and run one of the most popular pizzerias in Chicago and they’re renowned for their pizza bases. I booked us a table for the Buoy Room for dinner later that evening and we enjoyed a more relaxed meal there that evening and finished the evening off with a hilarious card game back on board Taisia. Even though we didn’t sail again today, we still had a beautiful day.

Day 13 - Saba Rock, Moskito & Necker Island

Well … this was a day I will never forget. We are very fortunate that a friend of ours works closely with one of the villa owners on Moskito Island, and we were very lucky to have a special non-sailing day adventure. We left BEYC and headed back down the North Sound and moored on one of the private Moskito buoys, before jumping on board one of the Moskito speed boats and were taken to Necker Island! We were met by the incredible Charlie, who looks after the island’s animals, and jumped into a buggy and headed straight to the Necker shop … needless to say I bought myself a lovely sweatshirt as a memento. If you know me, you know I love flamingos, so my day was made when we pulled up at one of the lakes to feed the flamboyance of flamingos. We also got to have cuddles with and feed the lemurs, kangaroos, monkjack deers and Emily the 60 year old tortoise before jumping back on our speedboat to head to Saba Rock for a boozy afternoon of sundowners. After seeing the Tarpon feeding, lots of dancing in the Sunset Bar and far too many glasses of wine at Saba, we sped back to Moskito for a wonderful BBQ hosted at the Morris Villa.

Day 14 - Nanny Cay

I would be lying if I woke up feeling fresh and ready for our last day of sailing, but after a few too many drinks and lots of dancing, my head was slightly fuzzy this morning. After a quick swim to wake myself up, we dropped the mooring lines and sailed off the buoy and out of the channel, back around Moskito Island and had the most incredible days sailing. We were so fortunate to have had a last day as special as this. Once we approached Nanny Cay, I radioed the base team, and one of the base technicians came and met us on a rib, jumped on board and took us to the fuel quay and then to the pontoon to dock. We enjoyed a walk around Nanny Cay and booked dinner at Peg Legs for later that evening. A final evening of sundowners on Taisia were had before strolling over for dinner, which was a wonderful BBQ and a perfect way to round off our trip.

Day 15 - Travelling Home

Disembarkation is at midday, so we had plenty of time in the morning before leaving Taisia. I managed one final run this morning, before joining the crew for breakfast at Omar’s, and quickly back to the boat to pack the last of my things up. We left our luggage at the base office and headed round to the beach bar for a final painkiller. We took our taxi back to the airport and spoke about all the amazing memories we had made on this holiday. I cannot leave it as long as the last time until I visit again, and do I have decided to return in 3 years to celebrate my 30th birthday! I really was extremely fortunate to have visited the places I did on this holiday and will forever remember the memories that were made on this trip.