Route · 7 days · round-tripYacht charter route · British Virgin Islands

Tortola round-trip.

Sail a seven-day loop from Tortola through the British Virgin Islands: Peter, Cooper and Norman Islands, Jost Van Dyke's beach bars and Cane Garden Bay.

The route

Day-by-day route

Click any pin on the map or any day in the route summary below to see that day's stop, story and photos.

Day 1

Tortola → Peter Island

A short first hop across the channel to Peter Island, easing the crew into trade-wind sailing before a quiet night at anchor.

Distance

5 NM

Sailing

~1h at 5 kn

At a glance

Route at a glance

Best season

November – May (peak Dec – Apr)

Duration

7 days

Departure

Tortola

Sailing area

British Virgin Islands

Route summary

Click any day to jump back to the map and see its photos, narrative and mooring tip.

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The full story

Day-by-day journey

Named anchorages, mooring notes and things to do for every leg of the week — the map follows along as you scroll.

Day 1 / 7

Day 1

Tortola → Peter Island

Most crews spend the morning provisioning in Road Town, so there's no rush to slip lines. The crossing to Peter Island runs barely five miles, a gentle beam reach that lets everyone find their feet before anything demanding. The trades come out of the east most days, and the channel stays flat behind the ring of islands. Great Harbour opens wide and deep on the north shore, with moorings along the southwest edge when the breeze allows. We usually prefer Deadman's Bay for the beach, a curve of pale sand with clean swimming straight off the boat. If you want solitude, Little Harbour to the east holds turtles grazing in the shallows and the old Percy Chubb estate ruins ashore. Sundown here is unhurried.

Things to do

Swim the sandy curve of Deadman's Bay

Find turtles grazing in Little Harbour

Top up fuel at Sprat Bay marina

Explore the old Percy Chubb estate ruins

Mooring tip

The southwest moorings in Great Harbour catch more breeze than they look, so pick one with swinging room. Sprat Bay has only five balls at close to double the going rate, so call the dockmaster ahead or take a slip if you want power and water.

Day 2

Peter Island → Cooper Island

Cooper sits a handful of miles east, an hour or so of relaxed sailing with the trades on the beam. Manchioneel Bay runs deep and the bottom is thick grass, so nobody anchors here anymore; the whole bay is a field of some forty balls set for boats up to sixty feet. Pick up early in high season, because this is a popular stop and the good spots go by mid-afternoon. Ashore, the Cooper Island Beach Club is the draw. The rum bar keeps well over two hundred bottles, the coffee shop roasts its own beans, and the kitchen leans on whatever comes off the local boats. Snorkel Cistern Point on the south side for reef fish and the odd turtle before dinner.

Things to do

Taste from Cooper Island's 200-label rum bar

Snorkel the reef at Cistern Point

Dive the RMS Rhone with Sail Caribbean

Try the beach club's own roasted coffee

Mooring tip

The bay is too deep and grassy to anchor well, so plan on a mooring; there are around forty at roughly twenty-five dollars a night, paid ashore at the club. Arrive by early afternoon in winter or you will be left with the rollier outer balls.

Day 3

Cooper Island → Scrub Island

This is a slightly harder morning. Scrub lies up past the east end of Tortola, so expect a spell of working to windward before you round Beef Island and lay the marina. Leave by nine if the forecast is brisk. Scrub Island Resort runs a real marina, fifty-odd slips with fuel, power and water, plus a mooring field off the bay if you would rather stay on the hook. After a few nights swinging at anchor, a berth alongside feels like a treat. There is a spa, a couple of pools, and Donovan's Reef down in the marina village for an unhurried dinner by the water. The resort's beach on the far side is worth the short walk over the hill.

Things to do

Berth alongside for fuel and water

Dinner at Donovan's Reef marina grill

Book a treatment at the resort spa

Walk over to Scrub's north-shore beach

Mooring tip

Book a slip ahead in season, as the marina fills with the resort's own traffic and the occasional mega-yacht up to a hundred and sixty feet. If the dock is full, the mooring field off the bay stays calm enough, and the fuel dock takes both diesel and petrol.

Day 4

Scrub Island → Jost Van Dyke

If any day earns a full main and a poled-out headsail, this is it. Scrub to Jost Van Dyke is a long reach and run down the length of the channel, the trades pushing you west past Tortola's north coast. Give yourself the morning; it's the sort of sailing people book the whole trip for. White Bay is the postcard: a thin strip of sand behind a reef, home to the Soggy Dollar Bar where the Painkiller was first mixed. The entry is narrow and shallow, so read the water carefully on the way in. Around the point, Great Harbour is the island's capital and the official port of entry, with Foxy's and its decades of yachtsmen's flotsam nailed to the rafters.

Things to do

Order a Painkiller at the Soggy Dollar Bar

Clear customs on Great Harbour beach

Catch a set at Foxy's Tamarind Bar

Swim ashore across White Bay's shallows

Mooring tip

White Bay has only eight to ten balls, paid at Ivan's for the eastern set or the Soggy Dollar for the western; the reef entrance is unforgiving, so go in slow and eyeball it. For a settled night, the moorings in Little Harbour hold better than anchoring in Great Harbour's thin sand.

Day 5

Jost Van Dyke → Cane Garden Bay

An easy morning after the long haul west. Cane Garden Bay sits just across the water on Tortola's north side, a sail of under two hours. The bay is a broad arc of sand backed by green hills, one of the prettier anchorages on the island. Aim to arrive by mid-afternoon. The mooring field and the sand patches outside it fill fast, and in winter a north swell can wrap in and set the whole bay rolling. If the forecast shows ground swell, think hard before committing; this is a surf beach for a reason. Ashore, Quito's Gazebo has been the heart of the place for years, with local seafood and Quito Rymer's own band most nights. There's a dinghy dock right out front.

Things to do

Catch Quito Rymer's band at the Gazebo

Tour the Callwood rum distillery up the road

Snorkel the reef at the bay's north end

Walk the long beach between the bars

Mooring tip

Get in by three in the afternoon in high season, because both the moorings and the sandy patches outside them go early. Skip the bay altogether if a northern ground swell is running; it wraps straight in and the anchorage turns miserable overnight.

Day 6

Cane Garden Bay → Norman Island

Today you cross back to the south side. Round the west end of Tortola and lay a course down for Norman Island, the rock most people take for Stevenson's Treasure Island. It's a fair sail, so plan the caves for the afternoon. The Bight is a huge, well-sheltered bay and one of the busiest mooring fields in the islands, with balls to spare most of the year. Before you settle, dinghy or swim to the caves at the western edge; three shallow grottos cut into the cliff, their walls crusted with orange and red cup coral. It's the most snorkeled spot in the BVI for good reason. Come evening, the Willy T floating bar and Pirates Bight ashore keep things loud and cheerful.

Things to do

Snorkel the cup-coral caves at The Bight

Snorkel the pinnacles at The Indians

Jump off the Willy T floating bar

Dinner ashore at Pirates Bight

Mooring tip

The Bight carries one of the largest mooring fields in the BVI, so even in a peak week you'll find a ball, though the inner ones near Pirates Bight go first. Use the day-use moorings off the caves for snorkeling and don't try to overnight out there; the bay proper is the only settled option.

Day 7

Norman Island → Tortola

The run home is short, six miles or so back across to Road Town, so there's no reason to rush off. Most charter companies want the boat back by late morning, which leaves time for a slow breakfast on a Norman Island mooring and a final swim. If you skipped the pinnacles at The Indians on the way in, they sit just off your track and make a good last stop. Otherwise, point the bow north across the channel one more time and enjoy the beam reach that's carried you all week. Top up fuel and water before you hand her back, settle the mooring receipts, and rinse the salt off the deck. A week in the BVI goes quickly, and this stretch always feels too soon.

Things to do

Last snorkel at The Indians pinnacles

Slow breakfast on a Norman Island mooring

Top up fuel before returning to base

Settle mooring receipts and rinse the deck

Mooring tip

Charter bases expect the boat back mid-morning, and the fuel docks at Road Town and Nanny Cay back up on turnaround days, so top off early. Leave enough time to hand over cleanly rather than arriving with the tank still to fill.

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