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BVI sign in tropical color

BVI Ends Covid Testing Requirement

As of Friday, July 15, 2022, travelers to the BVI will no longer be required to present a negative covid test to enter the country as part of the BVI covid testing requirements. The government passed an amendment to the regulations on July 13th, announcing the move on July 14th.

Full details of the BVI announcement can be read here: Virgin Islands Dropping Covid Test Entry Requirements

A little background…
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, when travel was severely impacted across the globe and basically shutdown tourism completely, countries around the world have slowly gone from complete border closures (remember those days?) to allowing tourists to return, requiring additional entry requirements including completing online portals, proof of multiple negative Covid tests and instituting mandatory quarantines. All of which have either been frustrating obstacles many people have chosen to endure and take a much needed vacation to a beautiful destination anyway or have just simply decided to forego a vacation outside their own country’s borders and keep it local.

Even though a private yacht charter vacation is one of the most socially distant vacations you could enjoy, traveling to the destination has required more planning, preparation and coordination than pre-pandemic. However, our clients that have braved the travel protocols have made it clear that once you get through the travel on the front end and back end, that precious time in between, where your in the private space of a charter yacht with friends and family, surrounded by clear blue water and beautiful island scenery was well worth the extra steps to get there, especially after being cooped up for so long during the height of the pandemic.

Just in the past few months, many countries have begun to lift their Covid-induced entry protocols, making travel to those beautiful destinations much easier and a more pleasant travel experience for tourists. And finally, the British Virgin Islands, one of the most popular bareboat and crewed yacht charter destinations in the world, has joined those countries by lifting the protocol that requires the most prep and planning and is probably the number one factor when deciding to travel, their BVI covid testing requirements. With this protocol change, the BVI will surely again become the most sought after yacht charter vacation destination, bringing its tourism back to pre-pandemic levels.

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Catamaran sailing near a sandy beach in the Caribbean

Caribbean Sailing Seasons

Catamaran sailing near a sandy beach in the Caribbean

Here we are in late February, with spring a mere 3 weeks away, and as the days grow longer thoughts inevitably start turning to warm weather plans, it reminds me of a common misconception about Caribbean sailing seasons: the best time to sail is the winter.

The truth is that it’s not that the Caribbean sailing weather is particularly perfect in winter, it’s just that winter happens to be a great time to evacuate the upper half of North America whenever and however possible! The Caribbean is truly a year-round sailing destination. There are certainly better and worse times to go, but since the summers of 2004 and 2005, with their very active hurricane seasons, the perception that one should not go to the Caribbean in the summer has become more entrenched.

Yes, that’s right, the “H” word – I said it. You don’t often encounter the word hurricane in charter operators’ marketing material. Unfortunately, the risk associated with tropical storm systems has been greatly hyped by the media outlets who are given incentive to do so by way of ratings; and major networks have far, far more penetration into consumers’ attention span than do charter companies, and therefore the bareboat charter companies, and those who operate crewed yacht charters, safest strategy is to hope to avoid the subject altogether.

Hurricane season technically runs June 1 – November 30. So this means don’t book a Caribbean yacht charter then, right? I don’t think so. In fact, if I could pick any time to sail, (notwithstanding any desire I have to escape snow and ice), it would be April – June. While the Hurricane Season is technically on, a quick look at statistics shows you that early season storms typically form in the Caribbean Sea or Gulf of Mexico. Tropical storm systems almost always move east to west, (with the exception of Lenny the contrary, who moved west to east in the late ’90s); thus early season storms stand a very, very slim chance of impacting the majority of the Caribbean cruising grounds. It’s not until mid to late August that sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic rise high enough to be conducive to tropical storm formation.

So why would I choose April to June as my preferred of the Caribbean sailing seasons? Well, in the winter months it’s firstly much windier. Sure, 25 knots is a blast for an afternoon’s sail, but for for a whole week of bouncing around? That starts to become work, and isn’t why I go on vacation. Also, by April the North Atlantic storm activity is greatly reduced, and with it the likelihood of the ground swell it produces which makes north-facing anchorages uncomfortable at best and untenable at worst. The other big benefit? Spring and summer can often be notably less expensive than winter.

So by spring, you have more sunny days than Winter, 12-15 knots instead of 18-25, calmer seas and more anchorages to explore. I often like to charter from late April to the first week in June, as you get all of the aforementioned benefits, plus you’re between seasons so you’ll also find the cruising areas to be far less crowded.

By pointing these features of summer Caribbean sailing out, do I worry that less people might ultimately sail in the winter? Nope. A check of the weather tells me it’s 16 degrees out, and up to a foot of snow predicted for the weekend. The reasons vary, but sailing the Caribbean sounds good to me pretty much any time.

Ready to start planning your charter vacation? Browse Bareboats or Crewed Yachts to get started.

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