Art Hollidays in Paradise

Virgin Islands - painting and sailing

Extra Costs

Securing your dates
Once you have chosen your preferred yacht, we will place a complimentary hold on the yacht for your dates Yachts can be held for two business days without a deposit.

We strongly recommend that you reserve your flights before you pay your deposit on your painting and sailing vacation.

Overnight Mooring Fees
Yachts under 60ft pay $25.00 - $30.00/night. Mooring buoys are used on a first come, first serve basis. The majority of overnight anchorages have mooring buoys, but you should check your cruising guide for further details. The captain will pay the Fees to an agent who makes rounds or at several locations ashore. To be sure we secure a mooring buoy versus anchoring; we should arrive at our overnight anchorage by 3:30 PM - 4:00 PM during the high season and 4:30 PM - 5:00 PM during the low season. These times may even be earlier if there is a local event taking place.

BVI Cruising Tax
$2 per person/day during high season (December 1 - April 30) or $0.75 per person/day during low season (May 1 - November 30.)
BVI Cruising Tax when departing from St Thomas is $4 per person/day year-round.

BVI National Parks Permit
The BVI National Parks Permit allows you to use the mooring buoys at the National Park locations. These locations are all days stops (no overnight locations) The National Parks Permit is mandatory for all charters.

For a full schedule of rates and rules pertaining to entry into BVI National Parks contact the BVI National Parks Trust on (284) 494 3904.

BVI Departure Tax
$20/person (only if departing flight is out of Tortola.)
$5/person departure tax for ferries and yachts (payable in cash to the immigrations and customs office.)

Diesel Fuel
Diesel fuel is not included on all motor yachts and the majority of sailboats. The cost for fuel is $4.00 - $4.50/gallon. Many companies relieve the hassle of having to refill the fuel tank(s) at the end of your charter by charging an up-front pre-paid fuel charge. This fuel charge varies from $45/week to $245/week depending on the yacht size and company.

Water & Ice
Water costs approximately $0.10 - $0.15/gallon and ice costs approximately $3.00 - $4.00/bag. There are several locations to refill your water tank(s) and purchase ice within the cruising area. You may not need to refill your water at all during a one week charter, but you will purchase more ice every 2 - 3 days.

Captain only yachts & Bareboats with skipper
The captain/skipper is responsible for the safe operation of the yacht and the guests should be willing to help sail the yacht.

The guests are responsible to supply meals and beverages for themselves and the captain (and mate when applicable,) and do all the cooking and cleaning of the dishes and the yacht. The captain and mate require a private berth for the duration of your charter. He/she will show you all the sights of the Virgin Islands plus take you to the best snorkel spots and beaches.

The guests will need to pay for meals, beverages, fuel, water & ice, and BVI cruising taxes. A gratuity of 10-15% of the charter fee to the captain is customary.

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Virgin Islands - Sleepaboard

Sleepaboard or Hotel

Depending on your arrival time, you may want to spend your first night in a hotel or sleep aboard your yacht at a reduced rate. Sleepaboards generally allow you access to your yacht around 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM.

The sleepaboard is convenient since you have to unpack only once and is often an economical option for large groups. The cost is between $25.00/person up to 85% of the daily rate of the yacht. It also gives you the opportunity to do your provisioning ahead of time if you arrive at a reasonable hour. At the same time, you get the chance to become familiar with the yacht prior to the yacht orientation. Good time to check things out!

On the other hand a sleepaboard can be uncomfortable, especially in the summer when most marinas can be hot and buggy. The yacht's lights will be on, the refrigerator cold and there will be instructions describing the yacht's systems and where the head and shower are on shore. We recommend bringing a flashlight.

All companies offer a sleepaboard.

Most hotels will accept one-night reservations. Their prices start around $90.00 per room/night in low season and around $200 per room/night in high season, plus tax and service charge.

You can see & book a good selection of hotels at: www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g147404-St_Thomas_U_S... - 112k

Sleepaboard rates are posted on the individual bareboat company’s rate pages.

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Virgin Islands - Provisioning

Pre-arranged Provisioning versus Self-Provisioning
For any bareboat charter in the Virgin Islands you can either go to the grocery store yourself or have the Bareboat company provision the yacht for you so the food will be on board when you arrive. We also have outside gourmet provisioning companies that can provision any charter with any company.

Having the yacht pre-provisioned is the most convenient and a great choice if your vacation time is limited or if you prefer not to use your vacation time shopping. The food is of good quality and there are plenty of choices. In most cases you get to do quite a bit of customizing with these plans.

Provisioning yourself is usually the best choice for people who must pick out their own food.
The grocery stores offer food items you don’t see on the provisioning programs like yellow bell peppers, romaine lettuce, & whole legs of lamb (great butterflied on the grill.) You will also have a greater selection of beverages, beers, wines & liquors.

Typical prices for provisioning packages are

Dinners Ashore
Includes 7 breakfasts, 7 lunches and daily snacks @ $15.50 - 25.00 per person/day

Split Provisioning
Includes 7 breakfasts, 5-7 lunches & 4 dinners @ $21.00 - $28.50 per person/day

Full Provisioning
Includes 7 breakfasts, 5-7 lunches and 7 dinners @ $24.00 - $30.00 per person/day

A-La-Carte Provisioning
Allows you to completely customize your provisions and beverage orders. Prices vary depending on your order.

Not all charter companies offer all provisioning plans.

If your yacht charter includes hired crew, you are responsible for providing their meals and beverages so you must consider them when calculating your costs for provisions.

If you prefer to have most meals aboard, but would like to eat ashore a few meals, you would select the "split provisioning" option. If you have a party of (4) and you will be chartering for 7 days your costs would be calculated as follows:

(4) persons x $21.00 (split provisioning) x (7) days = $588.00

Once you confirm your charter, a provisioning list with set prices will be sent to you with your paperwork. Please note that beverage costs are not included in the provisioning plan fees. Lists for a-la-carte beverage orders will be provided together with your provisioning options.

If you decide to self-provision, the local stores are very good and offer a wide range of items. In St. Thomas, USVI, the prices are about 10% higher than in the U.S. In Tortola, BVI, the prices are about 15-20% higher.
When it comes to alcohol, however, the prices in the Virgin Islands beat the U.S. mainland in most cases. For example Jack Daniel's costs around $17 a bottle and Mount Gay Rum costs around $9 a bottle. Wines are slightly cheaper than US and the beer is a little higher. You will pay more for sodas, approximately $16 case for Coke.

When chartering with CYOA in Frenchtown, you can walk to the Pueblo supermarket and take a cab back. There is a Gourmet Galley (Phone # 340-774-5555) at the Crown Bay Marina in the next cove to the west.

When chartering out of the east end with any of the other companies, there is a good new store near Compass Point called "Food Center" open 7 days / week till 10:00 pm. There is a huge supermarket in Tutu (center of island) called Plaza Extra (Phone #340-775-5646).
There is a wonderful gourmet store in Red Hook called Marina Market (Phone # 340-779-2411).

Their are also small grocery stores in Cruz Bay, St. John.

The best provisioning company in St. Thomas is Fine Food Afloat (Phone # 340-776-2067).

There are many other smaller stores within the cruising area to reprovision some items during your charter.

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