One of the best things about taking children on a yacht charter in the British Virgin Islands is that the boat is only part of the adventure.
A week in the BVI can include snorkeling in caves, climbing through giant boulders, swimming from the yacht, exploring islands, spending an afternoon at a resort pool, riding in a dinghy, looking for sea turtles and finishing the day with ice cream on the beach.
But not every BVI stop is equally appealing to children, and you don't need to visit every island just because it appears on a typical BVI itinerary.
At Virgin Charter Yachts, we've been helping guests explore the BVI from our base at Nanny Cay since 1996. For families, we generally recommend building the itinerary around the ages of the children, how comfortable they are in the water and what your family actually enjoys doing.
Here are some of our favorite BVI stops and activities for families.
Norman Island: Caves, Snorkeling & a Great First Day
Norman Island is one of our favorite places to begin a family charter.
It's a relatively short trip from our base at Nanny Cay, which means children aren't spending their first afternoon aboard on a long passage. You can get settled on the yacht, cruise over to Norman Island and start enjoying the water.
The biggest attraction for families is The Caves at Norman Island.
Older children and confident swimmers can snorkel along the rocky shoreline and explore the entrances to the caves. Even children who aren't ready to venture far inside can enjoy snorkeling and swimming nearby.
For many children, this is the moment when the vacation really begins. Instead of simply going to another beach, they're exploring somewhere by boat.
If your family enjoys snorkeling, you may also want to visit The Indians, one of the BVI's best-known snorkeling sites near Norman Island.
VCY FAMILY TIP: Don't try to pack too much into your first afternoon. Norman Island works so well because you can get everyone comfortable aboard the yacht and still have time for a swim or snorkel before dinner.
Peter Island: Beach Time Without a Complicated Day
Peter Island is another easy addition to a family itinerary.
For children, sometimes the best charter days are the simplest ones: swim, play at the beach, have lunch and get back in the water.
Peter Island can provide exactly that.
It also works particularly well when you're deliberately keeping your itinerary flexible rather than moving the yacht every few hours.
Parents sometimes feel that they need to fill every day of a BVI charter with organized activities. You really don't. For many children, swimming from the yacht and taking the dinghy ashore are already adventures.
Cooper Island: Snorkeling, Beach Time — and Ice Cream
Cooper Island is an easy family favorite because there is something for almost everyone.
The water around Cooper offers snorkeling and swimming, while ashore Cooper Island Beach Club gives families a place to get off the yacht for a while.
There are restaurants and other amenities ashore, including the coffee and ice cream shop — which can quickly become considerably more important to children than whatever snorkeling stop the adults had planned for the afternoon.
Cooper is also a good example of why we recommend mixing activities throughout the week. Children don't necessarily want seven straight days of snorkeling. A swim followed by some time ashore and an ice cream can be exactly the right pace.
The Baths on Virgin Gorda: One of the BVI's Best Adventures for Kids
If we were choosing one BVI attraction that children are likely to remember years later, The Baths on Virgin Gorda would be high on the list.
Massive granite boulders form passages, pools and caves that make the area feel more like a natural playground than a traditional beach.
Kids can climb through the boulders, walk along the paths and explore the pools between the rocks.
There is one important distinction between how we recommend visiting The Baths and some of the generic BVI itineraries you'll find online.
We generally prefer taking the yacht to Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour and then taking a taxi to The Baths rather than swimming ashore from the offshore mooring area.
That can be particularly helpful with children. You're arriving by land rather than organizing a swim from the yacht with towels, shoes and everything else the family wants for the day.
It also gives you more flexibility to explore Virgin Gorda while you're there.
North Sound: One of Our Favorite Areas for Families
Families could easily spend two days around Virgin Gorda's North Sound, especially if the children enjoy a mixture of swimming, exploring and time ashore.
This is one of those places where we don't recommend rushing simply because your itinerary says it's time to move on.
You have several very different experiences within a relatively small area.
Leverick Bay
Leverick Bay is a particularly useful stop for families.
After several days of living aboard a yacht, having access to shoreside amenities can be a welcome change of pace. It's also a convenient base for exploring more of Virgin Gorda.
Bitter End Yacht Club
Bitter End is another fun North Sound stop where families can spend time ashore rather than treating every day as simply another beach or snorkeling destination.
Saba Rock
Saba Rock can be fun simply because of the location. Taking the dinghy over for a meal gives children another little adventure without requiring an entire day's excursion.
The larger point is that North Sound gives families choices. If everyone wakes up wanting a relaxing day, you can have one. If the kids want to be active, you have plenty of options for that too.
Necker Island: A Very Different BVI Experience
If you're looking for an activity that isn't another beach or snorkeling stop, consider arranging an excursion associated with Necker Island while you're in the North Sound area.
Necker is privately owned, so this isn't somewhere you simply take the dinghy ashore and explore on your own. Access requires an organized experience and availability can be limited.
For families interested in wildlife and marine life, however, this can add something completely different to the charter. Guests may have the opportunity to see and interact with some of the island’s wildlife, including ring-tailed lemurs, giant tortoises and other animals, depending on the tour experience available.
We recommend arranging excursions well in advance rather than waiting until you're already in the BVI.
Scrub Island: Pool & Waterslide Day
This may be one of the most underrated family stops in the BVI.
After several days of snorkeling, beaches and living aboard a yacht, ask a child whether they want to visit another beautiful beach or a resort with a big swimming pool and waterslide.
You can probably guess the answer.
When you stay at Scrub Island Marina, marina guests have access to resort amenities. The pool and waterslide are particularly popular with families.
It gives everyone a completely different day in the middle of the charter.
The adults may appreciate the resort amenities and shoreside showers just as much as the children appreciate the pool.
We don't think every charter needs to visit Scrub Island. But when we're helping a family build an itinerary, it is one of the optional stops we particularly like.
VCY FAMILY TIP: Scrub works nicely as you make your way west from Virgin Gorda or south from Anegada before continuing toward Jost Van Dyke.
Monkey Point: Add a Snorkeling Stop on the Way West
As you begin moving west toward Jost Van Dyke, Monkey Point at Guana Island can be a great snorkeling stop when conditions are appropriate.
This is the kind of stop that illustrates one of the advantages of exploring the BVI by yacht.
You don't necessarily need to make every location an overnight destination. Some of the most memorable places can simply be stops for a swim or snorkel along the way.
For families with children who enjoy being in the water, breaking up the trip with stops like Monkey Point can make the journey itself part of the day's activities.
Jost Van Dyke: Make It a Beach Day
Jost Van Dyke is one of the BVI's most famous islands and is worth including on many family itineraries.
For families, we'd treat Jost primarily as a chance to enjoy the beach and spend some time ashore.
One important point for our Virgin Charter Yachts bareboat guests: our bareboats are not permitted to enter White Bay. That doesn't mean you have to miss White Bay.
Instead, you can secure the yacht in an approved location and visit the beach from there.
That's an important distinction when you're planning your route because we don't want guests building an itinerary around taking one of our bareboats directly into White Bay.
What About Anegada With Kids?
We love Anegada, but this is where we'd plan around the individual family rather than automatically saying everyone should go.
Anegada is very different from the rest of the BVI. It's flat, remote and surrounded by beautiful water and beaches. Once ashore, families can explore the island and make an adventure of the day.
For older children and teenagers, Anegada can be fantastic.
You can rent a moke or scooter depending on age and licensing requirements, explore the island and beaches, and arrange experiences such as a conch or lobster tour with a local guide.
But families with younger children don't need to feel as though they've somehow missed the BVI if they skip Anegada.
The trip to Anegada adds more cruising time, and there is already an enormous amount for children to do around Virgin Gorda, North Sound, Scrub Island and the rest of the BVI.
Sometimes an extra day swimming, snorkeling and exploring closer islands is more enjoyable than trying to check another destination off the list.
Our Favorite BVI Stops by Type of Family
There isn't one perfect itinerary for every family.
For younger children, we'd lean toward shorter cruising days and stops that offer easy alternatives to being in the water all day. Norman Island, Cooper Island, North Sound and Scrub Island can work especially well.
For children who love snorkeling, Norman Island, The Indians, Cooper Island and Monkey Point give you plenty of opportunities to get into the water.
For adventurous older kids and teenagers, add The Baths, water activities, a Necker-area excursion and potentially Anegada.
For families who want a mixture of yacht life and resort amenities, build in North Sound and Scrub Island rather than spending every night on a mooring ball.
And if your children are perfectly happy swimming from the back of the yacht for three hours?
Don't over-plan it.
Sometimes the best family charter days are the ones where you abandon the schedule because everyone is already having fun.
Should Families Choose a Bareboat or Crewed Yacht?
Both can be excellent family vacations, but they're very different experiences.
A bareboat charter works particularly well for families where the adults already have the boating experience required to operate the yacht and want the freedom of running their own trip.
A fully crewed yacht charter adds a professional captain and chef. That means parents aren't responsible for operating the yacht, planning every meal and handling all of the logistics themselves.
For some families, that's the difference between taking the children on vacation and actually being on vacation with the children.
We offer both options, so our recommendation isn't that every family needs one particular type of charter. It depends on your boating experience, your children's ages, your group and how much you want to manage yourself during the week.
Don't Try to See the Entire BVI in One Week
This may be our most important advice for families.
You don't need to visit every major BVI island during a seven-night charter.
If the kids are having an amazing time somewhere, stay longer.
If everyone loves North Sound, spend another night there.
If your children would rather go back to the pool than make another snorkeling stop, go back to the pool.
The advantage of a private yacht charter is that your vacation doesn't have to follow a tour-bus schedule.
A good family itinerary gives you a general route and several great options along the way — but enough flexibility to change the plan once you discover what your children actually enjoy.
Planning a BVI Yacht Charter With Kids
If you're still deciding whether a yacht charter is right for your family, start with our Family Yacht Charter BVI Guide, where we cover the bigger questions about choosing a yacht and planning a family charter.
You can also explore our BVI Island Guide and BVI Activities Guide for more ideas.
Once you know what kind of charter you're looking for, our team can help you choose between a bareboat and fully crewed yacht, select the right yacht for your group and think through an itinerary that fits your children's ages and interests.
Virgin Charter Yachts has specialized in BVI yacht charters since 1996, and our team is based at Nanny Cay on Tortola.
The goal isn't to fit the most islands into seven days.
It's to build the week your family will actually enjoy.
Did You Know?
The BVI are only accessible by boat. Check out our charter yachts that can get you there. View Our Fleet
