Complete Provisioning Guide for Your Charter
Planning your food and drink supplies is a key part of preparing for your yacht charter. While this guide covers essential tips, we’ve created a more detailed provisioning resource to help you plan every aspect of your onboard experience.
This ensures you avoid overbuying, manage storage efficiently, and plan meals that suit your itinerary and group preferences.
Provisioning Options in the British Virgin Islands
Provisioning for your charter in the British Virgin Islands can be done in several convenient ways:
Pre-Order Provisioning
Order your groceries in advance and have them delivered directly to your yacht before arrival. This is ideal for:
- Heavy items such as water, beverages, and canned goods
- Saving time on arrival day
In-Person Shopping
Many guests prefer to visit local supermarkets to:
- Choose fresh produce
- Make substitutions based on availability
- Personalise their provisioning
Popular locations include Road Town and Nanny Cay.
Re-Provisioning During Your Charter
If you run low on supplies, there are several small supermarkets and shops across the islands where you can restock essentials during your trip.
Bareboat vs Crewed Provisioning
Your provisioning needs will depend on your charter type.
Bareboat Charters
- You are responsible for all food and drink planning
- Requires careful preparation and storage management
- Flexibility to dine onboard or ashore
👉 Learn more about bareboat charters:
→ /bareboat-charters
Crewed Charters
- Meals are prepared by a professional chef
- Provisioning is handled for you
- Fully customised dining experience
👉 Explore crewed charters:
→ /luxury-crewed-charters
Tips to Optimise Your Provisioning
To make your charter smoother and more enjoyable:
- Plan simple meals to reduce preparation and clean-up
- Balance onboard dining with meals ashore
- Store food efficiently due to limited space
- Keep hydration a priority throughout your trip
- Be flexible — island availability may vary
Start Planning Your Charter
Provisioning is just one part of creating a seamless charter experience.
👉 Browse available yachts:
→ /fleet
👉 Plan your itinerary:
→ /charter-planning
👉 Get expert assistance:
→ Contact our team for personalised recommendations
A good judge of how well you provision is the amount of food you are trying to give away at the fuel dock at the end of your charter. This might make you chuckle but most who have chartered before can honestly say...been there done that, more than once! Not that it’s a bad thing for some of the guys at the fuel dock, but here are a few tips that might be of help.
Don't Over Provision! We can’t stress this one enough.
For Breakfast...think about how your group will prefer to eat. Will you just want to make a pot of coffee for breakfast with each person grabbing a little granola, yogurt and fresh fruit as they wake up one-by-one? Or is there someone on your charter who is the type to be up at 6:00 a.m. cooking bacon and sausage, ready to make those custom omelettes for everyone else as they rise? And don’t forget, every dish used has to be washed...there are no dishwashers on most bareboat charter yachts!
For Lunch...How often will you will be grabbing a burger at the Burger Shack at the Baths or enjoying a pizza poolside while relaxing at Leverick Bay, or do you plan on staying in secluded areas of deserted islands mid-day most days?
And there’s Dinner...Standing on your yacht in Great Harbour, Jost Van Dyke late afternoon, exhausted from a day of snorkeling or paddle boarding with the choice of cooking for 8 versus jumping in the dinghy and heading into Foxy’s for some delicious Caribbean cuisine and island reggie….just sayin’
There is a huge tendency to over-provision when planning a charter. Realistically, there are sooo many good beach bars and restaurants ashore, even those with good intentions get island lazy. And rightly so. You are on vacation!
Rest assured, if you miss the mark, there are several locations to re-provision at some very lovely little supermarkets throughout the islands. Check out our map for updated information about these locations.
You Can Never Have Too Much Drinking Water
Although the water on the boat is potable, you really wouldn’t want to drink or cook with it if you don’t have to. We highly recommend that you include plenty of drinking water when ordering provisions for your charter. The general rule is to provide for one gallon of drinking water per person per day. I know, I know that seems like a lot but trust me, you will go through drinking water, especially if you are cooking and making coffee with it.
It is probably wise to start with at least half the recommended amount. Otherwise you might find that you are constantly making island stops to purchase more drinking water.
Green Idea: Purchase the gallon jugs and always keep one or two cold in a cooler. Use water bottles for each charter guest to refill and save the planet from all those individual plastic water bottles.
Check Your Provisions Before Leaving the Dock
We strongly suggest that you go through your order once you arrive at your charter. The provisioning companies do the best they can to fill your order as placed but don’t be surprised if there are things missing from your list or substitutions made. You’ll probably find that you will have to hit the Riteway at Nanny Cay for at least a handful of things that weren’t quite the way you hoped for when you placed the order.
Some of our charter guests prefer to provision the heavy items like canned goods, water, ice and beverages so they are there when they arrive at the boat. The rest...well they plan a trip to Road Town once on the island to do the balance of their provisioning themselves! That way they are assured that the produce is the freshest available and if substitutions need to be made, that You will be the one making those decisions.
Did You Know?
The BVI are only accessible by boat. Check out our charter yachts that can get you there. View Our Fleet
