If you’re heading for the Virgin Islands any time soon, or even if you’re just thinking about cruising or chartering there, take a look at the new Cruising Guide to the Virgin Islands by Simon Scott. It’s an updated version of the guide that’s been helping cruisers in both the British and U.S. Virgins for 40 years.
The new 2022 version of the guide has everything you need to enjoy your cruise there: detailed charts with aerial photography of anchorages, plus piloting, anchoring and shoreside information. It has key GPS coordinates, customs and immigration regulations, and information about marinas, chandleries, dive services and the weather.
Sections about island connections include phone, email and website information so you can find marine services, businesses and restaurants easily.
Most important, at least at the start of your planning, is a fold-out, four-color, 27-inch by 17-inch chart covering all of the British and U.S. Virgin Islands. The guide, with 448 pages, covers St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. John, Jost Van Dyke, Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada, and the smaller islands nearby.
If you’re thinking about cruising south to the Leewards, there’s a section covering passages from the Virgins to the Leewards. At that point, the Cruising Guide to the Northern Leeward Islands picks up where this one leaves off.
The Cruising Guides were created by Simon and Nancy Scott while they were living on their own boat in the BVI and then while they worked in the bareboat charter business there for 20 years. They saw a need for a comprehensive guide to help cruisers and charterers there.
The guides include all the navigation information you’ll need, plus more about the rich history of the islands, the folklore and the flora and fauna, plus where to go snorkeling and where to go for shoreside entertainment, and even what to do in an emergency.
The new guide costs $37.95. Read more:
