Once someone learns I’m a licensed charter skipper, they often ask, “Where’s the best place to go?” It’s a tough question because it’s nearly impossible to answer, since everyone looks for different experiences on their bareboat charter vacation. But I do like to share tips about the hidden gems I’ve found over the years. The locations highlighted here have some hidey holes that can take the cruising experience to the next level. A number of reputable charter companies operate in these places, including Dream Yacht Charters, The Moorings, Sunsail, and Navigare Yachting, and they all have a mix of monohulls and catamarans, both power and sail. I like these places because they aren’t as busy as the British Virgin Islands or the Bahamas, so you can leave the crowds behind. You’ll need solid boating skills and an adventurous spirit, but the reward is an elevated charter experience.
Tobago Cays & Union Island, Grenadines
St. Vincent and the islands of the Grenadines extend along a crescent-shaped string of the Windward Isles in the Caribbean. However, the better place to start a charter is Grenada to the south, which has more flights and more charter bases than St. Vincent. After checking into the country on Union Island ask for a mooring near Clifton and visit Janti’s Happy Island, which can only be reached via dinghy because this tiny isle was built on the reef by Janti himself from thousands of old conch shells and a generator. If the weather is kicking up on the front side, take shelter around back in Chatham Bay and have dinner at Shark Attack, with its advertised “Figure Licking Food.”
The next island group to the north of Union is the Tobago Cays, which was designated a Marine National Park in 1998. These islands are tucked behind a horseshoe reef so you’ll be in protected waters as you swim, snorkel and maybe kiteboard. Parts of the Pirates of the Caribbean series were filmed here and you can just imagine Captain Jack Sparrow with a rum bottle rounding the corner of the beach. Snorkel with turtles off Baradel Island, buy T-shirts from the “boat boys,” and book a barbeque dinner on the beach with bare lightbulbs lighting your conch chowder. The lobster on the open grill and the local Hairoun brew are always divine but bring bug spray or you’ll be the meal.
Pakelni Otoci & Vis Island, Croatia
Croatia isn’t exactly a secret these days but there are a few places that not everyone knows. If you hike up to the fort on the island of Hvar, just across the bay you’ll see Pakelni Otoci, loosely translated as Hell’s Islands. This group of islets is popular with local yachties. In one small anchorage on Sveti Klement is a cove where you can catch a mooring and, with reservations, visit The Fisherman’s House, a family restaurant operated entirely in a lovely back yard.
Farther south is Vis. Vis is famous for its network of secret tunnels dug for Josip Broz, also known as Tito, who headed the resistance during WWII, and led communist Yugoslavia postwar. With a guide, you can tour this labyrinth of passages that still has electricity. For a truly bizarre experience, check out Tito’s submarine tunnel on the western tip of Hvar Island. Featured in a James Bond movie, this structure was used to hide submarines and small military ships.
For a natural wonder, head from Vis to Bisovo and its Modra Spilja (Blue Cave). You can’t visit with your own dinghy so flag down one of the guides who circle the anchorage. When the light is bright outside, you’ll be treated to a glowing blue cave inside with a tiny entrance only the locals can find.
No charter in Croatia would be complete without the ubiquitous German sailors doing naked calisthenics on deck in the morning (modesty be damned), and Sljivovica, the local liquor that will take paint off your car.
Placencia, Belize
Another hot spot off the beaten path in the Caribbean is Belize on the Central American coast. The town of Placencia, where the charter bases are, is either a 45-minute puddle jump flight or a 3-hour shuttle bus ride south from Belize City, where international flights land. The Placencia peninsula is a long strip of land bordered by white sand and mangroves. Before being given a boat here, the charter skipper must obtain a Belize Port Authority Temporary Certificate of Competency from the government and watch an online video about the very shallow waters where the coral heads are plentiful and the navigation rules are interpretive. Keep one eye on the charts and one over the side because it’s best to have multiple sources of information on the depth contour.
There are numerous islands to explore, but Ray Cay is a highlight for its fantastic restaurant and the preserve that borders it to the north. You must use a local guide to snorkel here because it’s a national park. The best part is anchoring next to one of the small fishing boats that fill their holds before they return to the mainland. Sharks, remoras and giant rays gather for the smorgasbord that’s served when the fish are cleaned.
An even more remote outpost is the Pelican Beach Restaurant in the Pelican Cays. It’s owned and operated by a family that has carved out a home as well as a bar on this coral cay and live off the grid on a generator, with a teenager who relishes every minute of the sparse WiFi.
Sea of Cortez, Mexico
Between the Baja Peninsula and the Mexican mainland lies the Sea of Cortez, which Jacques Cousteau called the “aquarium of the world.” In winter you can watch whales breaching for hours and in summer, pods of dolphins play off the bow. Charter bases are in La Paz, a perfect jumping off point for nearby Isla Espiritu Santo and its neighbor, Partida, both of which became part of the Unesco Biosphere Reserve in 1995. These islands look like one from a distance but are separated by a narrow cove called Los Islotes, a must-visit place with stark rock formations and a sea lion rookery. You’ll need to anchor the big boat around the corner in a nearby cove and then dinghy to Los Islotes and tie off to one of the panga moorings if they’re free. Then jump in to snorkel with the sea lions. Careful though, the males are territorial and will swim at you, blowing bubbles to let you know who’s boss.
Beach combing is terrific all around the Sea of Cortez, including Isla San Francisco or on the peninsula where dried cactus looks like petrified driftwood. At the bottom of Isla San Jose is Bahia Amortajada, a mangrove lagoon that you can tour by dinghy. The entrance to the channel is tucked in a corner of the beach and once inside, you’ll be surrounded by birds and turtles as you wind your way through, most likely completely alone.
Instead of heading to the marina on the last night of the charter, anchor in nearby La Balandra Cove with its famous mushroom rock. It’s a shallow anchorage perfect for swimming with bat rays and watching the sun set behind the mountains one last time. Other than January and February when it’s cold, and September when there’s a small chance of a hurricane (much smaller than in the Caribbean), the Sea offers great desert scenery and the brightest night skies anywhere, for most of the year.
Cyclades Islands, Greece
In the Mediterranean, a real highlight for bareboat charter excursions is Greece. There are many island groups to see here, but if you’re up for some bigger water and wind, head south from Athens to the Cyclades, the fabulous but less chartered islands with a real Greek feel. Variety is the reason to go because every island is different. Note, however, that navigation can be comedic since each town has at least two names with five spellings, which can be confounding when you add in the Greek alphabet.
If you’re bold enough to head far south, you won’t regret visiting Milos, where the Venus de Milo is said to have been unearthed by a farmer around 1820. It’s rumored she still had her arms back then. In the morning, wait two hours after the local Zorbaesque captains depart the town of Adamas on their boats, which will be loaded with hotel tourists, and then follow their route down the western side of the island. They’ll be leaving each location just as you arrive, which means you’ll have it to yourself. First stop is the topless cave of Sikia, where you dinghy into a giant private swimming hole. Then, continue to Kleftiko, which is ringed by purple and green caves and rock formations.
On the way back north to Athens, dock at Paros Island and take the ferry to neighboring Antiparos to the west. There, you can visit a 300-foot deep, 45-million-year-old cave. It’s worth the 411 stairs you’ll have to climb down and then back up. Afterwards, call ahead for a lunch reservation at the Rooster Wellness Center and Spa, where the staff glide by silently in silk pajamas and whisper about hot stone treatments. The cuisine is all organic, the cocktails are art sculptures, and the ocean view will make you consider relocating permanently.
Tahaa and Bora Bora, Tahiti
Bareboat charter operations are clustered on the island of Raiatea in French Polynesia, which is a short flight from the island of Tahiti Nui, or the big island. Most of the charter boats here are power or sail catamarans with a shallower draft that lets you breathe easier in the clear, skinny waters around the motus, which are the islands on the fringing reefs. I have a few favorite snorkel spots and beautiful vistas that I can’t miss no matter how many times I return.
The islands of Raiatea and Tahaa share a fringing reef and you can anchor in its protected waters near Tau Tau motu, where you’ll be rewarded with the view of a lifetime as the sun sets behind Bora Bora to the west. Dinghy to the motu for a drift snorkel. Bring your reef shoes because you’ll need to walk across broken coral to start on the ocean side. Then wade in and float back to the dink, counting the number of multi-colored clams embedded in the coral. For extra fun, bring some great local French bread to feed the fish. They’re simply mad for it.
There’s really no place like Bora Bora. It is a busy destination but there are still a few secret spots. I suggest entering via Teavanui Pass on the western side and heading past the main village of Vaitape to the back side, where you drop anchor in 25 feet. The next morning, dinghy to the middle of the lagoon and tie up to one of the small moorings. Swim toward deeper water closer the island. If you’re there by 7:00 a.m., you’ll see giant manta rays feeding in the current below. The last time I was there, I had four gliding beneath me like huge dark kites.
For spectacular reef views, you can’t beat the island of Huahine. It’s a bit of an upwind thrash to the east from Raiatea, but this remote island wraps itself in watercolors that are unimaginable, until you see them in person. Another bonus is that the locals here see fewer yachty tourists, so they’re more relaxed as they go about their daily lives.
December 2024
