BVI National Parks Mooring Fees: A Traveler’s Guide

Every season we get some version of the same question from guests planning their own BVI itinerary before they book with us: “Do we need to pay to swim at the Baths?” The short answer is yes, sort of, but not in the way most people expect. It’s not an entrance fee at a gate. It’s a mooring fee, tied to the boat, tied to the National Parks Trust, and it trips up a lot of first-time bareboaters who don’t find out about it until they’re circling a mooring field with no idea what ball to grab or how to pay for it.

We’ve picked up thousands of these moorings over the years running our 37′ Axopar out of Nanny Cay, so we figured it was worth laying out exactly how the BVI National Parks Trust system works, which sites actually require a permit, what it costs, and how it factors into the decision between running your own boat and chartering with a licensed crew. Bookmark this one before your trip.

What the BVI National Parks Trust Actually Manages

The BVI National Parks Trust is the government body responsible for protecting the territory’s marine parks, and a big part of that job is keeping anchors off the reef. Coral doesn’t recover quickly from a dropped anchor or a dragging chain, so in designated park waters, anchoring is prohibited outright. Instead, the Trust maintains fields of permanent mooring balls that boats pick up and tie off to.

That system only works if it’s funded, which is where the day-use permit comes in. It’s a modest fee that goes toward maintaining the mooring fields, the buoys, and the reefs they’re protecting. Think of it less as an entrance ticket and more as your contribution to keeping those sites in the condition that made you want to visit them in the first place.

Which Sites Require a National Parks Permit

Not every anchorage in the BVI falls under this system, but the ones that do tend to be the most photographed spots in the territory. If your itinerary includes any of the following, a mooring permit applies:

• The Baths, Virgin Gorda — the granite boulder formations and swim-through grottos that put the BVI on every traveler’s list
• The Caves, Norman Island — shallow sea caves right off the boat, popular for snorkeling
• The Indians, Norman Island — a set of rock pinnacles with some of the best reef snorkeling in the territory
• Monkey Point, Guana Island — a quieter reef spot with good visibility and less boat traffic
• The Dogs — a small island chain between Tortola and Virgin Gorda known for dramatic underwater topography

A key detail people miss: these are day-use mooring fields only. Overnight mooring isn’t permitted at any of the five sites above. Boats need to grab a ball, enjoy the site, and relocate before dark. If you’re planning a multi-day bareboat trip, that means building in travel time to reach an approved overnight anchorage or mooring field elsewhere. We cover the layout of one of the most popular of these stops in our guide to visiting the Baths, and if Monkey Point is on your list, our Monkey Point snorkeling guide walks through what to expect underwater.

How Much Do BVI Mooring Fees Actually Cost

The National Parks Trust structures the day-use permit fee around group size rather than charging per person. As a rough guide, a smaller group of up to four guests can expect to pay somewhere around $25 for the week, while a larger group of up to about ten guests scales up toward roughly $55 for the week. These numbers move around from season to season, so we’d always tell guests to check current rates directly with the BVI National Parks Trust before finalizing a bareboat budget.

If you’re self-skippering for a full week and plan to hit several of the park sites, that permit typically covers the whole week rather than being charged per stop, which makes it a fairly small line item in the context of a full charter budget. It’s the kind of detail that’s easy to overlook when you’re pricing out a trip, though, so it’s worth folding into your planning early. We break down the bigger picture of what a week on the water actually costs in our BVI charter cost guide.

Overnight Moorings and Free Anchorages Outside the Parks

The National Parks day-use fee is only one piece of the puzzle. Once you’re outside those five protected sites, a different set of options opens up, and it’s worth knowing the difference before you’re trying to figure it out at 5pm with the sun going down.

Outside the park boundaries, plenty of bays offer overnight mooring balls that aren’t run by the National Parks Trust. Standard first-come, first-served balls generally run somewhere in the $30-40/night range, while the reservable “BoatyBall” moorings, which let you book ahead instead of hoping one’s open when you arrive, tend to run closer to $55/night. Again, treat these as approximate figures and confirm current pricing before you budget your trip, since rates shift with demand and season.

And then there’s the good news for anyone watching their budget: free anchoring is still very much a part of BVI cruising. Outside of park boundaries, on clean sand bottom, you can drop anchor at no cost. Popular free spots include Trellis Bay, Cane Garden Bay, Brewers Bay, and the outer reaches of North Sound. These tend to be excellent overnight stops precisely because they sit outside the day-use-only park restrictions.

Bareboat vs. Crewed: Who Actually Deals With All This

Here’s where the permit system becomes more than trivia. If you’re bareboating, all of this — figuring out which sites need a permit, picking up the right mooring ball correctly, paying the fee, knowing the day-use time limits, and finding a legal overnight spot before dark — falls on you. It’s manageable with some homework, but it’s one more thing to juggle on a vacation that’s supposed to be relaxing.

When you charter with a licensed, crewed operator, your captain handles the navigation, the permits, and the mooring logistics as a matter of course. That’s simply part of running the boat professionally. It doesn’t mean every fee disappears — a National Parks day-use mooring fee is a separate charge from the BVI cruising permit that covers the vessel itself — but it does mean you’re not the one sorting out which ball to grab at the Baths while your guests are already in their swimsuits. We go into more detail on how the bareboat, crewed, and private charter options compare in our bareboat vs. crewed vs. private charter breakdown.

To be clear on what’s included with us: our Full Day Charter and Half Day Charter both include a BVI cruising permit as part of the package. That’s a vessel and customs-related permit, not the same thing as the National Parks Trust day-use mooring fee at sites like the Baths or the Indians. What we can tell you is that our crew navigates those logistics on your behalf every time we take guests out, which is one less thing on your plate compared to running the paperwork yourself.

Quick Reference: Fees, Sites, and Rules

Keep this section handy while you’re planning. All figures are approximate and subject to change, so confirm current pricing with the National Parks Trust before your trip.

• Sites requiring a National Parks permit: The Baths (Virgin Gorda), The Caves (Norman Island), The Indians (Norman Island), Monkey Point (Guana Island), The Dogs
• Day-use permit fee: roughly $25/week for up to 4 guests, scaling to roughly $55/week for larger groups up to about 10 guests
• Overnight rule at protected sites: not permitted — these are day-use mooring fields only, so boats must relocate before dark
• Overnight moorings elsewhere: roughly $30-40/night for standard balls, roughly $55/night for reservable BoatyBall moorings
• Free anchoring spots: Trellis Bay, Cane Garden Bay, Brewers Bay, outer North Sound (clean sand, outside park boundaries)
• Anchoring on coral or in marine park waters: prohibited — use a mooring ball
• Where to check current rates: bvinpt.org/parks

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a permit to snorkel at the Baths?
If you’re arriving by boat, yes — the mooring field at the Baths is part of the National Parks Trust day-use system, and picking up a ball there requires the permit fee. If you’re arriving by land through the entrance at the top of the trail, that’s a separate land-based access fee handled on-site rather than the boat mooring fee.

Does my charter captain handle the permit?
When you book a crewed charter, the captain handles the on-water logistics of getting your boat onto the right mooring, navigating between sites, and managing the practical side of the day. Our Full Day and Half Day charters already include a BVI cruising permit for the vessel as part of the package — that’s separate from the National Parks day-use mooring fee, so it’s worth asking your operator directly how that fee is handled on your specific trip.

Can I anchor overnight at the Indians or the Caves?
No. Both are day-use mooring sites only. You’re welcome to spend the day there, snorkel, and enjoy the mooring field, but boats need to move on to an approved overnight anchorage or mooring elsewhere before nightfall.

Is anchoring ever allowed instead of using a mooring ball?
Not within marine park boundaries — anchoring on or near coral is prohibited to protect the reef, so a mooring ball is required at those sites. Outside the parks, anchoring on clean sand is allowed and free at spots like Cane Garden Bay or Trellis Bay.

How much should I budget for mooring fees on a week-long bareboat trip?
Between the National Parks day-use permit (roughly $25-55 for the week depending on group size) and a few nights of standard or BoatyBall overnight moorings (roughly $30-55/night), it adds up to a manageable but real line item. Confirming current rates with the National Parks Trust before you finalize your budget is worth the five minutes it takes.

Let Us Handle the Logistics

If sorting out mooring fields, permit fees, and overnight anchorage rules sounds like more homework than you want on vacation, that’s exactly the gap a crewed charter fills. Our captains know these waters and these mooring fields well enough to get you from the Baths to Monkey Point without you thinking twice about logistics. Take a look at our Full Day Charter options or reach out through our contact page to talk through an itinerary built around the sites you actually want to see.