Sailing The British Virgin Islands Aboard Lola.
A few weeks ago, I embarked on an incredible journey aboard the 55-foot sailing yacht Lola, cruising through the stunning British Virgin Islands with close friends and family. Our aim? To celebrate a decade of love and companionship with my wife, Natasha.
This trip was a break from our usual routine. We're careful with our spending, but this adventure seemed like the perfect fit for our special occasion. As we boarded Lola, excitement mingled with uncertainty. Would it live up to our hopes?
The trip surpassed all expectations as we sailed through the warm, crystal-clear waters. I shared snapshots of our adventure on Instagram, @MoonMountainMan, and the response was overwhelming. To effectively share why this trip will go down as one of the greatest of my life, I'll focus on the top three highlights of the trip.
Custom-Made Itinerary
The first highlight of the trip was the custom-made itinerary tailored to our group's interests. Before the beginning of our voyage, we were sent a survey asking questions about our likes, dislikes, and what we wanted to do. From this survey, the crew put together a very loose itinerary for our trip. Once we arrived, we could fine-tune it each day to how we were feeling that day. Our interests primarily focused on snorkeling, hiking, and seeing the most beautiful places with few others around, and Captain Hugo made it happen. Over the five days, we visited many stunning spots, but my top three favorites are here:
- Island "Fallen Jerusalem": This island had giant boulders like the famous Baths area, but there was room for only two boats to anchor, so we were the only ones there for hours. The beach was my favorite part of the trip, and the snorkeling there was also incredible.
- Hiking the Baths at Sunset: The Baths are probably the most famous spot in the British Virgin Islands and are normally packed with people. However, because we didn't want to go with many people around, our captain took us there just before sunset, and we had the whole place to ourselves. It was truly magical to experience it by ourselves.
-Exploring Anegada Island: This is a relatively large island in the area, but unlike many of the other British Virgin Islands, it is isolated, which requires a bit of sailing to and from, which we loved. Anegada has a local vibe throughout and doesn't feel overly touristy. To explore the island, Capt. Hugo helped us go ashore and rent scooters, which we used to get around the island and explore. One of which was the beach, Flash of Beauty. Once again, we found ourselves nearly alone on a perfect white sandy beach. The real draw for this spot, according to Capt. Hugo, was snorkeling, and WOW! He was right. Swimming through the "Canyon" formed by the large coral was... wow. I don't have words for it. I saw so many fish, a reef shark, and several turtles.
Lola
The next major highlight was our catamaran, Lola. Lola is a 55-foot sailing catamaran that had ample room for our group of 8 and the two crew members, Capt. Hugo and Judith, the cook. Built in 2023, Lola is outfitted clean and outfitted with the best of the best. Lola features 4 guest cabins with queen beds, A/C, Private Bathrooms with Showers, SUPs, Snorkel gear, and more. We did have worries about feeling seasick, but being a catamaran, Lola was very stable to begin with, but also Capt. Hugo did an excellent job at anchoring in calm bays and adjusting travel as needed to accommodate.
I couldn't get over just how awesome it was to have our home away from home move around with us so that we could explore new locations throughout the trip, which really made this vacation stand out as one of the best. Most of the time when traveling, I think of renting a hotel room or similar and then having to constantly pack up and move places if we want to change locations throughout, but Lola seamlessly sailed around, which was fun on its own, making this a real game changer and maximized our ability to enjoy the short time we had on board.
The Crew
This was the first time I've ever taken a trip like this, so I didn't have any real expectations for the crew and just how important they were on this trip. they are to the success of a vacation like this and now that it's over, I can say that they went above and beyond to make the experience as incredible as it was.'. Hugo O'Kelly was our captain who not only navigated and sailed Lola flawlessly but also knew the area like the back of his hand and took us to stunning places, always at the perfect time of day, with few others around. This was a highlight in and of itself and listed above, which Hugo made happen. Once we were anchored and his job as a Captain was over, he didn't disappear somewhere but instead offered to make us cocktails from the open bar aboard Lola, and the drinks he made were so good while he also jumped in and assisted the other crew member Judith. Judith was our own private chef who prepared the included breakfast, lunch, and dinner aboard Lola. Prior to the trip, in the survey, we let her know the dietary restrictions and preferences of each member of our group. The meals she made were not only prepared flawlessly for each member, but they were delicious every time! I strongly believe good food is the key to any trip and normally when we travel, we spend probably hours reading reviews to find good places to eat. On those trips, sometimes we win, sometimes we lose, but aboard Lola, every meal Judith prepared was a win! We woke up in the morning to the smell of freshly baked muffins and coffee to enjoy while she prepared breakfast, and then while we swam and enjoyed locations throughout the day, she prepared lunch. I particularly loved the tacos and poke bowl she made. Once we were anchored for the night, Judith was busy preparing dinner, which was always accompanied by dessert. The fact that we had amazing meals every day for every meal without all the hassle that comes with a normal vacation is a game-changer and really made this trip just top-notch.
Cost
I could go on and on about how amazing this trip was, but now let's get to the part that everyone wants to know: "How much did it cost?" For our five-day all-inclusive cruise aboard Lola, the cost was $26,250, which we split between the 8 of us, which made it $3,281.25 per person. This isn't the kind of trip I could afford all the time, but for this special occasion, I can confidently say it was worth every penny and more, which I tipped to the crew who went above and beyond to make this an extra special experience. It is recommended to tip 15-20% to the crew. This is the cost for Lola, for more info on yachts or other yachts anywhere in the world, inquire here
How to Book Your Trip?
Lola, and a varying array of other yacht options, are available to charter through Myst Yacht Charters. They can assist you with finding the perfect yacht for your trip and group and get you all set up for what is truly the vacation of a lifetime. Myst is also the charter manager for a group of fully crewed yachts and handles the booking calendars for those!
Lola happens to be managed by Dream Caribbean Blue, who are a full service yacht management company. Dream Caribbean Blue handles everything from hiring crew, outfitting new yachts, and the day-to-day management of all of the yachts in their fleet.
