BoatyBall – Reserving a Mooring in Paradise
Want to reserve a mooring ball in your favorite spot in the BVI? There’s an app for that at BoatyBall.com.
This new service has been around for about a year now. The company has installed bright orange mooring balls at popular locations around the British Virgin Islands which can be RESERVED online ahead of time. Everyone who has been to the BVI during a busy charter season knows that this is a game changer.
BoatyBall currently offers mooring balls in Anegada, Diamond Cay and Great Harbour (Jost van Dyke), at Cooper Island, Cane Garden Bay (Tortola) and Leverick Bay. The number of balls available at each location is limited and they can only be booked the day of. Reservations are accepted starting at 7 AM and they sell out quickly so it’s worth setting a “BoatyBall alarm”. Once you’ve confirmed your reservation, the mooring ball is yours from 12 PM to 12 PM the next day.
We tested out BoatyBall’s genius service during a recent BVI trip and thoroughly enjoyed the peace of mind of not having to rush to snag a mooring ball. Every morning started with a 6:55 AM alarm and a very short-lived gamble. Upon successfully reserving a ball, we received an immediate email with confirmation details.
Once we arrived at our desired location, it was fun to see what other boats had booked a BoatyBall. You can also see that information on the map online, which displays “occupied” balls in gray and “available” balls in orange. The map also helps you find the right mooring ball, which is imperative.
During our charter, we found another boat occupying “our” ball more than once. Some people genuinely were not aware of the BoatyBall system, others were just hoping we would never show up to claim our ball, and one boater refused to vacate all together. We were able to resolve the situation by accepting payment from him for the booking fee and dropping anchor instead, but if you happen to find yourself in a similar situation, you should contact the partner business listed for that location in your confirmation email.
And just to clarify, there are still plenty of regular “first-come-first-serve” mooring balls available all throughout the BVI. But if you want to take advantage of the BoatyBall option, we recommend downloading the app ahead of time so you can get familiar with it and set up your account. When it prompts you to enter your boat’s name, just put “Moorings Charter” until you know the exact name of your yacht.
BoatyBalls cost $40 per night ($10 more than the usual $30/night), but honestly, the benefit of having a reserved spot in certain bays was totally worth the additional fee.
To learn more about BoatyBall and for latest updates on available services, please visit https://boatyball.com/
Contributor
Leslie Montenegro
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