best all inclusive resorts for scuba diving

tim barrie: hi robert. i think the first thingto do before we even start playing the video, is for you to tell us about yourself. i understandyou have a yacht or you skipper one. robert: as a charter yacht captain, i’vebeen in the virgin islands for 13 years, and i’ve been chartering for 10 of those. previousto that, i did day sailing, but ever since i’ve been in the virgin islands, i’vebeen on boats, living and working. tim barrie: well i'm very jealous what doyou have to do to not have to work for a for living and do something fun like that.robert: well, it ended up being a lot more work than i anticipated. it looks great fromthe outside but there’s an awful lot that goes on behind the sales and just being thereal challenge. taking people out for a vacation

is kind of a fun part. the time where i don'thave guest's on board is where the work seems to really happen.tim barrie: myself and anybody listening to this is going to be thinking, yeah, our heartsbleed for you. robert: well, i’m not asking for any sympathy.i made some good choices and they can do the same if they want. it does take a little bitof sacrifice but it’s been worth it. tim barrie: so in the in between periods yourout there, scrubbing the deck and cleaning out of the hull and doing stuff like that.robert: exactly, yeah. all the maintenance and cleaning, and prepping and doing all kindsof stuff, but that’s been a good learning curve as well. a lot of people could probablygo sailing but then, what’s required to

keep the boat running is where the real learningand challenges occur. tim barrie: yeah. i imagine their fairly highmaintenance aren't they? robert: they sure are tim barrie: i have a motorhome and that'sbad enough introduce salt water and that’s another dimension entirely.robert: it is. kelly: ignore that man behind the curtain.tim barrie: what does that mean? kelly: the great oz from the wizard of oz…just like people going on charter they don't need to know how sausage is madetim barrie: oh, yeah. this particular video and vacation is just one experience of oneof your clients, is that right? robert: it is. they were on their honeymoon.he had a lot of go pro footage that he wanted

to share, and so it was a pretty representationof what a week is like, and a kind of ended up some kind of pretty good stuff. i don’thave time to do it myself and my chef usually doesn’t either. so, what a guest can provideus with is kind a bonus. tim barrie: you mean, taking the video youdon’t have time to sit around and just playing video cameras and taking pictures.robert: right, yeah. i’m on the job, i’m doing stuff so, you know he had plenty oftime and with only had two passengers. it gave us a lot of opportunities, so i was excitedby the way a lot of it turned out. tim barrie: i got to say, it’s just likewhat an awesome type of vacation, i mean honeymoons in a caribbean yacht charter are always, ithink, a little bit traumatic because you

want to do something special and it just seemslike an awesome type of holiday or vacation for a honeymoon.robert: yeah. it’s ideal and they had a great time, lot of opportunity to relax andthen be active at the same time. you can mix it however you want, and they did a good jobof doing both. you know, she got any time to read, he loves to sail, then they bothwould do things together. we went diving with the husband. it was cool. and it’s niceto be reminded sometime just today, we were walking the dogs and some guests came by andsaid: “do you live here?”. i said : “yeah.” they said, “wow, it must be amazing.”_it nice to be reminded of that sometimes, and i think this you know does that for me.tim barrie: yeah. you can end up taking almost

anything for granted i suppose. what timeof the year was it when, this week that they had.robert: this was the beginning of november. tim barrie: right. is it kind of a good timeto do this? robert: it is. there isn’t really a badtime between the 1st of june and the end of november is considered a hurricane season,but we’re very consistent in our weather and temperatures here. so, water temperaturesgenerally in the low 80s almost year round. air temperature at the hottest is 95 in thesummer and 85 in the winter. so, it’s only about 10 degrees different from summer-winter.there’s hardly any change other than the winds. sometimes, it’s a little lighterin the summer. although this summer we had

terrific wind, all summer. so, it’s veryconsistent, which makes it part of why it's such a popular cruising ground is becauseyou do have plenty of wind to sail on, and plenty of warm water all around, year round.we don’t have what’s considered a rainy season at alltim barrie: i’m going to play the video a bit. so, just tell us what’s going onand what the location is, you know anything that’s kind of relevant. here we go. they'reobviously in a canoe of some kind. robert: here, we’re in a kayak right outsideof the babs right outside of virgin gordo which is a special geographical rock formationwith the natural trail around through it. and little pools, it’s a highlight of anycharter in virgin gorda. the babs it's very

spectacular. it’s very hard to describeeach has to come and see house sized boulders with a natural beach trail that runs throughit and little pools of crystal water, and framed photographic images and stuff. it’sa spectacular place, so only one of two places like it on earth that has a geological makeup.so, that’s always a highlight to go through there. i kinda save that until the middleor near the end. after that, it’s kind of hard to top that it's a really special place.tim barrie: is it something you would typically just spend the day at, and hang out in, orwhat would you typically be doing? robert: for our purposes, because we havethe flexibility with the live aboard, we tend to go in the afternoon after 3 pm. it’skind of a small area and it’s a very popular

destination. so, we wait until the day trippersare out of there and then i bring my guests on and the light is better for photographyand so, from about 3 to 6 pm is what i found this sweet spot to enjoy that area, so that’susually when i try to go, and i follow that up with a sunset, a cruise for the rest ofthe evening up to a different point on virgin gorda.kelly: you’re going to get at a part in this video where they’re walking throughthe babs and exploring the babs. you'll see a lot of the babs in this video. tim barrie: awesome. is this you? or…robert: no, that’s the guest and he is hauling in on the jib sheet. we’re underneath thefly bridge, which is a very popular feature

on the boat. now, instead of just a smallcovering we had a hard top, it’s lighted and it hasspeakers in it, with music and stuff, so, and on top of the solar panels. you can’tsee it, now there it is. you can just see the underneath part of it there. so there’sshade, and everything, and that’s under full sail there.this is a 44-lagoon, is the make its a french made boat. forty-four is the length, 44 feet.it is an owner’s edition, so on one pontoon, those are also called amers .tim barrie: so, it’s a catamaran? robert: yes, it’s a catamaran. and one fullamer, it’s called an owner’s edition, so that is a suite with a head and couch anda navigation station and a bed and that takes

up one whole side of the catamaran and thenthe other side is split into two cabins and two heads, a lot of catamarans have four cabinsand this one is sort of special, because the owner’s edition features an extended cabinon one side. it has 2 in-board diesel, 55 horse volvo engines, it’s got a fully battenedmain sail and oversized genoa jib sail. full galley and refrigeration freezer, solarpowered extensive house batteries, air conditions. tim barrie: so, this is guy is getting stuckin from the look of it. was he an experienced sailor, or was he just having a go?roebrt: he had been down as a teenager with his parents, and was an avid sailor. he waslooking forward to coming back, and help them sail the boat, so he really wanted to be involved.the boat is set up so that you can do everything

from the helm. i could single-handed if iwanted to. but it makes it really easy for the guests to pitch in, if they want to. ialways offer, you know, you want to drive? you want to raise sail? whatever you wantto do, i’m happy to teach you, or if you already know what you’re doing, then justfollow my command. tim barrie: yeah i do! if it was me i wouldi would want to get stuck in. robert: i’ll yell at you and tell you whatto do. despite that opportunity, a lot of people are just content to sit back and watchme do it. there’ll ask questions and stuff but he liked to stay busy.tim barrie: i can relate. i’m one of those people when, i go on a vacation, i’ll getbored if i sit around too long, so i’m going

to be doing something, so caribbean sailingvacation for me, is ideal because there’s plenty to do when you want to.robert: there is, yeah. and that kept him busy and he’s super happy doing that thewife was more than content to read a book, so it worked out. i think it was a good choicefor them. they were kind of opposites in their approach to a day.tim barrie: i’m sure most people understand that. so, what are we looking at there?robert: this it looks like a place called the fall in jerusalem, which is right outsidethe virgin gorda. it’s kind of a mini version of the baths, it’s also a dove locationand what i tend to do is set up there and wait until that at 3 o’clock hour, and thenzip over to the baths . it’s a totally isolated

anchored, there’s only two mooring ballsin it. and so the most boats can never get there are two. i usually post up there andwe do a kayak beach, swim, snorkel, while we wait for all the tourists to leave thebaths. so, it’s a very convenient stop and it’s gorgeous. in some ways, it has an appealover the baths. there isn’t really a trail, so we have toget over to the baths after that, but i always try and stop there on the way because it’sa nice introduction to the kind of experience you’re going to have when you reach thebaths. tim barrie: so, is that the lazy bones wifethere just sitting back enjoying the view? robert: yeah staying in the shade again underneaththat hard top bimini, which is a newly added

feature and a lot of boats don’t have that,so it provides a lot of shade, it also has lights, and speakers in it for a stereo, sothat really functions as 11:42, extending our seating, and then you can sit withoutgetting all burned up and watch the action if you want to, so we’re really happy withthat, that feature there. it did not come with the boat, it was added on later.tim barrie: so, is that you at the wheel there? what do you call it? do you call it the wheel?1 robert: yeah, the wheel and the helm is thetechnical term and that is me so we are driving alongtim barrie: oh that looks like fun. oh, she’s doing some work, she's doing something!robert: oh, she is! she’s getting ready

to help tack the sail over. no, we’re rollingit up. she’s using that line, as you see the front sail, it’s starting to twist upinto a rolling furling. tim barrie: it doesn’t look like she’sworking that hard. robert: now, this is, we’re coming in, andmy chef is out there with the wife, and we’re coming into an anchorage to grab a mooringball, so they’ve got a boat hooked in the front, and they grabbed a mooring line, andthen we clipped it to the front of the boat, and it’s like a quick way to anchor, withouthaving to use the actual anchor. tim barrie: the thing to get over with thiscamera is just so much room for them compared to monohulls.robert: monohulls kind of living in a hallway

and the catamaran is just a great platform.there’s room for everybody and everything, so it’s really big advantage.tim barrie: okay, so we’re now on a beach. tim barrie: oh, what was that? some kind ofalien flying there. what was that? oh, it’s a kite. no, no, no. i see what it is. it’ssomebody actually pulling it…pass.. robert: it’s the kite surfer ..yup. thisis the beach at anegada beach, and that is extremely beautiful place where you can see..there’snot many places here in the virgin islands where you actually see the water breakinglike in a certain way and this is a surfable on a surf board, but it is very picturesquebecause it’s surrounded by a reef. anegada is a coral island, as opposed to a volcanicisland, so it’s totally flat, it’s pretty

much at sea level, and then around it is theworld’s second largest barrier reef. and so, this makes for a really stunning viewfrom the beach where the water breaks, and just gorgeous. the sand is like sugar, it’swhite sand, very fine. every bit is good as it looks, really. itcan improve. these are not digitally doctored images, that’s the way it looks.tim barrie: i’m so glad, i’m in utah right now and it’s cold and it’s grey and itmiserable and i’m watching these pictures ugh!robert: i’m sorry. tim barrie: funny. so it’s a bit more ofan action shot here again. robert: yeah, this is a bit of a time-lapse.it was kind of a stormy so i didn’t have

any sails up, so we’re just motoring alongnow through this kind of inclement little period. but it doesn’t last for long, asyou can see, it’s very isolated, if we do get rain, it comes and goes very much likeflorida here, why we rarely have to get inside and out of the rain for more than a coupleof minutes and then you’re back to the sun. tim barrie: ah, so the guys a bit of a diverthen. robert: yeah, we offer scuba diving on boardwith no extra charge. got a couple of favorite sites that we like to go to. this one is calledthe chimney and its dramatic swim through over up a great dog island. at this point,i’m just telling him to go ahead because i’d rather have him get the shot withoutme in it and so he’s going to swim ahead

of me and go through this canyon, it’s calledthe chimney and it’s like entering an underground room. it’s really fantastic. the sun breaksthrough like that and you get really down in there.it’s a swim through. it’s not considered a cave, but you get the feeling of being completelyenclosed and the gap at the end is fairly tight, to get through but after swimming throughthat, we usually go through a couple of times because the first time people are so excitedthat it’s over before they even know what they did.tim barrie: the colors are really coming across well aren’t they?robert: yeah, he has a red filter, which makes all the difference in the world underwater.tim barrie: yeah.

robert: if you don’t have that red filter,you’re not going to see very much. this is the trail that’s leading through thebaths, and this is the approach and the you get these boulders and this pool.tim barrie: can you share their names, your guests?robert: my chief’s name is maya and m-a-y-a. and then the guests are michael and lindsay.tim barrie: mike and lindsay. so there’s two women out there.robert: the darker skin woman is the chef, my chef called maya. and this is a littlerope banister that you can use to walk through the baths that rock’s a little wet, slippery.and then here comes lindsay. this room is the most famous part of the baths it’s calledthe cathedral room, because of the sloped

ceiling right there.tim barrie: it’s just so clean, it’s one thing that jumps out of me.robert: oh, i agree, yes. there’s not a speck of litter anywhere.tim barrie: there are just natural garbage from the sea.robert: yes, stuff like that. there’s very good flow and drainage there, keeps it reallypristine. tim barrie: so, what do you call this room?robert: now, this is the main salon and this is where the galley is and the main diningroom table which we moved inside for this time. generally, that table is out in thecockpit, out where you can sit outside underneath the roof. today, it looks like we’re havinga meal or appetizers. it looks like champagne

toast inside today.tim barrie: it’s very nice. robert: it’s a nice day. i think we justput this little table out because we just had two guests, and that makes that outsideseating area in the cockpit easier to get around. but those tables can switch out towhere there’s just a little cocktail table inside and then we can put a big table outsideif we have six diners or eight. tim barrie: again, i have observed how roomyit is, having down a bit sailing on a monohull, i mean that really jumps out of me. just seemsso luxurious by comparison. robert: yeah it is. you know, for a 44ft boatthat’s not a ___18:52, particularly long by any stretch. you know compared monohullsand stuff, but because of the cat design,

it just ...tim barrie: oh yeah the boat that i mostly sailed on was a 45-foot monohull comparedto this, it was cramped. robert: yeah, they are narrow, the beam acrosson here is probably 24 feet and on most monohulls half of that or less i would think.there’s a little barbeque back there by the cooler. so we grill out when the menudictates. we’re doing a little bit of trolling here, for wahoo or mahi-mahi. doing littlefishing, trying to catch some dinner. tim barrie: why do you call it trolling?robert: you’re set to lure out and then you drive the boat so you’re not castingand reeling it in all the time. you’re just dragging bait 19:45 behind the boat that’scalled trolling.

tim barrie: okay. did you catch anything?robert: we do. we catch mahi-mahi’s popular local fish, will catch dolphin. well actuallydolphin is another name for mahi-mahi so most people don’t like to say you’re catchingdolphin. tim barrie: yeah. you don’t literally meanyou’re fishing dolphin? robert: oh, no, no! it’s just a dolphinfish, so mahi-mahi is the preferred term for that. the fish is so nice they named it twice.there’s also wahoo. we catch barracuda sometimes, we don’t eat those, but as a sport fish,you can catch barracuda also mackerel. yes, we catch mackerel too.tim barrie: when we were sailing, we went diving and caught some octopus, can you dothat there?

robert: they’re really rare here and thefishing licenses are very restricted, you have to stick with fish, you can’t do anythinglike lobsters or octopus that those are highly restricted and protected. this looks likethe white bay at jost van dyke and it’s used to be a party beach. and that’s whitebeach bay, probably the prettiest water in the entire british virgin islands.tim barrie: looks like some kind of meal going down here.robert: i think this is a roasted chicken. they’re having an early thanksgiving. thatlooks like just appetizer, there’s some baked brie, homemade crostini fruit, and thati think is over at the great dog..i think that’s a shot where we did the chimney,the underwater dive portion. that’s what

it looks like on the surface. that’s whitebay again jost van dyke. lindsay and michael, i love that shot of him jumping off the backinto the water there. that’s cool too. crystal clear water.tim barrie: snorkeling? robert: well, there’s a sea turtle here.tim barrie: awesome! are they common or is that quite unusual to see that?robert: we see a lot of those and he had all of these just with the snorkel, this wasn’twith the scuba tank. it’s really shallow over a white bay.tim barrie: that’s the video. robert: i think that once you’re bored,you don’t have to think anymore. you know all the meals are provided, all the activities,you’re given a choice of what you want to

do, how you and your day to go, what you wantwith your coffee, what do you want for after dinner drinks, i mean, so it’s nice thatyou have input in how this caribbean vacation goes. not regimented, but i make a lot ofrecommendations and after a couple of days, usually i get a vibe for what people expectand what they prefer. some people really like beaches, and there’s plenty of those, somepeople really want to be active in scuba diving, kayaking, aspects, so it’s a way to sortof tailor your vacation without being locked in.tim barrie: when i went on a sailing vacation something along the lines, one of the thingsi remember, that i guess is very hard to get on film, is at night. there are pretty lightsand you can see the sky, you can see the stars

and it’s just a different experience, especiallyliving in a city. robert: oh, it’s terrific. you can lay thereand just…we have shooting star contest, how many we can get in an hour, it’s absolutelygorgeous. tim barrie: there’s light pollution thereor you get good deal with the sky? robert: there’s zero light pollution here.the sky is just a bowl of stars, i mean, from horizon to horizon, it’s fantastic.tim barrie: and if you’ve always lived in a city, you probably never appreciate, justhow spectacular it is. robert: yeah. that’s a big surprise to alot of people when they get out here, and they’re like, ah i’ve never seen thisskyline before.

tim barrie: that will really be stacked inmy mind. in the evenings, do you typically, would you ever moor somewhere when you’reactually in the marina or anything where there is star? or you typically just off the shorea little bit. how does that work? what do you typically do?robert: in most cases, there’s a choice. we can either do an isolated anchorage orwe can go where there are other boats and bars and sure action. so it’s kind of upto the guests but the others always got availability to get to shore and have some nightlife, somedancing or if they prefer, we can go where there’s very few boats around and you wouldn’teven know that there’s any other boats unless you were looking for them. so, it’s a niceitinerary where you can do either thing or

you can do both, some nights on shore, andthen other nights, they just want to relax and eat with their own group.tim barrie: that’s what i remember is just some nights she spent where there’s lotof activity and then another night you want to have a really quiet totally pitch blackkind of a night and that’s kind of awesome experience as well.robert: yeah, it’s fun when we turn off the lights out on a boat at night, and justsay hey let’s do a little stargazing and head up to the front with a cocktail and enjoythat. it just doesn’t happen day to day with your life in the states, and your jobsand stuff like that. those events i think become really unique without a lot of effort.tim barrie: so you get the phosphorescence

there? if you jump in the water at night?robert: we do. and that’s been looking pretty good, it’s very unpredictable, so it kindof depends on the anchorage, and the time of the year. that is something that we doat night, snorkel at the cave, in norman island and that’s my favorite time to look at that.at other times, you can just drop your foot off the boat and swish it around and see thatglow as well. you have to experience it. you can also turn up the lights in your bathroomand flush the toilet and see it that way too. tim barrie: that’s awesome! have we justhave covered everything now? robert: i think we have. terrific, well…tim barrie: very, very, very good. say thanks to robert for me. good job.kelly: robert, good job.