Yacht Haven Grande (St Thomas)

• Location: Charlotte Amalie harbour, St Thomas, US Virgin Islands, at 18 19.9 N, 64 56.0 W
• Operator: IGY Marinas, a subsidiary of MarineMax, which runs 24 marinas in 14 countries
• Berths: 46, all of them megayacht berths
• Maximum LOA: 200m (656 feet), berthed side-to
• Maximum draft: 7.6m (25 feet), with no beam restriction
• Shore power: 30A and 50A, plus 100A single phase, 100A three phase and 480V 100A three phase
• Fuel: in-slip high-speed fuelling at the berth
• Clearance: US Customs and Border Protection and Immigration on site, with a ROAM kiosk
• Security: 24-hour gated dock security, ISPS compliant facility
• Accreditation: Five Gold Anchor Platinum, and named Superyacht Marina of the Year in 2016, 2019, 2020 and 2021
• Airport: Cyril E. King International, roughly 12 to 20 minutes by road
• Access: berths are rented, with priority and guaranteed access sold through the invitation-only IGY Trident Club for yachts of 24m and above

The deep harbour at Charlotte Amalie

Charlotte Amalie is a large, deep, well-sheltered natural harbour on the south side of St Thomas, and it has been a serious port since the Danish colonial period. Yacht Haven Grande occupies its own basin on the eastern side, next to the Havensight cruise dock. The marina takes 7.6 metres of draft and imposes no beam restriction, and berthing is side-to, which is a considerable comfort difference for guests boarding a 90 metre yacht over the Mediterranean stern-to arrangement.

The approach is straightforward deep water with no bar, no channel and no tidal gate, which is the norm across the Virgin Islands. Tidal range in the eastern Caribbean is under a foot, so departure times are set by the guests and not by the almanac. Trade winds blow from the east at 15 to 20 knots for most of the winter season and the harbour is protected from them. What does reach in is the northerly ground swell that arrives in winter after North Atlantic storms.

Forty-six berths, all of them large

The marina publishes 46 berths and describes every one of them as a megayacht berth, with a maximum length overall of 200 metres, or 656 feet. There is no small-boat component here at all. That makes it a different sort of facility from most Caribbean marinas, where a handful of big alongside spaces are added to a field of pontoons. The largest yachts lie on the outer face and the rest of the fleet works down from there.

Demand is entirely seasonal. From December through April the Caribbean fleet is in the Virgin Islands and the berths are taken, with Christmas and New Year the hardest fortnight in the calendar to get anything. May through November empties out as the fleet crosses back to the Mediterranean or moves south below the hurricane belt. An owner who wants a specific berth for the holidays is committing many months ahead, and often a year.

The only Caribbean berth where a 150 metre yacht clears customs on its own dock and the guests land at a US airport twelve minutes away.

How access is bought

Berths at Yacht Haven Grande are rented and nothing is sold freehold. What IGY does sell is certainty, through the Trident Club, a membership for yachts of 24 metres and above that is offered by invitation, runs on one, three or five year terms and fixes pricing for the length of the term. Berthing across all IGY marinas is reserved for Trident members first, with guaranteed dockage at the higher membership tier. Members get preferential rates on dockage and fuel and a single consolidated invoice across the group.

For an owner running a two-ocean programme this is the real product. IGY holds 24 marinas across 14 countries including Simpson Bay and Isle de Sol in St Maarten, Rodney Bay in St Lucia, Miami, Cannes and Porto Cervo, so one relationship covers a season on each side of the Atlantic. Dockage itself is quoted by length and season, with the Christmas and New Year weeks priced as their own tier at every serious Caribbean marina. Non-members take what is left.

Power, fuel and what the dock provides

Shore power runs from 30 and 50 amp service up to 100 amp single phase, 100 amp three phase and 480 volt 100 amp three phase, which covers everything short of the largest new hulls. Fuelling is done in the slip from high-speed pumps, so a yacht bunkers on its berth without moving. Waste and oil removal, provisioning and laundry are all handled on site. The marina is a full-service operation and the island's chandlery, catering and technical trades are close by.

Heavy engineering is the gap. There is no lift or hardstanding of any size at Yacht Haven Grande, and the Caribbean generally is a place for running repairs and not for refits, so serious work means a passage to Florida. That is around 1,000 nautical miles to Fort Lauderdale, which is a manageable delivery in the shoulder season and part of why so many Caribbean programmes end with a spring run north. Routine attention, divers, engineers and electronics people are all available locally.

American paperwork, and what that is worth

The US Virgin Islands are unincorporated United States territory, so US Customs and Border Protection and Immigration keep offices on the marina site and a ROAM kiosk handles routine clearance. For an owner arriving from the British Virgin Islands, St Maarten or Antigua this removes an entire morning of launch trips and rubber stamps. The dollar is the currency, US mobile networks work, and American medical care is on the island. Guests holding US passports need nothing at all.

Charter rules are where it gets technical, and they are worth understanding before buying a yacht with charter in mind. Local guidance from the Virgin Islands Professional Charter Association is that a foreign-flagged yacht with US citizen or green card crew may run a USVI-only itinerary, while a foreign-flagged yacht with foreign crew may charter here only if the trip includes a foreign component, typically a leg into the British Virgin Islands. Carrying more than twelve passengers requires a full US Coast Guard Certificate of Inspection. Owners planning commercial use should take flag and crew advice early.

Security, and the cruise ships next door

The docks are gated with 24-hour security and the marina is an ISPS compliant facility, so access to the pontoons is controlled and logged. Crew get a lounge, private showers and a business centre. The marina grounds hold a lagoon-style pool, lighted tennis courts, a beach volleyball court and a retail and dining precinct built around the waterfront.

Privacy is the weak point. Charlotte Amalie is reported to be the busiest cruise port in the Caribbean, with one to four ships alongside on a high-season day, and the Havensight dock is immediately adjacent to the marina. That means several thousand day visitors within sight of the yachts, downtown traffic that clogs solid by mid-morning and a shopping district built for them. Owners who want an anonymous berth take the yacht round to a bay for the day and come back in the evening.

Getting there, and a week with a family

Cyril E. King International is 12 to 20 minutes from the marina depending on traffic, with direct services from Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Charlotte, Atlanta, New York and San Juan, and a busy private aviation apron. That access is the single strongest argument for basing a yacht in the USVI instead of further down the island chain. A guest can leave the eastern seaboard in the morning and be aboard for lunch.

The cruising from here is the best short-hop archipelago in the Caribbean. St John and the Virgin Islands National Park are 30 minutes east, the British Virgin Islands and their string of anchorages are an hour, and Anegada, Jost Van Dyke and Virgin Gorda give a family a fortnight without a long passage. Line of sight navigation, flat water inside the reefs and short legs make this the easiest cruising ground in the western hemisphere for children and nervous guests. St Thomas itself has good hotels, a serious duty-free shopping district and reliable provisioning.

Season, hurricanes and the honest downside

The season runs from December to April, framed by the USVI Charter Yacht Show that the charter association holds at Yacht Haven Grande in November and closing after the Easter holidays. The Atlantic hurricane season officially runs from 1 June to 30 November, and most yacht insurance policies require the boat to be out of the box during it, either north in the United States or south of roughly 12 degrees north. Hurricanes Irma and Maria hit these islands in September 2017 and the recovery took years, which is not an abstraction to anyone who was here.

The downsides are cruise traffic, hurricane exposure and the absence of refit capability. Prices for everything on a small island shipped in from the mainland are high, and the crowding downtown in season is real. What no other Caribbean marina matches is the combination of 200 metres of berth, American clearance on the dock and a jet airport twelve minutes away.

Who it is for: The owner running a winter Caribbean season with American guests who wants scale, easy clearance and short flights above scenery.