# BVI budget



## SteveInMD (May 11, 2007)

We're headed to the BVI in March. I'm trying to come up with a realistic budget. I can figure out the boat and air travel costs, but what else should I consider? Has anyone posted a spreadsheet with items to include in a budget?


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## Zanshin (Aug 27, 2006)

1. Food 
Eating out in the BVI is not cheap and provisioning the boat can be rather expensive. There are only a couple of well-stocked stores on the island to choose from; some of the charter companies are either situated close to one (e.g. Moorings/Sunsail) or will drive you to one and there are services where you can provision online for delivery to the boat.

2. Alcohol
Is relatively cheap and plentiful and available everywhere

3. Ice
For those who like ice for their drinks or for further cooling down the fridge contents you will be in for a surprise. Ice is very, very expensive in the BVI. Usually it is only mildly frozen by the time it gets aboard and costs add up. Some places (Saba Rock comes to mind) will give you free water and a bag of ice included in the price of a mooring ball.

4. Mooring
Most charterers prefer to use mooring balls, which will run to $25 per night (it is recommended to dive on these to make sure that they haven't been chewed up by props). Some anchorages have little or no room for anchoring (The Bight - unless you have enough chain to anchor in 50-60 feet, which no charter boat does) and others don't have great holding (Great Harbour on Jost van Dyke, which now has mooring balls).

5. Dining out / Bars
pricier than the USA, about equal to mainland Europe in price, but the quality is often not commensurate with the price. High quality dining out is available but one needs to be prepared to spend a lot of money.

6. Beaches
Free.

7. Sunshine
Free.

I don't know what other requirements you might have for a boating trip to the BVI but for most charterers the items above are the costliest. On boat return day the dock workers collect enough uneaten food to feed their families for a long time as most charterers overprovision.


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## chucklesR (Sep 17, 2007)

Zanshin practically lives there, so his points are all good - especially the over provision part. 
The boats do not come with even the simplest condiments, don't forget to add them to the list. Some charter's work with local groceries to pre-order and stock your boat. It costs a bit more but it's worth it to have more time on the boat and less shopping.

Only order for a few days at a time, space is limited.

From a dollar perspective figure on 500 bucks a person to eat drink and be merry for a week. 
Add 60 bucks a head for every time you plan on eating out. If you want cocktails with the dinner figure on 9 bucks each. You can eat cheaper - but even a burger with fries will run you 12 bucks or more. 

Beef, even hamburger will run you 10 - 20 a pound, eat chicken.


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## CLucas (Feb 10, 2007)

We chartered thru Sunsail and provisioned thru them -- while it was definitely more expensive than doing it ourselves, the convenience was definitely worth it (it was our first charter). Rather than ala carte provisioning, we ordered all breakfasts and lunches and one dinner for our 1-week charter. We found Sunsail to very *very* generous as far as the amount of food allotted per person, so could have ordered food for fewer days and still had enough. Convenience aside, next time we'll probably provision ourselves and stick to simple PB&J-type lunches and cold breakfasts -- it will save several hundred dollars (honest). In Tortola, best provisioning is Bobby's Marketplace. We wanted to add a few items beyond what we had ordered from Sunsail and Bobby's sent a van to pick us up from Sunsail base and drove us back after shopping.


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## Tim R. (Mar 23, 2003)

We will also be there for our second trip in March. What is stated above is true.

Flights are often cheaper to St. Thomas and then take the ferry across. This is a little more hassle though. Our round trip flight from Boston is about $1,200pp thru Jet Blue which provides direct service to and from St. Thomas.

Pack less than what you think you need. You will spend a lot of time in your swim suit. Buy food for breakfast, snacks and half your lunches. Also buy plenty of bottled water. You will likely eat out most nights. Buy a fall back lunch and dinner. Peanut butter/jelly and pasta just incase you want to eat on the boat. When eating out, stick to the local cuisine which is mostly chicken/fish, root veggies and plantains. 

Bobbies and other markets have online provisioning and usually deliver right to your boat for you.

I highly recommend booking through Ed Hamiltons. They will find you the best deal and do a wonderful job coordinating your charter.


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## SteveInMD (May 11, 2007)

I've been working on my budgeting spreadsheet. Anyone planning a charter might want to consider the follow line items...

Boat
Travel Insurance
Boat fuel
Sleep Aboard on arrival day
Air travel
Hotel stay at end of charter
Transfers (ferry, taxi, etc.)
Provisioning
Meals ashore
Extras (tee shirts, scuba, fishing)
Moorings
Internet connectivity


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## bobnpaula (Nov 17, 2008)

We will be in the BVI in Feb for our third charter there. Provisioning: think about what you typically eat for breakfast/lunches if weekend sailing at home, and multiply by number of days on charter. We like to order provisioning in advance and have it delivered to the boat, but we do a la carte ordering, picking and choosing items from the list. (don't do your ordering while hungry!) We supplement by carrying in our (large) duffel bag from home things like peanut butter, mixed nuts, coffee, tea, boxed rice mixes, cookies, cans of tuna, and other portable, non-breakable items. Most of these items are much cheaper at home. Zip lock storage bags are a good item to bring down, and pack the food items in, inside the duffel. We provision for breakfasts, lunches (sandwiches, fruit, yogurt) and 3-4 dinners on board, one of which is eggs of some sort (omelettes, scrambled) and salad. That is usually the last dinner on board, when we have used up the chicken/hamburger. Definitely order LESS THAN YOU THINK. Eating on board for a few dinners helps cut costs and is relaxing. There are some nights you just want to relax, hang out in your cockpit and watch the sunset and grill something, rather than jumping in the dinghy and heading for a restaurant. A mix of going out and staying on board works well. Again, underestimate what you will need. No chips left on the last charter day is better than two unopened bags of chips left that get taken by the cleaning crew... they are expensive down there! Hope this helps.


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## coupdemistral (Oct 18, 2012)

as a (less expensive) alternative to traditional charter companies, you may to want to check into boat sharing sites like squidd.io. They are relatively new but could end up offering a lot more choice that a Sunsail or the Moorings


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## fallard (Nov 30, 2009)

The Baths are a must see. You can try for a day mooring but there are more boats than moorings, so you might circle for a while. You may then take your dinghy into the dingy mooring and swim into the beach. 

If your budget can stand it and you'd like to relax a bit more, you might consider taking a slip at Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour at Spanish Town. The slip fee will probably cost twice as much as a mooring (for a 40' boat) and showers are included. There is decent provisioning there and you can get water and ice for a fee. There's a casual eatery there where you can get simple fare but beware that this establishment is on "island time". You could hike to the Baths or take a taxi. We typically bring a backpack for towels, cameras, water, etc. and can take full advantage of the scene. You will find shops and a restaurant at the top of the hill by the Baths. 

One of our favorite restaurants is "Top of the Baths", where you can enjoy a proper drink overlooking the Drake Channel and then have a great meal, properly served. It isn't cheap, but is fairly priced (maybe 50% more than Pusser's, which is not in the same league) for the this level of quality in the BVI. We would take a taxi back to the yacht basin if it's dark.


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## Donna_F (Nov 7, 2005)

We saved about half of the Sunsail cost by provisioning ourselves.

If you eat at a restaurant, be SURE to ask the price of the Catch of the Day before blindly ordering. Yikes.


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## joet13 (Oct 8, 2012)

Steve,

Hope you guys don't run me off, but I drive one of those things without sails...nonetheless, it's gets me on the water. Here are costs I've put together for my third charter in the BVI's. I break down into 
Boat Charter
Flights
Incidentals
Drinks and Food
Rental Gear
Lodging other than boat.

We have found that doing our own shopping is best. And not in Roadtown! We will be going to Soper's hole as soon as I can cast off to provision. We will provision for around 4 days, then restock. Everyone buys their own provisions. For incidentals such as mooring, ice, water, fuel, I designate a purser who gathers $300 in cash from each couple the first day upon stepping on board. That way there is no worry on whose turn it is to pay for fuel or ice...etc. At the end of the trip, we redistribute any monies left over. We all seem to be in line with around $500 per person to eat and drink for 7 days. It's a pretty even split between eating out and dining on board for dinner. Almost all lunches are on board, as well as breakfast. Usually, we do eat lunch at the Restaurant on top of the hill when we visit the Baths. Since we spend a little more on fuel, ($500), our trips are running around $5500 per couple for 4 couples on a PowerCat 474.

Capt. Joe


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## SteveInMD (May 11, 2007)

Capt. Joe -

Sail, power, paddle boat, whatever it takes! Thanks for sharing.

-Steve


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## NVCATS (Oct 20, 2012)

You can test provision online at.. I can't post links yet but you can find them on google easy just type BVI with the naes below

Tico is best for booze

Rite Way is higher end rood and huge store

Bobbys is a bit cheaper than riteway for the basics

All deliver for free

We long term charter with a company called *Seabbatical long term charter*s great company. To save money you can bring a cooler full of your favorite meats since they are crazy prices down there. there is a packing technique to getting it there still frozen...I put the info on the F&Q page of Seabbaticals new website. This company will also help keep your budget under control.


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## Ritchard (Aug 15, 2011)

Great thread. I am going again in March as well. Last time (our first visit) was on a huge crewed cat; this time we'll be going on a more modest bareboat monohull. Your opinions on provisioning are very valuable. 

I also will chime in with a +1 for Top of the Baths, it's worth it for the terrace view alone, what a nice spot. It's the only restaurant I have ever been to with a pool. As well, I think my favourite night of the last trip was Bitter End Yacht Club. We blew some serious dough, but what a memorable evening.


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## NVCATS (Oct 20, 2012)

here are some other exspenses

BVI Cruising Tax: $2 per person per day (High season 12/1-4/30) $.75 per person per day (low season 5/1-11/30)
National Parks Permit: $25 per week up to 4 persons
$5 per week for each additional person.
Airport Departure Tax: $20 per person


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## schwalbe (Dec 2, 2009)

Zanshin said:


> 1. Food
> ...
> 4. Mooring
> Most charterers prefer to use mooring balls, which will run to $25 per night (it is recommended to dive on these to make sure that they haven't been chewed up by props). Some anchorages have little or no room for anchoring (The Bight - unless you have enough chain to anchor in 50-60 feet, which no charter boat does) and others don't have great holding (Great Harbour on Jost van Dyke, which now has mooring balls).
> ...


Some places ( The Bight and Bitter End come to mind ) have raised their prices to $30 for mooring balls. Sprat Bay charges $60 I believe - I have not taken them up on it. "Moor Seacure" seems to do a pretty good job maintaining moorings - I don't check them as a matter of course.

Ice at $4 to $8 in the BVI is still cheaper than in the Grenadines where I've been quoted up to $16 for a bag (I passed).


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## joet13 (Oct 8, 2012)

We just returned from our trip!!! Awesome time. But Sandy sent some huge swells to the BVI's out of the Northwest! The flags at the Baths were Red, so not only no swimming, but according to the guides, you are not even supposed to use the day mooring balls! A group of older travelers were actually loaded up in their dinghy and headed ashore with huge breakers hitting the rocks, but we talked them out of attemping it. It was really cool to see the Baths in that state, but we went by car. This also got us aquainted with "Hog Heaven", a must-do spot at night, especially if you moor at Leverick Bay and have a moon-lite night. Try to bring a good camera and tripod with you for some beautiful shots of the entire sound and Saba Rock, as you're 1300 ft up on the hill. Back to provisioning, we saw the big new Rite-way store in Roadtown, and they told us that since they supplied all stores as a warehouse, it would be as good or better than the one in Soper's Hole. So off the ladies went to shop....WRONG...After visiting Soper's Hole later in the week, they all agreed that the Soper's hole store was a much better store, with fresher inventory...go figure..maybe they get first pick! Also, as far as Sprat's Bay is concerned, I had never been there, and with the huge swells at the beginning of our trip and some newbies on board, I decided to stay there the first night since it is so well protected. One thing for sure, after staying there one night, everything seems cheap after that! Mooring balls $65, WATER $1.00 p/gal, and food at Deadmans Beach Bar and Grill simply outrageous and terrible....Try a SMALL bowl of Gumbo for $44.00...that tasted and looked somewhat like etouffee...course I'm from the gulf coast, so shouldn't have tried that anyhow. On the good side, Sprat bay was very quiet, did some neat snorkeling and could see the birds and huge tarpon going after the millions of bait fish...To top it off, for you old folks like me, the small stone structure out over the water on the southwest shore is actually an old timey outhouse!!!! It had separate women and men sections!!!

Remember, the best deal on mooring is still at Saba Rock, I think $30 for balls, but 1 bag of ice and 250 GALLONS of water free. That alone pays for the mooring. And spending a little romatic time on the beach on the other side of the rock (in a hammock) is incredible.


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## NVCATS (Oct 20, 2012)

wise move on the baths... do not enter with big swells. Thanks for the info on Mooring costs... I usually only pic one up is there is coral or grass beds, stay in the sand and your Aok. thanks for the info on Sopers hole Rightway shopping


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## NVCATS (Oct 20, 2012)

Joet13 how was the WIFI connections?


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## RealityCheck (Jun 2, 2007)

All should be aware that almost ALL mooring are now $30.00 / night and higher at some locations.

The store at Sopers Hole / Marina Market IS a RiteWay store as is the smaller one in Fat Hog bay that is accessible by dink. The New Main Store near Moorings and Sunsail is the largest and generally less expensive store on the island.

For short term charters of less than 10 days, you should prearrange provisioning to save time to be out on the water away from the charter companies. The back of Road Town Harbour is known locally as Cocka Bay for good reasons.

If you do not know how to properly anchor in the local conditions, do use the mooring balls. All the bottoms are NOT just soft sand. Only anchor over sand and dive the hook to make sure it is in... and this will often be 30+ feet. DO NOT attempt to anchor in FRONT of another boat unless you have double the swing distance as many locations will back wind near sundown and rise and you could end up stern to stern with a near by boat in the dark.

DO NOT ALLOW KIDS to run around the boat while underway or in the process of anchoring or picking up a mooring... or when leaving one. Just Yesterday I witnessed one kid about 6 fall off a Charter Cat and had is Dad almost run over him due to his lack of skills with the boat and probably general lack of skill and total lack of responsibility for his "crew"/ family.

Have fun on a Vacation but remember not everyone near by is on Your vacation and YOUR vacation is NO reason to make everyone else's day a problem. Many boaters will not set by quietly and allow some unqualified boat handler endanger their boat or crew just because that boat has people on Vacation and think the rules do not apply.

You have no idea what expensive is until you find you are not able to leave the island due to something wrong you did while in the Vacation mind instead of using your brain full time while aboard.

A general rule return visitors have is to bring half as much stuff down and twice as much Money to spend while here... as a minimum everything except some booze will be at least 20% higher than in the US just because of import fees... add to that convenience fees for another 15% in resort locations.


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## NVCATS (Oct 20, 2012)

well said Reality Check


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## FarCry (Apr 21, 2007)

RealityCheck said:


> All should be aware that almost ALL mooring are now $30.00 / night and higher at some locations.


I was aware that Soper's/West End, Bight and Bitter End moorings were $30. Where else besides Sprat are they more than $25/night?


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## denverd0n (Jun 20, 2008)

FarCry said:


> I was aware that Soper's/West End, Bight and Bitter End moorings were $30. Where else besides Sprat are they more than $25/night?


Coopers Island, Marina Cay, Saba Rock, at the least (I just got back a couple of days ago). But like someone else said, at Saba Rock it is well worth it. Nice clean facilities, free water, free ice, a very reasonably priced restaurant with extremely good food.

We stopped at Marina Cay for the first time on this trip. I cannot for the life of me understand why I see it recommended so often. The mooring was nice enough, but the bathrooms and showers on the island were absolutely DISGUSTING! If I were the regional director for Pussers I would close down that shop, because just being associated with that place is a taint on the name as far as I'm concerned.


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## sachingautham911 (Dec 6, 2012)

Every contribution is very valuable here. And a general kind of approach is better to ask for friends who had been in British Virgin Islands. Because their experience are real and they will give you a proper guidance.


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## NVCATS (Oct 20, 2012)

We just returned for a 26 day charter with Seabbatical and had a great time. we provisioned ourselves after pondering extensively if we should use the pre order service the stores offer, which works out to $30PP for just food. We actually started saving money even before we landed at Beef Island Airport. We arranged a car rental with DEDE Car rental 3days for $119 and he was waiting for us when the plane landed at 8pm (remember to drive on the left hand side). We chose to take the sleep aboard option instead of a hotel usually $150 a nite for the boat, we got it for free Ron the Manager is a great guy. So we saved on taxi from the airport and driving around town to self provision pretty much paid for the car and then some. Part of our group arrived the next day so we also picked them up and saved another $40 cab ride. We returned the car after 2 days and headed out. On with Provisioning... protein is crazy expensive and not very nice in the BVI so we packed a cooler with our protein at home and with 5lbs of dry ice, all was still rock solid when we got to the boat. You can carry up to 40lbs of meat into the BVI. Duties were $15 on a $300 invoice. We went to Riteway to provision fresh and dry foods and spent $700 and were able to buy what was on sale, which you can't do it you pre-provision. Booze was from Tico and pre-ordered but we picked it up and added a few other fun bottles total was $500. We shopped in Virgin Gorda at Bucksin the marina half way through our 26 day charter and spent another $400. Local lamb is very cheap and very nice local beef is also very nice and affordable, so don't be shy buy local. Boat extra costs... I personally don't like mooring balls since they can fail and you will never know till it is to late and their very noisy at night sometimes. They don't make anchoring easy in a few places with the number of balls but I am persistent and worked through it. I did use moorings at Saba Rock so we could get free water and a bag of Ice and did the same in Leverek bay to do laundry and fill up water and get ice again on the second trip to North sound. All in all we were only 4 people on our Seabbatical Leopard 45 and provisioning was $25 PP including Drink. Here is another tip... what to mix the booze with... I took a lot of green tea bags with me and made sun tea mixed with raspberry tea. Fruit juice and pop is just 2 expensive $1.50 a can and sweet for us serious drinkers  red strip beer is the best value and is Gordons Vodka. Watch the wine we had a lot of corking issues with the cheap stuff -$10... the better wines +$12 were ok You can get Ginger beer to mix with beer to make different tastes..remember we were out there for 26days everything gets a little old as time goes on.


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

26 days at $25 pp including drinks is excellent!well done!


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## NVCATS (Oct 20, 2012)

WIFI We purchased a new nexus 7 hspa tablet for the Seabbatical for the owner and it stayed on the boat when we left. We purchased a sim card at Digicel and we have Data everywhere except Norman island bight. if your tablet is unlocked you can purchase a sim card and it works slick. We were there for 26 days and we got a $50 card... we posted to facebook (S&M In The BVI) Checkout our trip on our page...we swam with wild dolphin at the baths and saw the flock of Flamingos at Anegada..see the pics. We checked email all the time and chatted with friends back home via FB as well we still had time on the card when we left. If your there for a week or 2 you can get a $20 data card and never run out.... We didn't want to go home


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## NVCATS (Oct 20, 2012)

that is perday of course  BURP


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## kellysails (Nov 1, 2008)

I wrote a detailed trip report from our last BVI adventure. A bit wordy but you might find it helpful.

BVIPirate - View topic - BVI trip report May 2010


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## TakeFive (Oct 22, 2009)

We just got back from BVI today. A few comments:

We did mooring balls every night. They were all $30 - Trellis Bay, Bitter End, Marina Cay, Jost Grand Harbour/White Beach, Bight.

I agree that the Marina Cay showers were disgusting, and were out of order anyway. We did all our showers on the boat. With some conservation, the three of us made it through the whole week without topping off the water tanks. In future years, we'll try to make the run to Saba Rock at the midpoint so we can top off the water tanks.

We provisioned ourselves. We like to inspect our food before we buy. The checkout skipper was due at 0830 Saturday morning, so we walked from Sunsail to Riteway at 0700 and had plenty of time to walk back before 0830.

We also planned very carefully and had exactly the right amount for one meal every day on the boat. I suspect that people who order online may tend to overbuy.

We rented a phone to check on things at home, but did not buy data. We found free WiFi at almost every restaurant where we stopped, and a couple places had reception out to the mooring balls. That was good enough for us.


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## TakeFive (Oct 22, 2009)

NVCATS said:


> ...On with Provisioning... protein is crazy expensive and not very nice in the BVI so we packed a cooler with our protein at home and with 5lbs of dry ice, all was still rock solid when we got to the boat. You can carry up to 40lbs of meat into the BVI. Duties were $15 on a $300 invoice...


Interesting, I thought I had heard that bringing food across the border was (at worst) prohibited or (at least) risky. Are there clearly spelled out guidelines on a website somewhere?

As was pointed out elsewhere here, most of the charter boats had zero provisions on them, so we had to buy (and throw out) ketchup, mustard, salt, pepper, etc. We would have loved to bring garlic powder, curry, and some other herbs and spices that we use in small amounts and too expensive to throw away. And of course, if we could have pre-marinated and hard frozen some beef and chicken to bring across the border, that would have been great. But I always thought that agriculture inspections were required for any food imports, and too costly for anyone other than the bulk importers.

Is there a website somewhere that gives clear guidelines for importing food items into BVI?


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## NVCATS (Oct 20, 2012)

TakeFive said:


> Interesting, I thought I had heard that bringing food across the border was (at worst) prohibited or (at least) risky. Are there clearly spelled out guidelines on a website somewhere?
> 
> As was pointed out elsewhere here, most of the charter boats had zero provisions on them, so we had to buy (and throw out) ketchup, mustard, salt, pepper, etc. We would have loved to bring garlic powder, curry, and some other herbs and spices that we use in small amounts and too expensive to throw away. And of course, if we could have pre-marinated and hard frozen some beef and chicken to bring across the border, that would have been great. But I always thought that agriculture inspections were required for any food imports, and too costly for anyone other than the bulk importers.
> 
> Is there a website somewhere that gives clear guidelines for importing food items into BVI?


British Virgin Islands Entry Requirements | BVI Tourism you must read it very carefully. They talk about hoof and mad cow then the statement you need to hear comes after that. I called the Dep of AG in the BVI to be sure the policy was as the site stated. Yes it is and we did have to pay duties on the declared value, they just asked what it was worth but we had the receipts none the less.


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## FarCry (Apr 21, 2007)

There are some first hand experiences here. Traveltalkonline: Bringing Food


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