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Hundreds of years ago, pirates notoriously buried their loot along the shores of the British Virgin Islands. Today, the swashbucklers have long since sailed on and their spoils retrieved, but their hiding spot—the true treasure of the Caribbean—remains, where its natural riches await discovery.
The BVI is an archipelago of 60 isles, and while each exudes its own personality and tells its own stories (like the history of sugar cane on Tortola or tales of hidden gold along Norman Island, which is said to have inspired Robert Louis Stephenson’s pirate novel Treasure Island), an effervescent spirit unites them. The best way to explore them all is by private catamaran, which I where I find myself. The Nomada at Sea is setting sail for five days of island hopping, and I’m climbing aboard.
She’s a Lagoon 620 catamaran, lovingly restored by the Nomada Hotel Group, which seeks to rescue forgotten places and reinvent them as destinations for modern travelers with their brand of cool California style. “The idea of Nomada is a love and lifestyle of travel and adventure. At Sea can be the grandest adventure of them all,” says creative director Kimberly Walker.
On a personal vacation, she fell in love with the BVI and the thrill of chartering a private vessel; so much so, she decided to create a similar bespoke experience for Nomada guests. “On other catamarans I have chartered in the Caribbean, the fabrics and finishes always felt a bit dull to me, as if the super yachts you read about only deserved patterns and thoughtful touches. We wanted to bring that feeling of a swanky private vessel to Nomada at Sea,” says Walker. “Guests can expect the same attention to experience that we strive for at our hotel properties. Art, music, design, food, and drink are all carefully curated for our guests.”
Consider it the Caribbean’s version of glamping: Nomada at Sea offers an immersive voyage through the BVI within an upscale boutique hotel-like setting. The hotelier’s design team deftly curated an elegant island aesthetic without the tropical kitsch. At Tortola’s Nanny Cay Marina, arrangements of lush tropical flowers flanked the ladder inviting my fellow travelers and me aboard. We were then greeted by the gracious crew who’d shepherd us through the isles: captain Ryan Adler; Michelin star experienced chef Kenetha Ashton; and stewardess Costanza Fernandez.
What a stylish place to listen to safety instructions, I thought as our group settled into the lower deck’s handwoven Janus et Cie chairs and plush dining banquette, upholstered in a Pierre Frey performance tweed in shades of sea and sky. Above my shoulder, a matching sun bed begged for loungers (as comfortable of a spot for sipping cocktails as for sneaking in a mid-afternoon nap—both thoroughly tested for research purposes, of course!).
Colorful rolls of fringed Matouk beach towels collected in a woven basket like a bouquet caught my eye as Captain Ryan pointed to where the snorkels, Seabobs, stand-up paddleboards, and other gear for watersports were stored on either side of the stern. And up on the front deck overlooking the bow, another pair of sun beds sat behind At Sea’s two new trampolines, breezy perches for reading one of the novels from the catamaran’s stocked bookshelves.
Swanky soared quickly to full-blown luxury as we were ushered through a sliding glass door into to the salon. If the delicious aromas of Chef Kenetha’s lunch wafting from the open kitchen weren’t intoxicating enough, my eyes fixated on the L-shaped banquette nestled within the bleached wood interior and dressed sharply in a geometric palm leaf green and tropical blue patterned velvet (also by Pierre Frey).
It became a buzzy perch for enjoying a freshly brewed espresso; hanging on the crew’s every word as they regaled stories of their sails across the world; and simply taking in the wild, mountainous coastline through the salon’s surrounding windows. (Sailors can bring a piece of the salon home with pillows in the banquette’s fabric via the hotelier’s online shop, Nomada Deco.)
Down a short flight of stairs awaited my private cabin (one of five guest rooms on board). Warm wood paneling enveloped a queen bed outfitted in crisp white Matouk linens, where from beneath the cool cotton duvet I settled in for the night with Netflix cued up on the ensuite iPad and awoke in the morning to the sherbet-hued sun rise glowing through the room-spanning windows. A small door hid the private bathroom, where from nickel Waterworks fixtures in the standing shower I washed off the day’s sunscreen, salt, and sand and then slipped on the fluffy blue-piped Matouk robe to leisurely primp for dinner.
Rivaling At Sea’s dreamy design aesthetic are its smartly curated itineraries, which are customized for every charter. Delightful and diverse discoveries await above and below the surface, and the bespoke schedules help travelers experience BVI’s natural and cultural beauty to the hilt. After a family-style breakfast around the alfresco dining table on the lower deck, we disembarked from our digs on a dinghy to explore one island after the next.
On the southwestern tip of Virgin Gorda, my fellow travelers and I hiked through The Baths National Park, where mammoth granite boulders shelter quiet sea pools along the white-sand beaches. At Norman Island, we snorkeled around Treasure Point (today’s jewels are the vibrant fish shimmying through the reefs), while along the uninhabited Dog Islands we raced on Sea Bobs. We swam and walked the beaches at Sandy Cay, formerly owned by Laurance S. Rockefeller, whose conservation management team planted over 200 palm trees and designed a trail network through its 13.57 acres.
At Jost Van Dyke we waded ashore to the Soggy Dollar Bar for Painkiller cocktails topped with freshly grated nutmeg. We cruised the North Sound via sailboat borrowed from the landmark Bitter End Yacht Club. At every destination, locals welcomed us with enthusiasm, eager to finally share their home with travelers again after rebuilding from the devastating Hurricane Irma in 2017 and reopening after the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown.
Aprés explorations on land and sea, we returned by happy hour to our luxe base camp, where she was moored for the night among other catamarans within a quiet cay. A gourmet culinary experience awaited us, whether prepared by chef Kenetha or by a local restaurant on shore, and later our cloud-like beds, where we rested up comfortably for another day venturing into the wild.
On the final night of charter, Great Harbour gently rocked me as I floated above it on the bow’s trampoline. Reggae and laughter echoed across the mountain-hugged inlet of Jost Van Dyke as dinghies ferried fellow sailors from dinner and dancing at local watering hole Foxy’s back on board their moored boats.
Gazing upward, I’d only ever seen such a big sky in the American West, but I felt that same spirit of connection to natural world as the stars twinkled above the Caribbean and tucked behind the surrounding islands’s forested peaks. At Sea navigated my fellow travelers and me on a glamorous voyage through the BVI and shared its riches of natural splendor, spirit of hospitality, and tropical adventure. X marks the spot.
Book Your Stay
Visit Nomada At Sea’s website for details on booking your Caribbean voyage. The private charter can accommodate up to 10 guests, and rates begin at $43,000/week.
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