Norman Birchfield

Review of SunSail - Caribbean

I have used Sunsail BVI twice now and both times h...

I have used Sunsail BVI twice now and both times had trouble with incompetent and rude staff at the base. Both instances led to a loss of one day of sailing and much frustration. The most recent episode was just trying to get someone to fuel up our boat so we could leave. The check out briefer disappeared midway through the briefing and it took a few hours hours of trying to find someone to finish it. After visiting the front desk multiple times I went to speak with Mr George, the base manager. He assured me he would take care of things and things will happen very fast now. But they didn t. More hours went by as my group of 7 waited at the dock. Finally after having to make myself a pest to get service we got fuel but only after being told the tanks were full. They weren t full - the fuel gauges don t work well. One tank was completely empty. I learned to check the tanks myself by banging them because the last time they sent us out full , we ran out in 2 days (the fuel gauges still showing full) and a service boat had to come assist us to a marina. Other than the lousy service and high frustration with the staff there, the boats are mostly okay. Little things, like the fridge, the oven, shower pump, didn t work but I guess that s what you should expect with the low prices they offer. I m definitely going to be looking more closely at other companies the next time we charter to hopefully have a less frustrating experience and get more sailing time in. There are so many companies in the BVI and I have heard good things about many of them. They just seem to cost a bit more. I guess you get what you pay for. The reason I am rating two stars instead of one is the price is low and the boats are generally adequate.