1
Check where Gun Creek stands
Gun Creek is not currently available for yacht clearance. Before you plan a North Sound landfall, ask us and we will tell you whether an official reopening has been announced.
North Sound · Virgin Gorda · clearance status
Gun Creek Yacht Clearance Status, Virgin Gorda
Gun Creek serves the North Sound of Virgin Gorda and has held a port-of-entry designation since 2012, but it has not been available for yacht clearance since the 2017 hurricanes and BVI Tourism currently describes it as reopening soon. Plan your arrival around St Thomas Bay at Spanish Town, which covers the island, and sail north to Gorda Sound once you are cleared. We track the position and can tell you where it stands before you commit to a route.
Gun Creek, Virgin Gorda
Virgin Gorda
Manual reviewEach request is assessed before an agent introduction.
Local assistance
How our North Sound clearance service works
The North Sound is one of the best anchorages in the Caribbean, but it has no working clearance point at present, which catches out crews arriving from the east expecting to make their landfall there. We can tell you where Gun Creek stands and arrange clearance at St Thomas Bay so the North Sound part of the trip goes ahead as planned.
2
Send your details
Registration, who is aboard, the passage either side and your timing. If the yacht is coming up from St Maarten, Antigua or further east, say so: it changes where the sensible landfall sits.
3
The agent clears you at Spanish Town
A local agent prepares and coordinates the formalities at the St Thomas Bay government office, including the National Parks mooring permit. Once cleared, the North Sound is a short passage north through the buoyed channel.
Clearance checklist
What to have ready to clear at St Thomas Bay instead
Because Gun Creek is not currently confirmed available, plan around St Thomas Bay / Spanish Town and keep the original records aboard for any attendance or passport presentation requested by the authorities.
✓A valid passport for everyone aboard, plus any visa required for your nationality
✓Crew and passenger list
✓Vessel registration papers and the registration number
✓Online ED Card completion email for each person aboard, showing the barcode
✓Proof of ownership, or written authority to operate the yacht
✓Valid yacht insurance
✓Clearance or zarpe from your last port, where one was issued
✓The ports either side of the visit, your timing, and your intended North Sound anchorage
Local process
How to reach the North Sound as a cleared yacht
The sequence below assumes you are entering the territory rather than moving within it. If you have already cleared in elsewhere in the BVI, you can sail straight to the North Sound.
Complete the pre-arrival reporting
The national submissions for the vessel and the people aboard are completed before arrival, with the confirmations held ready. Heading for the North Sound changes none of that.
Make your landfall at St Thomas Bay
Spanish Town, on the south-west coast, is the working Virgin Gorda port of entry. Approaching from the east or south, it is the practical landfall; do not plan on clearing at Gun Creek.
Clear at the government office
Customs and Immigration are at the government office by the St Thomas Bay ferry dock. Yachts lie off and come in by dinghy, or use the short-term dockage at Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour next door.
Buy the park mooring permit while you are there
Foreign vessels can buy the National Parks Trust mooring permit from Customs on Virgin Gorda on entry. It is worth doing at clearance rather than chasing it later.
Sail north to Gorda Sound
Once cleared, the North Sound is open cruising with nothing further required inside the territory. Enter through the well-marked channel and not in failing light, as the approach runs through the reef.
Clearing out afterwards
Outbound clearance for an international departure is completed at a port of entry, which for Virgin Gorda means returning to St Thomas Bay, and the vessel leaves BVI waters within 24 hours.
British Virgin Islands requirements
The position at Gun Creek
Designated, but not operating
Gun Creek was designated a sea port of entry in March 2012, with Immigration, Customs and the BVI Ports Authority working from the visitor centre. It has not functioned as a clearance point since the 2017 hurricanes, and BVI Tourism currently lists it as reopening soon rather than as an available office.
What to do instead
St Thomas Bay at Spanish Town is the working Virgin Gorda port of entry and covers the whole island, including the North Sound. Clear there on arrival and sail north afterwards. Do not plan a North Sound landfall on the basis of a future reopening.
Entering Gorda Sound
The sound is entered through a well-marked channel that runs in past the reef, and the approach is not one to attempt in failing light. Inside, there is space and shelter in almost any conditions, with moorings off Leverick Bay, Bitter End and Saba Rock.
Park moorings around the sound
National Parks Trust mooring buoys elsewhere on Virgin Gorda need a mooring permit, which foreign vessels can buy from Customs on the island at clearance. Buy it at St Thomas Bay on the way in rather than after you are settled in the sound.
FAQ
Gun Creek, Virgin Gorda Yacht Clearance questions
Can I clear into the BVI at Gun Creek?
Not at present. Gun Creek holds a port-of-entry designation, but it has not been available for yacht clearance since the 2017 hurricanes and BVI Tourism currently describes it as reopening soon. Clear at St Thomas Bay, Spanish Town, and treat Gun Creek as unavailable until an official reopening is announced.
Was Gun Creek ever a working port of entry?
Yes. It was designated a sea port of entry in March 2012, with Immigration, Customs and the BVI Ports Authority operating from the visitor centre at Gun Creek, specifically so that yachts could clear for the North Sound without going round to Spanish Town. That arrangement did not survive the 2017 hurricane season.
Where do I clear if I am heading straight for the North Sound?
St Thomas Bay at Spanish Town, on Virgin Gorda's south-west coast. Clear at the government office by the ferry dock, then sail north to Gorda Sound, which is a short passage. Once you are cleared into the territory, nothing further is required to cruise the sound.
I am arriving from St Maarten or Antigua. Does that change anything?
Only the landfall. Yachts coming in from the east often aim for the North Sound because it is the first good shelter, but the entry has to be made at a working port of entry, which means carrying on round to St Thomas Bay. Build that leg into the passage plan rather than discovering it on arrival.
Will you tell me if Gun Creek reopens?
Yes. It is the kind of change that alters how a Virgin Gorda arrival is planned, so we keep the position under review and will say where it stands when you send your details. Until an official reopening is announced, every plan we prepare for the island routes through St Thomas Bay.
Personal clearance support
Send the voyage details once. We help route the request.
Use this page to check Gun Creek's status and arrange clearance at an active Virgin Gorda port such as St Thomas Bay.