We arrived in Hope Town about 45 minutes before high tide on Wednesday morning at 10 am. Some of the entry depths showed as little as 6.5'. It was a tense entry with such low depths. The harbor is CROWDED! I don't think they could have packed more moorings in there if they tried. Add a fair crosswind and a bunch of boat traffic and it can get ugly fast inside the mooring field. Picked-up a mooring from Hope Town Marina (club Soliel) and they were tough to contact. I guess the guy was running around all over the marina and wasn't answering the phone or the VHF. But finally got him on the VHF and he told us where to look and for what (cone shaped moorings with blue stripe around the top. The price was $20/night. Their dockage fees are like $0.75/ft/night with no water or electric and maybe $1.00/ft/night plus water and electric. Not many people were using the docks when we arrived but more have docked since then. Sometimes it feels like you are in Grand Central station with people buzzing by you in their dinghys. But there are quiet times toward the end of the day and at night.
We walked around Hope Town after getting the boat squared away. VERY picturesque and reasonably clean little town. I love the colorful and quaint houses. I thought it was going to be a sort of "retirement community" but I saw many younger tourists/inhabitants there. The ocean beach is right there in the town and looks very nice. The restaurants are few and not all that thrilling looking. The stores have limited goods and they are expensive as one would expect. But then Marsh Harbour is only a 1-2 hour sail from Hope Town, and you can find what you need there. There is a very nice coffee shop in the village that serves a good cup of coffee in a quiet and laid-back style. I could definitely spend more time in the little village.
All in all the island seems to have a lot of "flavor". It's clean and colorful and surrounded by brilliant green waters and beautiful beaches.