British Virgin Islands Travel
British Virgin Islands Overview
The British Virgin Islands are a self-governing British overseas territory, situated in the Caribbean just to the east of the US Virgin Islands.
The BVIs, as they are called, are a popular travel destination for sailors, fishermen (and women), sun worshippers, and other independent travellers, albeit not for the cost conscious. Boating among the dozens of tiny, mostly uninhabited, islands is a great stop on any tour of the Caribbean islands.
Regions
Jost Van Dyke
Tortola-- The largest of the islands and home of the capital city, Road Town
Virgin Gorda
Anegada
The British Virgin Islands are comprised of 16 inhabited and more than 43 uninhabited islands, including the island of Anegada. The islands fall into two types, with relatively flat coral islands and steep volcanic islands. The highest point is Mount Sage at 521m.
The climate is Subtropical, tempered by easterly trade winds, relatively low humidity, little seasonal temperature variation. Has experienced several hurricanes in recent years, although with little consequent damage, as well as floods, usually in October or November.
The islands were first settled by the Dutch in 1648 before being annexed in 1672 by the English.
The economy, one of the most stable and prosperous in the Caribbean, is closely tied to the larger and more populous US Virgin Islands to the west and indeed the US dollar is the legal currency within the British Virgin Islands. The islands are highly dependent on tourism, generating an estimated 45% of the national income, together with the offshore financial industry.
British Virgin Islands Main Attractions
Nature is the main attraction in the islands. With coral reefs, white sandy beaches, and scenic seaside villages the main draw.
Other attractions include historic villages, churches, and, if the sun is too much for you, a museum in Road Town, the shady Botanic Gardens or the rain forest on Sage Mountain in Tortola.
From the eastern end of Tortola, Beef Island, to the west end, there are many spectacular white-sand beaches along the north shore. Most deepen very gradually and have light surf, allowing for very leisurely swimming. However, some beaches do have heavier surf and undertow, so it is always wise to ask someone, or observe any signs, before swimming. The list below does not encompass all the beaches, but rather points out some of the most popular and easily accessible ones.
Long Bay, Beef Island is just minutes from the airport, a long, curved stretch of beach that is one of the more secluded and little-used beaches. There are no amenities available.
Lambert Bay is awkward to access because the developers of the resort on Lambert Bay have made an effort to make the beach seem private. In fact, all beaches in the BVI are public. Lambert Bay is a very long beach, with moderate surf, and less clear water than several other beaches.
Josiah's Bay is a surfer's beach popular with natives as well. It's another good-sized beach with heavy surf when in season, and a strong undertow at the corners of the beach. However, many swimmers enjoy this beach, and the waves, simply by swimming away from the corners of the beach and at a safe depth. The beach extends very gradually, allowing swimmers to range far from the shore. There are two bar/restaurants at Josiah's Bay. The Grape Tree offers excellent food at moderate prices, and the larger bar, with a large stock of alcoholic beverages, offers food as well. Neither are fine dining establishments but rather casual beach bars.
Brewer's Bay offers snorkeling opportunities in calm weather, but because of the runoff routes from the mountains, the water is often murky after even moderate rain. Development around the island has circumvented nature's natural filtration systems, such as salt ponds, and as a result most beaches are not attractive after heavy rains because of runoff from roads that zig and zag up the mountainsides, and home development sites cut harshly into the sides of the mountains as well.
Apple Bay is a surf and party area, and does not offer much in the way of swimming. It is here that you will find the "Bomba Shack," a main party site for the island's full moon parties. During these parties the street is often flooded with native and tourist party-goers, and hallucinogenic mushrooms, which are legal to possess and use in the BVI, are readily available. Users should state a preference for fresh, live mushrooms if available.
Smuggler's Cove Difficult to access but worth the effort, Smuggler's Cove lies at the extreme western tip of Tortola. Accessible by narrow and bumpy dirt roads, this is a small oasis used mostly by expatriate workers who reside in Tortola. Due to the lie of the land there are no amenities, however, small stands selling alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages are usually available.
Brandywine Bay is a recently man-made beach, one of the only on the island's south shore. It is generally not used by locals or tourists, as natural beaches abound.
There are numerous other beautiful beaches, several of which you might have all to yourself on any given day.
The Baths is Virgin Gorda's most famous beach, due to its hidden caves and pools nestled amongst giant volcanic boulders. As a result, it can become a bit crowded when the small cruise ships come calling.
Spring Bay
Pond Bay
British Virgin Islands Family Fun
Cane Garden Bay is the most popular, populous, and touristy of the beaches available. Boats moor here, and restaurants and bars proliferate. Live music is common, especially at Quito's, where local guitar legend Quito Rhymer often plays.
Long Bay - West End Not to be confused with Long Bay - Beef Island, this beach at the western end of the island is easily accessible, very large, and has good swimming and moderate surf. There are several restaurants and bars, however, they sit back from the beach rather than spill onto it, as in Cane Garden Bay.
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British Virgin Islands Romantic Spots
If you have a dinghy or want to make a stop with your sailboat along the way, do yourself a favor and stop by uninhabited Sandy Cay right along the way to Jost Van Dyke. It has one of the most spectacular sandy beaches available, is usually not too crowded, and even has a path around the island so you can look at the local flora and fauna. Please note that during some seasons the beach can be a little buggy, but the slightest breeze will take care of this problem.
On the western end of the island is a surf-fed "Bubbly Pool" that is a tourist attraction when the swells are running. But beyond Foxy's Taboo bar and the beaches, there's not a lot to "see" beyond stunning natural vistas.
British Virgin Islands Activities
Sail
The Virgin Islands is the most popular area for a sailing vacation in the Caribbean. This is a first-timers paradise, since the islands are close together and well protected from the Atlantic. You wake up to sunshine and a blue sky, choose the cruising target of the day by pointing on a nearby island and set sail in a comfortable trade wind. There are many yacht charter companies and marinas in the British Virgin Islands.
Scuba diving
The BVIs are home to the wreck of 'The Rhone', which served as the site for the underwater scenes in the 1977 Nick Nolte/Jackie Bisset/Robert Shaw flick 'The Deep'. The Rhone is the best-known and most often visited dive site in the islands. Lying just west of Salt Island, the Rhone is a former Royal Mail Steamer that sank in a hurricane on October 29, 1867. A spectacularly large 310 ft (94 metres) steamer in her previous life, she's now a three-site dive, with each chunk resting at varying depths, from 20 to 80 ft (6 to 24 metres).
Fishing
It is illegal for non-British Virgin Islanders to remove any marine organism from BVI waters without a recreational permit. A permit is available for charterers who intend to fish while in the BVI. The cost is $35 ($10 application fee; $25 for the permit). This TEMPORARY FISHING PERMIT can be obtained from the Department of Conservation and Fisheries: Department of Conservation and Fisheries, The Quastisky Building PO Box 3323 Road Town, Tortola. Tel: (284) 494-5681/3429 or (284) 468-3701 ex. 5555/1 Fax: (284) 494-2670 E-Mail: cfd@bvigovernment.org The government office closes early on Friday afternoons and doesn’t reopen until Monday morning. For charterers arriving on the weekend, it may be a couple of days before you can get a permit. When you arrive for your charter, check with the local staff for advice on obtaining a permit.
Walking between the tiny main "town" on Great Harbor, up over the hill to White Bay is one of more peaceful, beautiful short walks in the Caribbean, allowing views from Tortola all the way across St. John to St. Thomas in the distance.
Highly fit folks may consider hiking up to the highest point on JVD, 1000' high Majohnny Hill with stunning 360 degree views across the Caribbean. This is a significant undertaking however. Some people do it in 4x4s (available to rent from locals).
The point of being on JVD is to do pretty much nothing. Stare at St. John's. Rub suntan lotion into your companion's back. turn the page in your paperback. Maybe. Shout up to the Soggy Dollar Bar for them to bring you another Painkiller please!
For the adventurous, hotels will be happy to arrange excursions for Deep Sea fishing, Sailing trips, or day trips to uninhabited specs of perfection like Sandy Cay.
While Tortola has many of the things you would expect from one of the Virgin Islands like scuba diving, boating and fishing it also has a host of other great things to do like:
The Sage Mountain Park - lots of hiking and British Virgin Islands tallest mountain, Sage Mountain.
The Callwood Rum Distillery - A historic Rum manufacturer. This is a great place to visit and is lots of fun.
Fort Recovery - This was built in 1648 by a Dutch colonist.
Joseph Reynold O'Neal Botanic Gardens - Beautiful Gardens with a great representation of the islands vegetation.
The Baths on Virgin Gorda, also part of the British Virgin Islands.
British Virgin Islands Accommodation & Dining
If you're renting a boat, you already have your bed too, but for landlubbers, the larger islands offer resorts, budget bungalows and a few things in between. To get off the beaten path you really will need to be seaworthy.
Your lodging choices are slim. Most overnight visitors sleep in their sailboat berths, anchored dozens or more at a time in Great Harbor, Little Harbor, or White Bay.
White Bay has a few guesthouse-type places, the most established being Sandcastle and the expanding White Bay Villas. There's a house for rent on White Bay called the Pink House. Up the hill behind Sandcastle is Perfect Pineapple, which has some rooms and one BR and two BR units. Ivans has camping and some very basic cabins. It also recently built a "villa" with a studio and a one bedroom unit.
Great Harbor has one or two hostelry-type facilities.
Eat
Inevitably, seafood is the dish of choice for most people. Lobster and various fish are available from the small restaurants. There are many restaurants throughout the islands varying from rotis and curries from Guyana and Trinidad to Italian, French and Asian.
Drink
Rum, not surprisingly, is the drink of choice in the islands. Rum punch and other concoctions can be found at bars on the main beaches and roads. Most beaches do not have any refreshment stands so it would be wise to bring at least water. The "Pain Killer" is highly recommended. As is the Bushwacker. However, each bar has its own speciality drinks and rum punch in one bar may not be like rum punch in any other one. One drink to be careful with is the No See-Um, a refreshing banana, coconut and pineapple long drink made with 151 proof rum.
British Virgin Islands Shopping & Nightlife
The main shopping area on Tortola is Wickham's Cay in Road Town. Main Street is a small, winding road leading from the Post Office to the Botanic Gardens. The shops on this road are housed in small, West Indian houses and often painted in bright colours. Notable shops include Pussers, a small department store with a popular bar, Sunny Caribbee selling spices and handmade items mostly from Haiti, Serendipity Bookshop which has a good collection of Caribbean history and cook books and Latitude 18 which sells casual beach clothes.
Additionally, near the cruise ship dock is a branch of Columbian Emeralds, the Craft Market which despite its name sells mostly t-shirts and jewellery, clothes and other goods imported from Florida, Panama and St. Maarten. Island crafts genuinely made in the BVI are limited to crocheted items, straw hats, rum and guavaberry liquer.
On the rest of the island there are a number of pharmacies, supermarkets, variety stores and jewellery shops.
Shopping on Anegada is limited to basic necessities plus two gift shops at the hotel and camp ground. Similarly, on Jost van Dyke there are a few gift shops but little else. Virgin Gorda has a supermarket in the marina and gift shops in the resorts.
There is plenty of Nightlife around Road Town, although only tourist places are advertised - ask a local for what is on where. Live local music is a feature of many restaurants and bars. The sunsets are spectacular, so a drink on the beach or in the mountains, watching the sunset and listening to local music before dinner can be a very pleasant vacation from the usual club-based entertainment of most mainlanders.
Popular Tortola Bars
Le Cabanon, casually known as "The Cab." An excellent bar with a great crowd in the heart of Road Town, the Cab has great, friendly bartenders, and a good mixed crowd. Revelry here is par for the course from Thursday to Saturday night.
The Royal BVI Yacht Club, just west of town. Too bad Javier Fletcher and Phil Medeiros don't jam out that sweet sweet music at sushi night anymore.
Other good bars and party spots: Bomba Shack in Apple Bay, The Bat Cave in Baugher's Bay (Hottest nightclub, and fine dining), Quito's in Cane Garden Bay.
Truth be told, if you're not offshore partying on a yacht, then chances are you're onshore partying at a bar. There's not a heck of a lot to do after you've taken the obligatory tours of the above-listed "attractions", although the 360-degree view from the top of Sage Mountain to outlying islands and the Caribbean is breathtaking.
So let's talk party.
Alcohol is immensely popular in the BVI, both beer and island cocktails, most notably rum. For beer, dark beers are rare. Red Stripe and Carib are the local beers, and other popular beers you'd expect to see are available as well. Roadside stands offer ice-cold beer for one or two dollars each, and bars offer beer at a comparable price to what you'd pay in an average-guy bar in the U.S. Rum Punch and Painkillers are two popular drinks. It is not at all unusual to chat up strangers and both buy and receive drinks. Remember to say "Cheers."
Restrictions on alcohol are very light. Bars usually stay open as long as business is booming, frequently about 3 a.m. on weekends. It is acceptable to leave a bar with your beer, and if you know the bar well, not too unusual to walk in with one, either. Smoking is not taboo and cigarettes are often sold at the bar for a price a bit higher than the supermarket, where they cost between $1 and $2 per pack. Drinking and driving is also not really taboo, and police generally do not stop cars until they have crashed. However, out of a basic moral obligation to your fellow human beings, it would be wise to not abuse this lack of enforcement.
Marijuana is very frowned upon by authorities, so much so that immigration and visitation by Rastafarians was once regulated by legislation in the BVI. Being caught with even a small personal amount of marijuana will almost certainly lead to a stiff fine, if not a few days in prison.
Mushrooms are legal in the British Virgin Islands. The native species grows in the hills and is available after rains, which occur throughout the year. Mushrooms are available at full moon parties, the right bars, and from casual purveyors. Although they are legal, many non-trippers frown on their use and it would be gauche to roam the town asking strangers for mushrooms. Rather, have a few drinks with a native or expatriate who seems to be of the right attitude and bearing before bringing up the topic.
Getting To & Around the British Virgin Islands
Getting There
Passport and visa regulations are enforced at harbors, especially for boats moving back and forth between the US and British territory.
By plane
Most international flights into the BVIs involve changing planes in San Juan, Puerto Rico since the Beef Island airport is not set up for large planes. Other flights from Europe involve changing planes in Antigua or other Caribbean Islands. Flights from the UK and mainland US often go to the US Virgin Islands and then require a fast boat transfer or, more usually, a 45 minute ferry boat ride.
By boat
Boats move freely between the BVI and the US Virgin Islands. A few cruise ships visit the major ports, but small vessels are more common.
Getting Around
By boat
A great way to see the islands is by boat. Sailboats and motorboats can be rented or chartered with a crew from any major harbor. The conditions for sailing and motoring depend on the time of year and anchoring off islands can be tricky, so either be sure you know what you are doing or hire a crew.
If you are an experienced sailor, it doesn't get any better than the BVI. Line of sight sailing in moderate trade winds, no currents to speak of, barely any tides, and few underwater obstructions other than the shore itself make sailing around the islands very relaxing.
Windward Islands - Windward Islands, one of the worlds largest yacht charter companies, can take care of all charter requirements, from bareboat to crewed in British Virgin Islands. Operating from 8 international offices (USA, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland, Caribbean, Monaco).
By car
Cars can be rented on the larger islands such as Virgin Gorda and Tortola, but are obviously unnecessary on many islands where goat paths and foot trails are the main mode of transportation. There is one scooter for rent on Jost van Dyke.
Island hop to the US Virgin Islands and the rest of the Caribbean islands.
The information on this page has been extracted from http://wikitravel.org/en/British_Virgin_Islands and is based on work by Matthew Bradley, David, Todd VerBeek and Tim Sandell, Wikitravel user(s) Ddoppler, AdamAdamsson, Episteme and Jonboy, Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel and others.
