Virgin Gorda trip report, June 14-23, 2012
I’m a long time lurker on TTOL and finally registered a couple of months ago. I have been to St. Maarten numerous times and have been wanting to go to Virgin Gorda for many years. So our family of 8 (my wife and I, 4 kids 28,26,23,17, daughter in-law and son in-law) decided to take the plunge.
First let me say thank you to Nick and his assistant, Melissa, for all of their help in making the arrangements. I wanted to make sure this was a special trip and they were very responsive to my questions and also reassured me that I would be more than pleased with our villa (they were right). I saw Nick at Leverick one afternoon, but he seemed pretty busy at the time and I didn’t want to interrupt. My family asked, “how do you know that was Nick?”, I replied that his picture is often posted on TTOL.
Travel- Flying out of Baltimore, it turned out to be cheaper to fly to San Juan and then on to Virgin Gorda than flying to St. Thomas and taking the ferry. We took an Airtran non-stop out of Baltimore Thursday night and stayed overnight at the Best Western in the San Juan airport. I’m no marketing guru, but I’m not sure that I would advertise my hotel as the Best 2 Star hotel in San Juan. That provided some laughs for us and the hotel worked out perfect. At the included breakfast the next morning, I had 3 simple pointers for my group. 1) don’t get burnt, 2) don’t be ugly Americans, greet everyone before you ask for help, and 3) often repeated on TTOL, the difference between disaster and adventure is attitude. Our trip will be what we make of it. Air Sunshine was actually a little early, we filled the plane and had a beautiful flight to Virgin Gorda. What a way to start the trip. If that doesn’t get you in the mood for vacation, nothing will. Air Sunshine split our group on the way back, but it was no problem and we made it home right on schedule.
Accomodations- Our rental van and villa rep were waiting at the airport and we were quickly off to Villa Bellamare in Mahoe Bay. 4 spacious and beautifully furnished bedrooms, pool and fabulous outdoor seating areas. The landscaping at our place and all of the villas we saw was stunning. I still have the view of Great Dog and George Dog etched in my mind.
We ate a lot of our meals at the villa, grilling on the deck while enjoying the view and cocktails. We had made reservations for the Jumbies on our arrival night. The first ride over the mountain was great. I knew it would be hilly, but had no idea it was that hilly. Everyone had a blast at Leverick, can’t beat the food and entertainment for the price. We ended up eating dinner twice at the Rock Café, once outside and once inside listening to some music. We took the Nail Bay road up to Hog Heaven for a late lunch one afternoon. The drive is scenic and the view at Hog Heaven does not disappoint. A very friendly waitress and good food & drink made for a memorable afternoon. I did manage to find M&M bakery and we had pastries a few mornings.
One day was spent splashing around Leverick Bay in dinghies. We went to the Sand Box, Bitter End and had lunch at the Fat Virgin Café. It was a great way to get a feel for the area.
Before we left, I had scheduled a snorkeling trip with Dive-BVI. It was the 8 of us and we picked 2 couples up from Little Dix. Very nice people and everyone got along great. We snorkeled the Indians, the Caves and lunched at the Willie T. A sailing group celebrating a birthday arrived right after we did and a good time was had by all. We jumped off the top deck and did the required shots. It was probably best that this was an afternoon thing and we were on a schedule.
Another day we rented a 30’ center console from Leverick. We passed Scrub Island and Marina Cay on the way to snorkeling at Monkey Point. From there we headed to Cooper Island for lunch. We were very impressed with the facility, service, food & drink. We ran into the same birthday group and they were still in the party spirit. From Cooper we took a scenic ride up the VG coast and then stopped at the Dogs for some more snorkeling. Overall, just a fabulous day on the water.
We ventured to the Baths one afternoon and took our time exploring. Not too crowded. On the way back we went by the Coppermine ruins. Nice stop with great views. The “great views” thing on Virgin Gorda gets pretty repetitive. Many times I pulled off the road to enjoy the view.
A morning hike to Virgin Gorda peak was a lot of fun. The sign says 50 minutes to the top and we didn’t know what to expect. Not too strenuous and a fun way to start the day. Saw some huge spiders in their webs and 2 snakes.
I think what we enjoyed most about the Mahoe area was the ability to snorkel at our leisure. We spent hours in the water and loved every minute of it. We saw turtles every day and they didn’t seem to care if you reached out and touched them as they were surfacing. Most of the days the water was clear and the underwater scenery made the trip.
I had very high expectations for this trip and was not disappointed. Everyone we met was extremely friendly and welcoming. Numerous times I walked into the villa to hear the maid singing as she worked. She could not have been nicer. The food was better than I expected, although the grocery store was a bit interesting. It seems the locals know which days various items arrive and things sell out quickly. They had no eggs for a few days. No big deal to us. I knew before I left that my only regret would be that the vacation should have been longer. I was right, nobody wanted to leave. But the real world gets in the way sometimes. The consensus in our group is that we would like to return for a week on the water followed by a week on land. The problem is, I am a power boater at home and have very limited sailing experience. My son and I have taken sailing classes just for fun. Since there are 8 of us, it makes it more difficult to hire a crewed boat. The larger boats get pretty expensive. We’ll figure out a way to get back.
Even though I have been lurking in the background on TTOL, I thank everyone for all of the information provided. For example, I ordered some stuff from Frank, including the cruising guide. I read the whole book before I left and used it the day we rented the boat. I enjoy reading peoples comments, it made me feel like I already knew a lot about the place before I even arrived.
Check out some photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/82056783@N08/sets/72157630442775520/Scott
