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Fantastic Trip!!
#47231
03/23/2015 12:54 PM
03/23/2015 12:54 PM
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Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 68
Gailgs
OP
Traveler
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OP
Traveler
Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 68
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We just got back last night from a great week. All the info on this site was invaluable and accurate. so i am going to try to take some time to give back.
We cabbed with Kevin in st Thomas and Arnold Smith in Tortola..rented from Dean Wheatly in anegada and Speedys in VG..all were prompt and reliable..highly recommend!!
we ate at the big bamboo..over priced for lunch..even by BVI standards..Cow wreck beach was beautiful and empty even tho this was one of the busiest weeks of the season..
Loved Saba rock..alot classier than i had expected..had lunch at Chez Bamboo..my favorite of all..loved the decor the music the food the drinks and the service! beautiful dinner at coco maya..dinner at cooper was ok but not as special..fun bartender tho..
had another way too expensive lunch at pirates bight and an awesome happy hour at willy Ts..and two pretty good dinners at charlies at the moorings on our first and last night.
as stated here you must see the view at hog heaven..they weren't even open yet and they let us on the deck to take pictures..offered to take pics of all of us and welcomed us to use there freshly cleaned bathrooms..didn't have time to eat there but they were so nice and accommodating i hope everyone tries to patronize them
i was devastated by the dead and dying reefs. big bamboo was totally dead..had been there 20 years ago and it was without exaggeration the most amazing site i had ever seen..one of the main reasons i went back to the BVI..i was told that we should have gone to Flash of Beauty..reef is in better shape there..but all of the reefs are dying or dead..some look like they are making a comeback but i am not optimistic..i am not knowledgable about this but it looked to me like there was some new coral growth in cooper and one side of the indians looked pretty healthy while the other side was dead..the caves were on the healthier side but a lot of the smaller coral had white tips..i think that is a sign of the algae that is killing it..not sure.
We chartered a 42.3 from the moorings..on march 14th..apparently the busiest day of the year..it was insane that day..most people didnt get provisions till late at night..but the moorings staff was incredible..they worked so hard..it was impossible to be upset with them..even tho everyone that had arrived that day was exhausted and travel weary. by morning things were coming together and we actually left the dock by 11:30. i know most on this forum are not fans of the moorings but i wanted to say i thought they excelled in customer service at the base..not so much when you call their main # but once there they could not have been better.
Last edited by Carol_Hill; 03/23/2015 01:07 PM.
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Re: Fantastic Trip!!
[Re: Gailgs]
#47233
03/23/2015 01:08 PM
03/23/2015 01:08 PM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,900 Central Florida!
Carol_Hill
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,900
Central Florida!
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Hi. Thanks for the report!
I added some extra spacing in between paragraphs to make it easier to read. For whatever reason, when you copy and paste onto here, it loses some of the returns, etc.
Carol Hill
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Re: Fantastic Trip!!
[Re: Gailgs]
#47234
03/23/2015 01:37 PM
03/23/2015 01:37 PM
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Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 588 Jacksonville, FL, USA
onlymedication
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 588
Jacksonville, FL, USA
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Gailgs said: i was devastated by the dead and dying reefs. I had the same reaction almost four years ago on my first trip back after more than twenty years. Forgetting all of the other issues the territory faces whether it be cruise ship pier, airport, ferries, etc. The number one thing, imho, that needs to be done to preserve the area for tourism and for the charter industry in particular, is to deal with what happens to poop. The charter industry should be handling this themselves on their end, banning and/or at least phasing out the practice of sending boats out without holding tanks or with holding tanks that are locked on bypass. Far more complicated and expensive is somehow coming up with better solutions for dealing with waste that is generated on land. Thanks for the trip report, glad you had a great time!!
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Re: Fantastic Trip!!
[Re: Gailgs]
#47243
03/23/2015 05:52 PM
03/23/2015 05:52 PM
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Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 3,003
sail445
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 3,003
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Gailgs said: We just got back last night from a great week. All the info on this site was invaluable and accurate. so i am going to try to take some time to give back.
We cabbed with Kevin in st Thomas and Arnold Smith in Tortola..rented from Dean Wheatly in anegada and Speedys in VG..all were prompt and reliable..highly recommend!!
we ate at the big bamboo..over priced for lunch..even by BVI standards..Cow wreck beach was beautiful and empty even tho this was one of the busiest weeks of the season..
Loved Saba rock..alot classier than i had expected..had lunch at Chez Bamboo..my favorite of all..loved the decor the music the food the drinks and the service! beautiful dinner at coco maya..dinner at cooper was ok but not as special..fun bartender tho..
had another way too expensive lunch at pirates bight and an awesome happy hour at willy Ts..and two pretty good dinners at charlies at the moorings on our first and last night.
as stated here you must see the view at hog heaven..they weren't even open yet and they let us on the deck to take pictures..offered to take pics of all of us and welcomed us to use there freshly cleaned bathrooms..didn't have time to eat there but they were so nice and accommodating i hope everyone tries to patronize them
i was devastated by the dead and dying reefs. big bamboo was totally dead..had been there 20 years ago and it was without exaggeration the most amazing site i had ever seen..one of the main reasons i went back to the BVI..i was told that we should have gone to Flash of Beauty..reef is in better shape there..but all of the reefs are dying or dead..some look like they are making a comeback but i am not optimistic..i am not knowledgable about this but it looked to me like there was some new coral growth in cooper and one side of the indians looked pretty healthy while the other side was dead..the caves were on the healthier side but a lot of the smaller coral had white tips..i think that is a sign of the algae that is killing it..not sure.
We chartered a 42.3 from the moorings..on march 14th..apparently the busiest day of the year..it was insane that day..most people didnt get provisions till late at night..but the moorings staff was incredible..they worked so hard..it was impossible to be upset with them..even tho everyone that had arrived that day was exhausted and travel weary. by morning things were coming together and we actually left the dock by 11:30. i know most on this forum are not fans of the moorings but i wanted to say i thought they excelled in customer service at the base..not so much when you call their main # but once there they could not have been better. The dead and dying reefs you saw had nothing to do with global warming and holding tanks. They had to do with run off from heavy rains and the unprecedent amount of hurricanes we have had since the 90's The reefs will come back as they always have unless they're burried by sand.
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Re: Fantastic Trip!!
[Re: Gailgs]
#47247
03/23/2015 06:05 PM
03/23/2015 06:05 PM
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Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 3,003
sail445
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 3,003
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Gailgs said: from what i have been reading it is both the heavy rains and the sea temperature..apparently if they are not too damaged they do come back..but many do die Many definitely die you can see that where part of the shore sand is above the dead coral, it's ongoing or when you walk into the water and stub your foot it's usually where there at one time had live coral. The only thing we should worry about is a nuclear disaster.
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Re: Fantastic Trip!!
[Re: cessnaflyr2]
#47249
03/25/2015 01:05 AM
03/25/2015 01:05 AM
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Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 414 Memphis, TN
beerMe
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 414
Memphis, TN
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Don't worry about this one Carol!
Gailgs, thanks for the wonderful trip report. I consider trip reports the life blood of TTOL along with the up to date accurate information of course!
Life involves risks, take some prudent ones (NOT with the BVI ferries)!
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Re: Fantastic Trip!!
[Re: cessnaflyr2]
#47251
03/25/2015 11:10 AM
03/25/2015 11:10 AM
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Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 3,003
sail445
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 3,003
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cessnaflyr2 said: I absolutely agree with "Only Medication". People are being ignorant if they think that the largest concentration of small boats (and big) in the world can continue dumping their tanks overboard without consequences to marine life. I have been all over the Caribbean since about 1975 and the reef life has continually been degrading compared to what they were then. To say "they will always come back" is ridiculous! Carol,,,,,,,get ready for all the replies to this post! Well you have your facts mixed up about the coral reefs. The biggest threat to the coral is the run off from heavy rains, construction and hurricanes. The coral reef otherwise keep rebuilding themselves.
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Re: Fantastic Trip!!
[Re: sail445]
#47252
03/25/2015 01:14 PM
03/25/2015 01:14 PM
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 3,612 Woodstock, GA
RickinAtlanta
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 3,612
Woodstock, GA
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sail445 said:cessnaflyr2 said: I absolutely agree with "Only Medication". People are being ignorant if they think that the largest concentration of small boats (and big) in the world can continue dumping their tanks overboard without consequences to marine life. I have been all over the Caribbean since about 1975 and the reef life has continually been degrading compared to what they were then. To say "they will always come back" is ridiculous! Carol,,,,,,,get ready for all the replies to this post! Well you have your facts mixed up about the coral reefs. The biggest threat to the coral is the run off from heavy rains, construction and hurricanes. The coral reef otherwise keep rebuilding themselves. Apparently it's all relative to ones experience/perspective.
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Re: Fantastic Trip!!
[Re: RickinAtlanta]
#47253
03/25/2015 05:55 PM
03/25/2015 05:55 PM
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Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 1,423 New Jersey, USA
DanS
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 1,423
New Jersey, USA
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Apparently it's all relative to ones experience/perspective.
I think you're being overly charitable when you put it that way. When it comes to the factors that affect the health of coral reefs, there is an objective reality, and there are people who spend their lives using scientific methodology to study that reality. I'm not one of those people, and I don't know the answers. But I do know that those who express strongly worded opinions on a subject like this, without quoting any facts or sources to back up their opinions, are not helping to shed any light on the matter. Dan
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Re: Fantastic Trip!!
[Re: DanS]
#47254
03/25/2015 06:14 PM
03/25/2015 06:14 PM
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Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 2,432 Miramichi NB Canada
Sandsailsun
Traveler
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Traveler
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 2,432
Miramichi NB Canada
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Thanks for taking the time to share your observations.
We too enjoyed our one meal at Chez Bamboo and agree Hog Heaven is the bomb. Visited shortly after it had opened the first year and things have gotten bigger and better since. ...
Sad to hear the reefs seem less healthy and dying ...I have only been coming since 2010 so have little comparison...
Kim
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