4/26 Flew out of Buffalo on USAir to Charlotte NC, USAir gave away our reserved seats, great deal of hassling and rearranging and we were 1/2 hour late to Charlotte. Left Charlotte on time to San Juan. AA was 1 1/2 hours late leaving San Juan. Fortunately our Taxi driver was still waiting for us. Dougie Penn was a great tour guide to the West end. Our water taxi had gone, and our frozen food from Bobby's was melted, we didn't get to Ms. Penguin because she was closed at 5:30. Finally got to Sandy Ground Estates just after 7:30.
4/27 Hit the beach first thing in the morning, not a soul on it except the pelicans and brown boobys. Walked out the goat path to the main road and continued down the Diamond Cay and Foxy's. Didn't find the service at Foxy's very friendly, staff was more interested in chatting with each other than serving people. Walked out to the bubbly pool and found that most of the path was flooded out by the recent rains. The pool was fairly calm and the surf was not up that day. Lovely place, great views from the higher rocks. Spent the afternoon snorkeling on the private beach at Sandy Ground, turtles, large barracuda and tons of parrot fish, tangs, squirrel fish, fish of all sizes and shapes. Evening was spent sitting on the terrace looking out over Cane Garden Bay and all the lights of Tortola. Reminded me of one of those rope lights at christmas, all the light down along the shore. Little bit of rain.
4/28 These outdoor showers are wonderful, looking out over Sandy Cay, Little JVD and Green Cay while you shower! We walked into Little Harbour and don't let anybody tell you otherwise the hills here are STEEP to walk, not only up but back down as well. Everywhere you look goats. The views into Little Harbour were breathtaking from the top of the hill. Fortunately Abe gave us a ride back up to the top of the hill coming back so we just had the down walk to make. Did more snorkeling, had a brief hard rain storm in the afternoon.
4/29 Went into Great Harbour to rent a dinghy from JVD Scuba but there was something wrong with the motor so hubby went diving instead. I just went along for the ride. The dive site was just off of White Bay. Took a taxi over the White Bay in the afternoon and enjoyed the large beach. The one side where the Soggy Dollar Bar is located was very busy with boats but the side with the White Bay Villas was almost deserted. Got Bunn's taxi to take us back to Sandy Ground later in the day. We found that they had the best prices on rides. Had a really hard 1/2 rain storm late afternoon.
4/30 Were supposed to catch the 9 o'clock ferry to Tortola but our taxi driver forgot to pick us up in the morning so we just relaxed on the beach, did more snorkeling and in the evening out on the dock with the big light on you see lots of large tarpon, about 4 feet, gathering to feed, also so a spotted eagle ray as well. The breeze had dropped and the bugs had gotten bad, first we had been bothered so far.
1/05 Got into Tortola today. Took the ferry over at 9 a.m. and rented a car from Denzil Clyne. He met us at the ferry dock and took us to the place, got the car and was off and running in a very short time. Hit Smugglars Cove first, what a wonderful beach, hardly a soul around when we first got there. Drove along the coast road past Long Bay beach, up over the hill and then back down to Cane Garden Bay, up to Skyworld to see the views, got caught in a horrible storm, couldn't see three feet in front of you, car was rocking in the wind and the rain just lashed at the car. Had to wait until it let up before we could head back down the hill. Drove into Road Town, had a map and it wasn't a very good one. Finally found where we wanted to be, had lunch at Pusser's Pub and hit the Craft Village, great prices on t-shirts. Caught the last ferry back to JVD, taxi to Sandy Ground and it was 8:00 by the time we finished our day.
2/5 Day of relaxing in the sun and sea. Lots of boats out today, all shapes and sizes. Funny how people have sail boats but you rarely see the sails up, most just motor by.
3/5 Day trip with Colin from JVD, and a couple, Sharon and Larry, that we met on TTOL. Colin picked us up at SGE and Sharon and Larry at Cane Garden Bay. We went to Great Thatch and snorkeled there, headed for the caves for snorkeling and fish feeding frenzy, further down the coast of Norman Island to Angel Reef, and then to the Indians. Great day. Saw lots of sea turtles, barracuda, sharks, tons of the usual reef fish. Colin was great, he talked about the history of the islands, lots about the ecosystem of the reef, pointed out lots of kinds of plants and fish. It was a great day for all. We recommend that you have a trip with him if you really want to see as much as possible.
4/5 Our last full day on the island and we just vegged out and spent time on the beach and in the water. We had a rain storm and lost our power until about 9 that night, had to pack suitcases by flashlight. Thank God for the gas stove.
5/5 Homeward bound. AA flight was late by over an hour so lots of people missed their connecting flights in San Juan, we were lucking because our lay-over was 4 hours. Got to Buffalo at 12:30 p.m., left Sandy Ground at 7:40 a.m., a very long day.

For anyone who is looking for peace and quiet and great snorkeling beach, nice villa, Sandy Ground Estates is your place. Only downside is lack of road access to the villas but it is very private. The villas are built into the hill side leaving much of the 15 acres natural. Each villa is private from the next but all share the same beach. We will be coming back to SGE in the future and we would like to thank Nadine and Leroy for all their help, Dougie Penn for being a great taxi driver, Bunn's taxi for all the rides back and forth to SGE, Abe in Little Harbour for the ride back up the hill, and Colin at JVD Scuba for making our snorkeling trip one to remember. Thanks also to Sharon and Larry for sharing our day with us.