Trip summary from our trip to the BVI April 20th to May 5th with our two daughters (10 & 7)
Long Bay Beach Resort – 2 nights
Moorings flotilla – 6 nights
Icis Villas – 7 nights
with day trips to Long Bay Beach, Smuggler’s Cove, Speedy’s back to Virgin Gorda, day on Aristocat (West End)
The Amazing
Snorkeling past Saba Rock
Long Bay boogie boarding
White Bay - Made it on our 2nd last day aboard “Aristocat” - incredible!
Icis Villas and the staff there
The Great
Driving – was initially hesitant but loved it
Seeing all the beaches we got to see:
The Baths – Devil’s Bay - twice
Loblolly
Cane Garden Bay
Sandy Spit
Great Harbour
Norman Island
Brewer’s Bay
Long Bay
Smuggler’s Cove
White Bay
The Suprising
Lots of rain as others have noted in the sailing week but I think it helped keep the kids unburnt and happy – they didn’t care at all! But again they weren’t up and down all night closing hatches
No airline/baggage/custom issues!
My only issue was feeding kids on the travel days. I packed a lot of snacks and protein bars but they really can’t exist on that for 18 hours. They need a real meal and that is difficult with two connections to make.
The Disappointing
Moorings flotilla
– 16 boats was way too many, and the base seemed to be stressed beyond its capability on April 22nd. I had heard they had double the amount of charters as normal.
- I know you need to be patient/island time and all but we ended up leaving without towels and our charter/flotilla folder with all our information. (Not sure how that was allowed – we had a skipper, though) When we finally found our provisioning, it had been sitting out in the sun for a long time.
- Problems with the refrigeration/battery – ended up replacing all our provisioning half way through the week and just relying on ice to keep the essentials safe.
Summary
Unforgettable and amazing time in the BVI. The kids are still mad that we made them come back. School is not an acceptable alternative!
I’ll post the link to my web album after I clean out some of the silly pictures taken by the kids! And again thanks for all the information on TTOL, it was invaluable!!
