You know it is a very bad thing

When you check out the Soggy webcam and the Quart-O-Nancy webcam at cooper on Jan 4th, and there is not a soul (or boat) to be seen. Kind of depressing, can't imagine how not only strange, but economic tragedy, it must be for BVI residents....

Looking forward to vaccines getting administered and being able to travel a little, once again.

I’m with you. This is brutal for the folks in the BVI and my heart goes out for them.

Cooper Island resort is closed for the season. I heard they decided a while back that 2021 was not going to be worth the expense of opening. We were at Soggy in early December and I have to say it was kinda nice without the crowds.

At least there are signs of life... foot steps in the sand.
For months the beach was completely smooth untouched by humans.

Cane Garden Bay is very pleasant this year. I'd guess only 25ish people on the beach most of the weekend. Sea life is all back and the water is very clear!

We were at Cooper first week of February in 2018, about 4 months after the Hurricanes. Cooper was closed then too, but we still decided to stay there on a mooring for a couple of days, the beach and water were still very good. Was on a CYOA catamaran we chartered then. The BVI was certainly nice then without the crowds , but we could still see a lot of storm damage and people were still working to put everything back together. When they announced the re-opening for December 2020, I expected to see at least a few boats on the webcams down there, especially over the Christmas - New Year holiday time frame. I looked again today and saw one boat at Cooper, and White Bay was empty at the time I checked it. I have done at least one or two bareboat charters down there over the last dozen years or so, miss getting down there. We contemplate a possible USVI charter this spring if things improve with respect to Covid ----

There is no where to go but up in my humble opinion.

March 2021 marks 6 years of home ownership in the BVI, East of Jost Van Dyke to be specific.

It certainly has been quite a wave to ride.......

Our villa has been rebuilt post IRMA (boy was that fun!) and ready for guest since November of 2019.

We were issued our Gold Seal Certification Certificate yesterday afternoon.

We are hopeful things will get better and travel will resume.

On a side note, super excited to get back down ourselves.

Glad you are ready to go. As they say, hopefully... "soon come". Missin the BVI very much.

Are things open in BVI?

Soggy, Corsairs, Pirate's Bite, WilllyT (ok, if it is closed my next morning will be better)

If things are open - I am really looking forward to by February trip! As long as there are no more hurdles to jump through!

Most things are open. Soggy - yes, Corsairs - no, but the owner was due to arrive back yesterday, Pirate's - yes; Willy T - yes.

In CGB everything is open except The Elms and there is a great new place at the west end of the bay called Indigo Beach House.

Great - I have the Cocunut Breeze webcam in CGB up more than I should!

Looking forward to seeing myself out there on one of those many lonely mooring balls next month!

Jason, did Val and Kareem sell the Indigo House? We stayed there a couple of times years ago. I remember when we were with them after Irmaria Val saying something about rebuilding or selling Indigo House. A restaurant now?

No Val and Kareem still own Indigo. They have transformed the first floor into an art gallery/bar/restaurant (soon come) and the top floor is being built out and will become a vacation rental again. Cane Garden Bay's favorite bartender, Vishaal, is a part of the team. He's running the place and making great drinks for all his happy customers!

The view from upstairs is awesome. I was amazed at how many cruise ship passengers would walk right up on the porch whether we were sitting there or not. I do hope they left the spiral staircase in place. Is the art gallery all local?

The Pascoes, who owned Indigo House before Val and Kareem, told me they would find cruise shippers using their bathroom! They sold it and built the house up on the ridge where Quito and Kim now live. At least now Vishaal can sell them a cocktail on their way out after taking a leak ( and washing their feet in the sink)!

Luckily, no cruise ship passengers washing their feet this season! It's a very quiet and peaceful CGB lately...

Mal, that explains the sandy feet prints we saw one afternoon.

Encouraging, I checked webcams today and see a few boats at Cooper and White Bay JVD..... hopefully things are getting a little better. I am hopeful of a late Nov early Dec 2021 bareboat charter. Though about a USVI only as we are pretty familiar with it, having stayed pretty much everywhere (bays) on ST J.... it is certainly nice. Trip though, just would not be same for us without spending time in BVI, at the usual stops lke Norman, North Sound, Anegada, little JVD, Scrub and White Bay..... fingers crossed for later this year. We have our vaccine now, so feeling better about that to. Would not be much fun to travel far from home and contract virus not really knowing how it might affect you, especially when responsible as skippering the boat and crew (usually just me and the "admiral" though).

I look at the Quito cam or Soggy cam and remember fondly days gone by but my heart aches for the friends I have made over the years who rely on the boat people for their livelihood.

Top of the Baths announced today that they are closing until the economy gets better. They are unable to stay open due to the restrictions.

No..... our favorite spot for breakfast.... I am wondering if we should put off our land based March trip.... would hate to arrive to everything closed....

We cancelled our land based trip to Anegada this coming May with the same concerns. Well, that and the quarantining doesn't work for a 7 day trip. But we are hopeful for November '21.

There are a lot of things open. People are discovering new favorites and meeting new people.

I talked to a lady at Quito's last night that has been coming for 30 years for the month of February. She was describing how important it was for her to come and support the people she's known and loved here for the last 30 years but was sad that so many of her regular friends that normal visit in February weren't here. Now that she's finished quarantine and been out to the places that are open, she's excited that she's found new place, met new people, is seeing new things, and enjoying different aspects of Tortola that she would have normally skipped because they weren't the people and places she was used to from the last 30 years. She was also thrilled to experience a quiet, simpler, more peaceful BVI that we likely won't see again in our lifetime.

i encourage everyone who has time and patience to get thru the quarantine to come down and enjoy life in the BVI like it was 20 years ago!!

Sorry to hear my brother...hope to see you there again soon

We will be in VG... it's hard to go when your favorites are not open.... We thought Saba Rock would be open by now...

I cant speak for March but at least in June we took the last 514PC out of Moorings so I am hoping that means more demand...

Of course a lot of this is driven by charter boat and airplane credits that expire this year...

One explanation might be that June is popular with families with school children, for whom Covid is less of an issue. Plus people may figure they can be vaccinated by then. This time of year is popular with retirees, who are at greater risk.

We stayed at Indigo once and has the cruise crowd stopping by as well. It’s cool place but the wife was not okay with the security of it being down at the end of the beach and the uninvited visitors. We hope to get back down there when all this is over. CGB was getting to crowded during the day on our last trip from the cruise ship crowd so I’m not sure where we would stay the next time we are down. I would be sure to visit there as well still as we enjoy the different spots during the evening. Val in Kareem are outstanding hosts. The elm tones would let my son sit in on guitar for a song over the years and we always enjoyed that. I hope that it gets back to normal for all of the hard-working locals.

Thanks Rob. After chatting with Peter I do feel better about our island friends longevity. And I also agree with Jason's comments. But mostly for me, the quarantine of 4/5 days is a deal breaker. I am not criticizing the quarantine. It is what it is. But I cannot get away for more than a week due to business. That leaves us with just a day and a half to enjoy the island. So as Peter recommended we will enjoy at week at Wild Dunes (Charleston) in May for our 30th and look forward to getting to Anegada in November. Don't be surprised to get a call that we are heading to DC this summer. If we do I will absolutely let you know.

Understand my friend and look forward to seeing you in DC