A short time to plan this trip 6 weeks, we choose Tortola and CGB for our first trip to the Caribbean, was a great choice! Arrived in STT Jan 4th via Delta on time, and made it to the ferry dock with enough time to grab a traveler for the ride from the Pump Room upstairs.
Met Paul and Kelly on the ferry – said we’d all meet at Myetts for happy hour, where Paul’s friend Brian (from Toronto) was playing that evening. Ferry ride just long enough to see some sights, and right into West End to clear customs. Taxi to Mongoose Apartments went smooth as silk – and Sandra had left instructions for us taped to the door. Can’t say enough about Sandra and Mongoose Apartments – clean, roomy, safe and quiet – and the full kitchen sure was handy. Happy hour was a great time – this was Brian’s last day until early February – so he kept taking requests until almost 11pm – his singing of Jimmy Buffett songs was extraordinary – spot on!
Tuesday morning the 5th found us on the beach with amazing swells, and we enjoyed the interaction with the cruise ship folks, and being our first day, we were still wound up a bit, 16 hours on Tortola had not yet slowed us down, so the beers for breakfast were perfect! Shortly after noon, we went back to have a bite to eat at Mongoose, as the waves had beating us up pretty bad – it wasn’t until later that we saw the beach was red flagged. Back to Myetts for happy hour to see Capeye, and we wondered why the bar was so quiet – then we heard about the man who had drowned at CGB that afternoon – very sad to hear, especially that his kids were there. Lesson learned – watch for the red flag – and beware the riptides, and most important – watch your drinking and swimming – the ocean currents are VERY strong. Had a ball with Capeye for the happy hour, and met MaryQueenofShots from the TTOL board, and her friends Christine and Anton, and enjoyed the sing-alongs and watching the sunset on the beach again. Mary introduced us to Malcolm, whom Teri had fun playing percussion with in the International rhythm section. Wed the 6th brought us some light rain, and a chance to lay low and enjoy some music and cocktails on the porch at Mongoose – went back to Myetts for a few drinks and some reggae music, and called it a night early, as Mary had set us up with Big Sexy and a boat for Thursday.
Mary, along with Christine and Anton, picked us up at 9am, and she drove us to Nanny Cay to start our adventure. A light sprinkle could not damper our enthusiasm, as we met Julia and Matt, and Melissa (who writes for the Limin Times), and of course, Big Sexy, our Captain. We loaded our gear, and took off around to Sandy Cay for a couple beers and some music, did a bit of swimming along that perfect tiny island. We then cruised into Great Harbor, to take a look into the beach and see Foxy’s for the first time.
Passed a giant private yacht – Le Grand Bleu – amazing!
Slowly into White Bay and the Soggy Dollar – the sprinkles mostly ended, but not quite.
Loading cameras into the dry bag – we began to jump ship and swim into the beach.
Had a wonderful lunch of chicken roti’s and more painkillers than we could count.
Rain let up – sun came out, we were getting dry (stole that from Van Morrison), played the ring game and had us a ball. Time was up at White Bay as we were heading south to the Willie T.
A fun boat ride got us there quickly, and the Willie T is all that and a bag of chips.
Met up with Paul and Kelly again, and enjoyed the afternoon bs’ing and enjoying the fine folks we had met!
Big Sexy brought us into Nanny Cay just before dark – what a great day!
Had a drink at the bar there as we re-grouped to head home.

Friday the 8th was another fine day to hang on the beach, and chill, or limin as they call it.
Took a few naps on the chaise lounges, and had cheeseburgers at Stanleys. When Jimmy sang of cheeseburger in paradise, he meant the location – good food with your feet in the sand on the beach, - perfect! More of the same on Saturday – lots of beach time and relaxin, as Sandra had set us up the Godfrey, a personal driver for the day on Sunday, picking us up at 10am.
Again a nice morning breakfast at Rhymers (love the egg croissant sandwich), and packed our cameras and a cooler of beers for a day with a driver, to explore the west half of Tortola. We had another day with some sprinkles, but we were glad to have a professional driver in a nice new full-size van, for 5 hours. We stopped to take pictures along the way – with stops to explore at Brewers Bay, Long Bay Beach Resort, Smugglers Cove (the most perfect beach anywhere), lunch at Pisces in Sopers Hole/Frenchman Cay, then a stop at Bomba Shack for a couple to round the afternoon out. Decided we better make out those postcards, we hung out at Mongoose, and enjoyed the evening.
Another relaxin day Monday on the beach, with postcard-perfect sky and weather – and no cruise ship folks at all – Cane Garden Bay was quiet as can be – verrry relaxxin……
Tuesday the 12 had us packing up, and Sandra printed our boarding passes for us, and called us a cab to get us to West End in time for the 10:30 ferry. We had not yet heard about the quake in Haiti, which we first found out about in the airport at STT. With a 3 hour wait until we left – we had plenty of time for lunch and a bit of shopping.
One bit of advice – the duty-free store has some pretty high liquor prices – I found the Cruzan dark at home in Arizona this weekend for less that their prices – buyer beware.

Wrap up – the perfect place for us to discover just a tiny bit of what BVI and the Caribbean has to offer – right in Cane Garden Bay. Others who travel BVI a lot may say it’s too crowded, but it was the right place for us for a first trip.
We’re planning 2 more trips already to come back – one on land – the other to sail.
Can’t wait! Thanks to everyone who made this trip extra special – and especially to my wife Teri, who said just before Thanksgiving –
“Life’s too short - let’s not wait, let’s go NOW”!
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