Just got back yesterday from one week in Tortola. Wanted to give everyone the highlights. (We had been there once before 4 year ago).

Getting there: Flew from Toronto to St Martin on Skyservice, and spent the night in St. Martin. Next morning we flew from SXM to Tortola via Caribbean Star. We found them to be very professional and pleasant. Both trips were on time and luggage made it.

Getting around: Picked up our rental car at the Hertz desk at the airport. We rented a Suzuki Vitero which was okay - it got us around. Don't think we would deal with Hertz again because the vehicles never seem to be in great shape.

Accommodations: Long Bay Resort. We were put in one the beachfront rooms which was a nice plus. On the whole, no complaints about the resort. Staff were pleasant, tried to be helpful. Beach was very rough --- that seemed to be the case in general as water conditions were rough. The resort did not seem to be full and it was very quiet there. Our room was kept very clean. Breakfasts were hardy (included in the rate).

Restaurants: Nothing significant to report. Our best meals were at Pussers Marina Cay and our special dinner at Sugar Mill which I really enjoyed. We also tried Quito's Gazebo for dinner (okay but VERY slow), Sebastian's (so-so) and the Beach Cafe at Long Bay which was also okay.

Day trips: Took the free ferry to Marina Cay and had lunch, stayed a couple of hours hanging out. I enjoyed it. Took the ferry to St. John and rented a car to get around. The island was beautiful but it had a totally different feel. Also took the ferry to Jost Van Dyke -- this was amazing, probably the most laid back place I have ever been to. White Bay was busy with various day trippers both by land and sea. Had lunch at the Soggy Dollar which was a bit of a let down (the food was good but the place was nothing special. Before we caught the 5:00 pm ferry we had a few drinks at Foxy's ( the man himself was off-island at the time) but enjoyed the experience. The same people who had been on the morning ferry going, were on the afternoon ferry back to Tortola and everyone was incredibly mellow and relaxed -- I guess JVD will do that to you. Next time, I will spend at least an overnight there!
We also took a day sail on the Patouche -- they were fantastic and I highly recommend this outfit. Again, rough waters heading to Baths in the morning. We got to the Baths just before noon and they had to dingy us in because there was no way we were going to swim to shore in those waves. Debbie took us through the pathways at the Baths but it was too rough to snorkel so we had lunch on the boat and then headed to Cooper Island for our real snorkel. Clive took us snorkelling and pointed out cool stuff to us. We saw barracudas, a sea turtle, puffer fish etc. Our sail back was calm and enjoyable.

Beaches: Spent a morning at Smugglers Cove which was very pleasant -- also very busy. There's a beach bar there now in the old cottage but we didn't use it. Also found Brewer's Bay -- very quiet and peaceful. Long Bay East was absolutely deserted.

Favorite hangouts: Soper's Hole, Cane Garden Bay, and any Pusser's.

We were amazed that the week had gone by and still we have yet so much to see. We will be back though to tackle those other islands!

Overall impressions: Dinners were expensive so need to find more modest places or get a place with a kitchenette next time. Long Bay Resort was very spread out and maybe that made the place a bit impersonal and even though I would probably stay somewhere different next time, they treated us well.

Thanks to everyone for their great advice on getting around etc. BVI is still No.1!