TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Smugglers Cove Beach Bar

Hey y’all first time poster, long time lurker! Family and I are heading Tortola next July. Looks like smugglers will be our vibe! We’re a family of 9 with my parents ages 70’s, wife and I in our 40’s and kids ranging from 20 down to 4. Which place should we post up next to Patricia’s or Nigel’s?

We've been patronizing Patricia's for many, many years. Fabulous food (try her potato salad) and drinks and all reasonably priced. But hey, why not share your money between the two?

Dont share your money between the two because Nigel has a well deserved reputation as being from less than friendly to downright rude...and potentially dangerous (check local news). And that is being kind! Patricia and her family, Bush is the cook, are marvelous, charming and the food is great. They have survived threats to become the go to place for truly good food, drink and vibes.You can use their chairs and umbrellas if you are spending $$ at the bar. I love my three course lunch there, cheeseburger, that killer potato salad and two Red Stripes..$21.

we favor Patricia's as well...wish I could eat like Manpot nowadays but will settle for the 2 Red Stripes

Patricia's fish tacos are incredibly good

I have a lot of pictures of Belinda and I eating Patricia’ awesome bbq ribs and fresh hot potato salad off of broken plastic chairs. She used an old rusted propane grill with charcoal. The bar was an old door on supports😋👍👍 This was back around 2003 - 2006?

Better furniture now..oil drum bar b q and deep fryer for great fries.They have built up the bar and now have some water toys to rent too.

WOW she's gone uptown!

Patricia all the way! We’ve been a fan for 20 years and never a fan of Nigel…

Have any of you anchored a charter cat in there for the day? I recognize that this is a no no with a north swell. I’ve heard that there is room between the reefs, but if any of you have done it and have some additional information, I would appreciate hearing your experience. Have a nice day, everyone!

Spent a week on Long Bay in June of 2023 and visited Smugglers Cove several times. Catamarans were present each time. Google Earth shows one anchored there.

It’s a reasonable day stop in settled conditions. It’s not a safe overnight stop however. Recommend you put someone in the water when anchoring to make sure your not on coral or could swing into coral with the chain.

Very helpful - thank you guys!

I believe this stretch of Tortola is redlined by most charter companies. Be sure to check with them before heading into Smugglers.

You might be inclined to say no to Patricia's hot dogs with a side of warm potato salad made right there on the beach...but you'd be wrong! I've been a patron of Miss Patricia since 2005 when all she had was a folding table, a Coleman cooler, a propane grill, and a blender wired to a car battery. Just a few coconuts down the beach from the Queen's convertible with a palm tree growing up through it! And have been eating that potato salad and drinking Planter's punches ever since!

A lot of us miss Bob and the Queen's Lincoln down the beach, the honour bar and hours of chats with Bob.It broke my heart that the Gov did not pull the Lincoln out of there and put it by the Govenors mansion with the pix of the queen driving in it.It was a true historical artifact.I took a couple of the "Continental" letters off before it was in the ground..sadly Irma took them away from my sideboard in my house where they we displayed.RIP Bob and HUGE thanks to Patricia and her family for keeping the great Smugglers vibe alive..

We were there last summer. Will never do business with Nigel again. We spent about $40 with him. Then sat in his chairs and he told us it was $20 per chair. I told him we had just spent $40 buying drinks. He got belligerent. Proceeded to tell me all kinds of BS about he was a working man just trying to make a dime. We moved over to Patricia’s. We’ll never give him another penny.