Arrived Beef Island after spending a short week in SXM. 35 minute Lait flight, taxied to Cane Garden Bay. Got our first look at the roads of Tortola - the hills are steep, and others had remarked on the 90 degree turns - We were more struck by the steep 180 degree turns!!! Roads actually weren't as bad as I thought they would be...and great views of the bays and other islands from the hill tops!

HOTEL - Myett's
I had originally booked Lambert's for our January arrival (departure pushed back from January to May). This looked like a great spot to relax, but it is so secluded, and we wanted to be able to enjoy other places within walking distance or short driving distance. I then looked at Long Bay, but had concerns with the multitude of less than desireable reviews. Looked at the Sugar Mill, Heritage Inn, Mongoose, and Lighthouse - all looked very nice, but we ended up choosing Myett's.
Myett's is in a great location, right on Cane Garden Bay. Many other places within a short walking distance. Stanley's is next door, and this is still the home of the cheeseburger in paradise! Great food at reasonable prices - and Tony and the girls are very nice - had great talks with all of them. Rhymer's, Big Banana (great alfredo), and Quito's line the rest of CGB, and we enjoyed drinks and food there as well. Quito's new deck is nice, and he offers a fairly decent menu for dinner. but Myett's looks like the place to dine in CGB, at least.

Myett's is an excellent restaurant for lunch and dinner, and is in an excellent location on beautiful Cane Garden Bay. The staff is wonderful, and it was enjoyable to watch them in action. Especialy our last night when we had the torrential rain - the girls adapted quickly, using umbrellas to deliver the meals, and to keep the customers dry as they walked to the rest rooms, etc. It is obvious that this staff works well together and has been trained expertly by Val. Even in this, the low season, Myett's has a good draw and is busy every night. This is a result of the excellent food and service, and the consistency of the high quality provided here. Cannot recommend Myett's highy enough for the dining and happy hour exprience, and always a good band providing background dinner music and dance music afterwards. Kapeye is from our hometown and plays at Myett's during the high season, but because our trip was delayed we were not able to enjoy happy hours with Dave. But we do enjoy his music!
Prince was our bartender, and he was great!!! All of the girls were great, and Judy and Karen stand out - they both braided Cindy's hair for her before the dinner crowd came. Very fun people at Myett's! I can only imagine how busy they are during the high season.

We stayed in room # 1 (1 of 3 rooms at Myett's - this room faces the beach, rooms 2 & 3 have a balcony facing the garden). Very nice room, nice Caribbean style decor, comfortable bed, wet bar and mini-refrigerator that came in handy everyday. Many items supplied, including a complimentary bottle of Myett's rum, Carib, condiments, coffee and coffee maker, dishes, etc. Absolutely the softest towels we've ever experienced! No TV, which took some getting used to by Cindy, but soon was not missed.
There was a north swell on our second day, with higher than normal waves lasting 3 days. Fun! But the waters calmed to the typical tranquil CGB after this. The location is also a reason for staying here, of course. During the low season we had the beach literally to ourselves many days. The only improvement I can see for the room is perhaps a trim of some of the smaller tree branches in front of the balcony. This would allow a better view of the bay, but would also remove the shade this tree provides. The room is very nice and would not hesitate to stay here again.

I must mention that Valerie and Kareem are wonderful hosts, and they were there for us whenever we had any questions, as was Lisa - very nice! Linda and Liz were also very helpful and knowledgeable about Tortola and the other islands, recommending some great places to experience.

We spent most of our evenings limin' here in CGB, taking mainly day drips around Tortola. One evening we made dinner reservations at Sugar Mill. The menu offerings that night really didn't appeal to us, and the clientele seemed a bit stuffy for us, so we walked 5 minutes to Sebastian's. I had not read any reviews on Sebastian's other than about the rooms there, and we were very, very surprised with an excellent dinner. We both chose the beef filet, and it was great. I cannot remember having this good a steak in the Caribbean. Great service, wonderful people - we will definitely go to Sebastian's again.
Pusser's Pub in Roadtown was also great, as were other places I am not remembering the names of right now.

We took a day trip to Virgin Gorda via the fast ferry from Roadtown, primarily to see the Baths. Great ride, amazing place.
We stopped at the Mineshaft, what a great place! Marvelous views in all directions, great owner, enjoyed talking with him and watching him make our Cave Ins (they do work). We had already had lunch, but the menu here looks great. This is also where Cindy saw her first TV in several days, and she was just getting used to not having one around!

Next day took Glen's water taxi to Jost Van Dyke, jumping out at Sandcastle on White Bay. Wow - great beach! Enjoyed the Soggy Dollar Bar in front of Sandcastle, mastered the tree ring, best way to spend the day. Had lunch at Sandcastle, apparently it is under new management, not sure if the food there was better before, but I do hope so.
Strolled the beach to Seddy's One Love, met his wife(?) (and only 2 of the nine little ones...lol). Seddy was not there to perform his tricks, however, so we ejnoyed the beach for the rest of the afternoon. Got crowded with party cats ful of "kids" so we took a 10 minute taxi to Great Harbor to eat at Corsair's, but they were closed until later that night. So we hit Foxy's and caught his show and had drinks there. Neat place, good time.

Water taxied back to CGB and had dinner at Quito's. Alfredo was good, but service was very slow there for 3 couples and 2 waiters. Just typical of the "island time"...Had planned on going back Friday night to hear Quito and the Edge, but because of the heavy rain we didn't go. I'm not even sure if they played unless they boarded up the deck. The band at Myett's was forced to pack up early because of the rain, and they had a fairly well protected corner. Just a very heavy downpour.

Overall had a wonderful time relaxing in BVI - can't think of a more relaxing place to do it, nor better people to have around you. We had our BVI drinking guide signed at many places, thank you to the Island Place for getting this to us so quickly after our original order was held up - we do appreciate that!
The "no-se-ums" were after Cindy, but we did find some after bite medication that helped alot. Saw many other girls with the bites, and their husbands were clean like me - don't know what is going on there...

Thank you to everyone here for excellent information and advice - made our stay here very pleasant, and we will return!

Ron


"Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life — and travel — leaves marks on you.”
-Anthony Bourdain