My apologies for not posting this trip report of our first time visit to the BVI in March sooner but I had a ton of photos to sort through that I wanted to post to coincide with the trip report. You can view our trip photos online here. They are arranged in a way that will pretty much tell the tale of our trip if you don’t feel like reading the rather lengthy trip report. Couple of tips on the photo gallery: You can increase the photo viewing area by clicking and dragging upwards just above the photos if you find they are cutting off (doesn’t work in Netscape but you can drag the picts and they will open in a new window instead). The thumbnail rows scroll to the right and the Tortola gallery has 4 sets of thumbnails which are linked at the right end of each row (scroll all the way to the right). The other island galleries only have 1 set of thumbnails each.

On with the report: Travel to and from went smoothly with no problems to speak of. My girlfriend Tracey and I flew from Toronto to Ft. Lauderdale on Air Canada and spent a day in Ft. Lauderdale and flew Spirit Air to St. Thomas taking the 4:30 ferry over to West End the next day. We stayed at Sebastian’s in Little Apple Bay for the duration of the trip and enjoyed the hotel and location in Little Apple Bay. Found the hotel to have everything we could want and it was nice to have the little store available for stocking up on cold beer and snacks for the beach each day. Due to the wind and swells there wasn’t a whole lot of beach at the hotel for most of our stay but we enjoy watching a good crashing surf and the patio area above the beach is a great spot for that. We didn’t eat a lot at Sebastians’s with the exception of a few breakfasts and a couple of pizza’s all of which were very good.

Our first evening we wandered down the beach to Bomba’s. Not sure if it was Bomba’s punch or just our good fortune but we were treated to a fantastic sunset - certainly the best one of our trip. A local surfer dude said it was one of the nicest he had seen also so maybe it wasn’t just the punch. Lots of surfers were catching the swells coming in and it was great to watch. Bomba’s is quite the place. I had seen a lot of picts of da shack but hadn’t realized what a sprawling enterprise it is. I was a little worried we might fall through the floor in a couple of spots but after a couple punches it didn’t seem to matter.

I had heard good things about Coco Plums on TTOL and was pleased to find they were all true when we ate there our first night. The place has great food and a really fun atmosphere. We had dinner quite a few times there during our stay and met some great people including Mitch the owner and Maureen the bartender who became a real friend (and not just because she makes a mean rum punch). Mitch introduced us to Albert the diver who makes his living catching fish and lobster for local restaurants. We hit it off with Albert and it turns out he has some in-laws in Canada and had visited fairly close to where we live in northern Ontario. Albert got going about how people tossing beer bottles out of their car windows and generally causing trouble when they drink and drive were ruining it for everybody that drink and drive responsibly. We weren’t quite sure what the rules on drinking and driving were but Albert made it clear that unless people smartened up there would soon be some. We also met David Thrasher who owns a little art gallery in back of Coco Plums and spent an enjoyable part of an evening talking to him one night. Very interesting guy and a talented artist. He has a website at www.caribbeanlandscapes.com where you can view his art. Not sure what we enjoyed most on our trip but Coco Plums is high on the list. Great food, great people.

We didn’t have much planned our first full day so we decided to walk east down the coast road towards Carrot Bay in the morning. Lots of surfers riding the swells in front of Bomba’s. We got as far as the Sugar Mill and decided to stop there and have some breakfast. Great place to eat on a sunny day and a nice way to start our first full day in the BVI and we returned there for breakfast on our last day also.

After breakfast we (I should say I) decided it would be fun to walk to Smuggler’s Cove and check out Long Bay on the way. We hiked up the steep hill towards Long Bay and soon realized it was getting to be a pretty warm day but the walk was more than worth the effort when we saw the view of Long Bay from the top. Long Bay is a beautiful beach and perhaps the nicest beach on Tortola that we saw scenery wise. We were going to stop for a swim at Long Bay but decided to just keep hiking to Smuggler’s Cove. Some people gave us directions to Smugglers along with some funny looks when we told them we were going to hike there in the 90 degree heat. After wandering down the road for a while I began to understand the looks and wondered why exactly we left a perfectly nice beach at Long Bay when a jeep came up with a very nice couple from Pittsburgh, Lois and Ray (I think) and we asked them if we were on the right track. They kindly looked at us as if we needed our heads examined and then offered us a lift which we gladly excepted.

Smuggler’s Cove is more than worth the hike. I honestly didn’t think a beach like that with no hotels or bars on it could exist. Crystal clear water, palm trees, 90 degree sunny day, soft white sand and a reef to snorkel right off shore. We hung out under some palm trees to the west side and had a great afternoon. I snorkeled along the reef to the cliffs on the left/west side. There were swells coming in which made it interesting near the rocks but there was good snorkeling there and I was told (later) it was a spot where sharks frequented although I didn’t see any. The reef at Smugglers was great – quite a bit of coral and fish including fairly large schools of blue tangs right off shore. We planned on grabbing something to eat as someone had said there was a guy that sold burgers and drinks but no one was operating that day.

Later back at the hotel, I snorkeled the reef in front of Sebastian’s down to the villas and saw a pretty good sized tarpon that kept darting in to feed on a cloud of little bait fish. Probably the biggest fish I have seen while snorkeling and gave me a start at first. That was the only day I could snorkel there because for the next week the waves were coming in pretty good from the North East which made the surfers happy.

The next morning we caught the first ferry to Jost Van Dyke which was an adventure in itself with the swells coming in. Everybody on the back deck (including some very well dressed folks from a cruise ship) got soaked when we hit the open channel. I had reserved a dinghy with Colin at JVD Water Sports for the day in the hopes of going to Green Cay and Sandy Cay so we were dressed to get wet anyway so no problem, mon (not sure the ladies from the cruise ship agreed). On arrival at Great Harbour we set off to track down Colin but no sign of him at his tent. An Italian fellow there said he would be there soon but after an hour still no Colin so the guy got Colin’s wife on the phone for me. She had no recollection of our reservation (although I had made it with her) and said it was too windy for anything that day anyway and they were closed. No problem but I wished I had known it an hour before. I can’t say I was overly impressed with the operation but I have heard they just had a baby so that might explain it.

I was really looking forward to seeing Sandy Cay and Green Cay so I asked a young guy if he knew of anyone who might be able to take us there by boat and after a bit of hiking around Great Harbour with him tracked down a fellow named Sherman who said he could take us there and then drop us off at White Bay for about the same price as renting the dinghy. This was great but it was just too crazy wind wise to go to Green Cay and when we got to Sandy Cay Sherman dropped anchor about 50 yards offshore and told us to swim in from there (not quite sure why so far off shore since the current would have held him off had he got a little closer but his boat his rules). I was a little worried about the current with the wind so I jumped in with my goggles and started swimming to check it out. I thought I was making great progress as the boat was rapidly falling behind me when I looked down and saw the anchor dragging at a fairly good clip in the opposite direction and yelled to Sherman about it before he and Tracey made it all the way to St. Thomas. I realized I wasn’t making great time to the island after all and that this might be a little crazy in the swells so I flagged Tracey off from joining me in the swim in. When I did finally make it to shore I took a quick tour around the island. Whole lot of lizards running around that is for sure and a really interesting hike. I wish I had brought my camera since the swells were smashing into the rocks on the back side pretty dramatically that day. Beautiful place and I would like to visit it again maybe under slightly calmer conditions.

Sherman and I hadn’t done a whole lot of logistical thinking about the drop off plan at White Bay which I imagine is usually fairly calm. When we arrived we realized that the surf was going to make it hard for us to get to shore with all our belongings (mainly my digital camera) dry. His solution was again, “jump in!” but I said how about dumping us on that trampoline and we’ll go from there which worked out well since it was fairly close to shore and shallow enough to carry our bag out of the surf. We headed straight to the Soggy Dollar for some much needed Carib as this adventure had got a little nerve wracking by this point due to the wild wind and waves and we were glad to be back on terra firma.

Things were much more relaxed at White Bay and we hung out at the Soggy Dollar and had some lunch. The beach was fairly busy probably due to the Sea Cloud and Wind Jammer being anchored off shore. We had a good time watching the tender dinghies bringing people on shore in the fairly large waves that were coming in. The bare boaters were also having a fairly hard time with their dinghies in the surf that day so we were kind of glad that our dinghy rental plan had fallen through after all.

Had a relaxing, sunny afternoon at White Bay. I tried to snorkel but the water was pretty cloudy. Caught a glimpse of a tarpon and a few other fish in the murk but that was about it . We hung out at Seddy’s One Love until it was time to take the ferry back to Tortola and I had my first official painkiller there which was pretty tasty! Back at the West End we agreed that the adventures of the day needed a good dinner to cap it off so we walked over to the Jolly Roger and had a lobster feast which was a great way to end the day.

After our JVD adventure the previous day we decided a nice way to relax would be to rent a jeep and tour around Tortola for the next couple of days so we rented a shiny new one from Denzil Cline. Driving in Tortola really wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it might be (and Tracey dreaded it would be). We just took it easy and pulled over to let folks pass if they were in a rush and had no problems whatsoever. The roads were dry though and I wouldn’t want to try some of those hills when they are wet.

We went to Josiah’s Bay so I could give surfing/drowning a try. Surf was just pounding in and I should have clued into the fact that all the surfers were sitting on shore for a reason but I figured I would give it a try so after a lunch at Naomi’s I rented a surf board. Bad idea. I managed to get out but the waves were just pounding in and got repeatedly pummeled by them and drank a whole lot of sea water before deciding this might not be the day to learn how to surf after all. The surf was so rough that we decided to try and find a little calmer beach with a little more shade. A girl nearby suggested Well’s Bay by the airport which we managed to find after a bit of trial and error. Much more tranquil spot and we hung out there for the rest of the afternoon. It’s almost like an oasis with a small beach on a shallow, sandy bay where you get a great view of planes landing at Beef Island. I snorkeled and found a couple of conch and a sea cucumber about a foot long which was pretty cool (wouldn’t want to step on one though).

We stopped at Sky World on the drive back to check out the view which was unbelievable, as were many of the views along the Ridge Road and we stopped a number of times to take pictures. That night we went to the Friday night fish fry in Little Apple Bay. Tracey had the fish and I had ribs and chicken and we probably could have fed an army with the portions we were given. It was a very enjoyable supper and highly recommend it.

The next day we decided to get some souvenir shopping out of the way and drove over to Soper’s Hole. We had eggs benedict at Pisces which was excellent but the service was painfully slow even for island time. Soper’s Hole was interesting to wander around and shop but we decided to head to Roadtown to see what was available there. It was enjoyable to explore around Roadtown (just one small ship in port) but didn’t see any great souvenirs at any better prices than Soper’s Hole so eventually I said lets just go to the Rite Way near where we parked and buy rum for souvenirs. Good idea! Bought way too much rum for very little money and then headed to Cane Garden Bay to relax.

Cane Garden Bay was awesome. We bought a bunch of cold beer at Bobby’s, grabbed a couple of beach chairs and just hung out for the afternoon. I went snorkeling on the reef which was pretty good. Later we watched a bunch of German cruise ship passengers oddly wander about fully clothed on the beach with video cameras and then headed to Myett’s to join them all for happy hour where a fellow was singing Jimmy Buffet tunes and doing a pretty good job of it. We had hiked up to Quito’s but there was no one there at 5pm or so which I thought was odd it being Saturday and all. Maybe it gets going a little later but Myetts’s was the busiest place on the beach that afternoon.

We had booked a daysail with Patouche the next day and the arrangement was they would pick us up at Sebastian’s at 9:15 but the time of pick up came and went and no Patouche. We tried calling them from the office and got a machine. It was still really windy so I just assumed they probably cancelled due to weather. No problem, we called Taxi Kelly, filled up the cooler with beer and headed back to Smuggler’s Cove. I e-mailed Patouche when we returned home and Julie e-mailed me back apologetically saying they had another booking and tried to call us at the hotel 5 times that day and left a message for us with the desk clerk. We found it a little hard to believe as we were waiting in or near the lobby most of morning with the desk clerk and had used her phone to call Patouche. I really should have confirmed the reservation the day before with them but in future I just won’t bother reserving at all as it’s too iffy with the weather etc...

No harm done as it turned out to be a great day at Smuggler’s. We hung out on the beach and swam, snorkeled and watched the pelicans. A poor kid got stranded in the reef by the waves. He looked a little sore when he scrambled out and sorer still when his Dad yelled at him for getting into the shallows and scrambling around on the reef. We sampled some drinks at the beach bar on the beach but the rum punch made by the big guy (I think his name is Johnny) in the old building there knocked us for a loop. By the time Taxi Kelly’s son came to pick us up we were pretty happy but still had the presence of mind to make an arrangement to have him pick us up at 6:15 the next day to take us to the ferry for Anegada. We ended the day at Bomba’s with a few Bomba’s Punch and had a great time.

We got up with the roosters the next day as we did most days (not by choice) and felt a little crappy due no doubt to far too much rum punch but managed to get it together to catch our cab to Roadtown. We were seriously wondering about the ferry ride as the wind was still strong. I rode on the top deck and Tracey stayed below where she said someone got seasick as the boat was just a rolling in the swells. We faired OK but I got pretty soaked up top as did a few others but they had shut the hatch after a few last calls to come down so we had to ride it out. Nice and refreshing and a little invigorating as we were literally sliding across the seats as the boat rolled.

When we arrived in Anegada we were met by Tony of Tony’s Taxi and he managed to pack about 10 of us into his mini-van. When he dropped off a couple of folks at the Anegada Reef hotel he looked at a guy who was soaked from the ferry ride and asked him, “How come you all wet man?” and when told about the ferry ride he looked incredulous that we could have got that wet on the ferry and said, ”Jaysus Christ, the Captain running it too hard!” but the way he looked and how he said it just about killed us laughing. We still laugh about now.

Tony got us over to Loblolly in no time and as the Big Bamboo wasn’t open yet we hit the beach. Loblolly is a simply amazing beach and I think there was all of 6 people there that morning. We walked quite a ways down it as the day was still a little cool and a squall was passing by. By the time we got back the rain started in fairly strongly so we went up to the Big Bamboo to place our order for some lobster and shrimp for lunch at 12. Rain didn’t last too long and we were able to kick back on the beach for a while before lunch. I snorkeled and checked out the lobster in the lobster trap near shore. Excellent snorkeling but a pretty strong current that day made getting around a little tricky so I stuck fairly close to shore but even there the coral heads were impressive.

After a fantastic seafood lunch and probably the best service we have ever had anyplace anywhere (every 2 minutes someone would check to see if everything was OK or if we needed a drink, etc) we paid our tab and Tony arrived to take us over to visit Cow Wreck. A couple of Canadian girls who worked on Tortola as masseuses also came along and Tony brought us all to the flamingo pond on the way but no flamingos were home that day. Interesting tour though. I found the island to be very similar to Anguilla but even flatter and wilder in a less inhabited kind of way.

We arrived at Cow Wreck and this beach was the main reason we had come to Anegada. I had spent a lot of time researching our trip and looking at picts especially the ones Walker has online on his bvipirate site so it was a bit surreal to arrive at Cow Wreck and see not only this fantastic beach from the pictures but none other than Walker himself perched on the bar, drink in hand. Very strange feeling sorta like deja vue. We dropped off our gear and I walked over to the bar and introduced myself to Walker and explained it was his picts that has pretty much sold us on coming to the place. It was a real pleasure to meet him as he is one of the nicest people you would ever want to meet. We spent a bit of time talking and he was kind enough to bartend for us thirsty Canadians and did a fine job mixing daquiris for the ladies and made me a couple of his Limon Carib specials. Walker’s wife Nancy was also there as were Davide and his wife of Brandywine fame also although we didn’t get a chance to chat a whole lot.

Walker gave me a couple of tips on where to snorkel on the reef at Cow Wreck. I actually got some of my better underwater picts of the trip there. Also found the biggest conch I have ever found . It was fairly close to the beach bar so I half wondered if it might not be lined up for fritters so I put it back where I found it just in case. We spent a really enjoyable afternoon at Cow Wreck before taking the ferry back to Tortola with just about everybody that was at the bar including Walker and company. We’ve decided that next time we get back to the BVI we will spend a few days on Anegada for sure. If you like beaches it just doesn’t get much better.

The next day the weather wasn’t great with fairly frequent showers passing by so we decided to just walk over the hill to Long Bay since we hadn’t had a chance to spend any time there yet. The weather wasn’t too bad and we spent most of the afternoon there before heading back to get ready for the Full Moon party at Bomba’s that evening. The party was pretty good although truth be told we had had a better time a few night’s earlier getting bombed at Bomba’s. Party went on until 3am or so although we had left earlier but should have stayed since you could hear the party just about as loud from our room.

The next day we got up and decided to take up Captain Paul on his offer of a daysail to the Caves and Indians with a stop for lunch at the Willy-T. He had been driving around the neighborhood the day before looking for people to join him and not feeling too bad after the full moon party thought we would to take him up on it. As it turned out it was a good decision as we had a thoroughly enjoyable day sailing along with another couple (Lou and Kori from New Jersey) and a mother and daughter (whose names I can’t recall). The Indians were with out a doubt the best spot I have ever snorkeled and the caves were also great. We had a really good lunch on the Willy-T. Surprisingly good in fact. I had sort of figured it would just be greasy burgers and not much else but the food was excellent and prices were very reasonable. I jumped off the upper deck a couple of times but decided to spare everyone the sight of my naked white butt in the bright afternoon sunlight. It was a good day and a great way to spend the last full day of our trip.

The next day we sadly had to depart and caught the 12:30 ferry back to St. Thomas for our 3:45 flight out. I figured this would be lots of time but the ferry was a bit of a milk run stopping in St. John (where we had to get off and go through customs) and Red Hook which were nice to see but cut it a little close for catching our flight when we finally got to the airport but I guess I wouldn’t really want to wait in that airport much longer than we did anyway as it was like a steam bath so perhaps it was just right. Spirit Air got us back to Ft. Lauderdale where we spent the night before heading back to Canada the next day.

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip and spent a couple of depressing weeks on our return to the snow plotting ways to spend a lot more time next time. The BVI is a fantastic place and I hope it maintains it charm in the future as we will certainly try to get back. Thanks to everyone on TTOL for providing the information we needed to make the trip a truly memorable one!