The following is a report of our nearly two week vacation in the BVIs. February 28th through March 11th was our time frame. Seven days on Tortola and six days on a liveaboard dive trip aboard the Cuan Law, a 100 foot sailing trimaran.
Day 1
Hubby and I boarded our American Airlines flight armed with lots of snacks and our DVD player with Bose noise canceling head phones ready to watch season six of "24". We have finally learned how to really enjoy our flights! Other than the drama and action that "24" provided, our day of flying to Tortola was uneventful. One note, nobody in the San Juan airport or on our flight to Tortola notified us that we needed to fill out paper work BEFORE arriving in Tortola. So when we arrived to go through customs and immigration at the Tortola airport, the lines were long and we didn't have our paper work filled out so it took us even longer. After picking up our luggage and going through Immigration, don't let them put your bags on a cart because it's only about 15 steps to the taxi and you have to tip them for doing very little "work". Our taxi took us the 2 or 3 blocks over to Beef Island Guest House and charged us $15! We gave him a $20 and he very conveniently didn't have any change. He wanted us to tell him to just keep the change, which we would have if he had driven us more than the 2 to 3 blocks. So for the Tortola for Dummies part of this exercise, we should have determined the price BEFORE getting into the taxi. I would have happily paid the guy $10 for the ride and tip instead of feeling like he was taking advantage of us. Also, next time we'll have a flashlight handy for determining which bags were ours, making change, etc.
Beef Island Guest House (Review)
A very clean and homey, oceanfront bed and breakfast with a family atmosphere and so close to the airport that you can walk to the property if you are lucky enough to land before dusk. This is not a fancy property, but the convenience is worth the very affordable price. We chose to stay there on our first night because it was so late we didn't want to jump in a taxi and have a half hour ride somewhere else to stay. We also stayed there on our last night before flying home because it was so very convenient. The beds were very comfortable, bathrooms were roomy and had a shower only, and the included breakfast consisted of coffee, juice, fruit, muffins, English muffins, bagels, and breads with peanut butter, butter, jelly, and cream cheese to accompany. They have tables and chairs set up on the beachfront so we took our breakfast and coffee out there which was very pleasant. The refrigerator is open to all guests and is filled with beer, mixers, juices, and water. There is a bar with every type of liquor imaginable available for guests, too. There are no air conditioners, but the plentiful windows and fans made the room temperature very comfortable. Wifi is available and our cell phones (ATT) had a very strong signal. Check in was the easiest of anyplace we've ever stayed. There was none! They saw us coming from their office window, welcomed us, and helped with our dive bags and luggage and said not to worry until we checked out on our final day there 12 days later. It was amazing!
We ate dinner next door at their restaurant, De Loose Mongoose. Very pleasant atmosphere, slow service, OK drinks, and the food got mixed reviews. My chicken roti was just OK but my hubby's blackened wahoo was fabulous. We were going to eat there again on our final night of our vacation, but they are closed on Mondays. So overall, it is good, but not great, but oh so convenient if staying at the Beef Island Guest House.
We slept like babies in the cool breeze provided by the open windows and fans. The roosters outside our windows made sure we didn't sleep in for Day 2.
