British Virgin Islands

British Virgin Islands

The mooring balls at The Baths, the famous boulder field at the southern tip of Virgin Gorda, fill by 9am on calm-weather days in high season. There are roughly 15 day-use balls in the National Parks Trust mooring field; they are first-come, first-served; anchoring in the park area is prohibited to protect the seagrass. If you arrive by chartered yacht at 11am in February expecting to tie up and walk directly into the Cathedral Room (the cave chamber where light filters through crevices between boulders above a natural pool), you will probably be waiting. The BVI works on the logic of boats: arrive early, position well, and the day is extraordinary. Arrive late and discover that everyone else had the same idea.

The British Virgin Islands is an archipelago of 60 islands, cays, and rocks in the northeastern Caribbean, with a total land area of about 153 square kilometres. The resident population is around 31,000. The sailing here is consistently cited as among the best in the world: protected waters between islands, reliable trade winds, deep harbours, and a density of anchorages and beaches that allows a week on a chartered yacht without repeating a destination. The BVI Spring Regatta in late March draws serious racing sailors from across the Atlantic.

The Baths, Virgin Gorda

Giant granite boulders – geologically anomalous on a volcanic island, likely washed here by ancient floods – have been eroded by the sea into a maze of tunnels, pools, and caverns. The Cathedral Room is the centrepiece: a cave-like space where filtered light enters from gaps between boulders overhead and reflects off a natural pool. Entrance costs USD 3. The rock formation extends for several hundred metres; the trail through it takes about 30 to 40 minutes at a reasonable pace. Early morning, before 9am, gives the best light and the thinnest crowds. The light enters the Cathedral Room from the east and the visual effect in early morning is distinctly different from midday.

Jost Van Dyke

Jost Van Dyke is tiny, without an airport, and famous mainly for its beach bars. Foxy’s Taboo hosts its full moon parties on the beach at Great Harbour; the Soggy Dollar Bar at White Bay claims credit for inventing the Painkiller cocktail (rum, pineapple juice, orange juice, cream of coconut). This claim is disputed by at least one other establishment, which is how the best cocktail origin stories work. The White Bay beach is genuinely beautiful regardless of the beverage history.

Anegada

Anegada is unlike the other BVI islands: flat coral atoll rather than volcanic hillside, 11 miles of uninterrupted white sand beach, and surrounding reef that has produced 300 documented shipwrecks over the centuries. The main industry is fishing lobster, and fresh lobster grilled and served beachside is the reason to go. Kitesurfers come for the flat water conditions at the eastern end.

Tortola

Tortola is the largest island and the administrative centre, with Road Town as the main port. Sage Mountain National Park in the interior reaches 523 metres and is the highest point in the BVI; the trails through secondary rainforest are well maintained. Cane Garden Bay on the north coast has the best accessible beach on Tortola and the bay-front rum bars that make up for the lack of a restaurant of distinction.

RMS Rhone

The wreck of the RMS Rhone, a Royal Mail Ship that foundered in an 1867 hurricane near Salt Island, is considered one of the best wreck dives in the Caribbean. The ship broke in two; the bow section sits at 24 metres, the stern at 8 metres. Both are accessible to divers of different experience levels. The wreck was used as filming location for the 1977 film The Deep.

Practical Notes

The BVI’s national currency is the US dollar. Entry requirements for the main nationalities are straightforward; the Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport on Beef Island is connected to Tortola by a bridge and receives regional connections from San Juan and Antigua. Most visitors arrive by yacht or ferry from the US Virgin Islands.

The high season runs December through April; the off-season from May through November brings lower rates and the occasional hurricane, which is an acceptable trade-off unless a hurricane actually arrives.