Trellis Bay is a interesting little community on the beach on Beef Island, Tortola, close to the Beef Island Airport.
In addition to some unique shops and eateries (such as The Last Resort), Trellis Bay is the location of fun monthly Full Moon Parties featuring Fire Balls and Fire Sculptures designed by local resident Aragorn (be sure to visit his studio while in Trellis Bay). These sculptures are set ablaze in the bay waters during the Full Moon Parties and are spectacular to see as the image of the flames dance across the still water of the bay.
It’s also easy to take a day trip to Beef Island while staying on Tortola as Beef Island is connected to Tortola by the Queen Elizabeth Bridge. After leisurely shopping and perhaps enjoying some delicious conch fritters at De Loose Mongoose, you might want to spend some time in the largest hammock we’ve ever had the pleasure of relaxing in.
Find it close to Aragorn’s. With plenty of room, a sea breeze and some nice shade, you’re guaranteed to find yourself doing some true island limin’.
Read more about one of of our visits to Tortola here.
North Sound is an area of water on the northern tip of Virgin Gorda that is edged not only by Virgin Gorda, but by the smaller islands of Moskito, Prickly Pear and Saba Rock. North Sound not only offers protected anchorage, lovely resorts, good dining options and watersports, it is a visual treat with beautiful green hills and colorful villas set against it’s stunning blue waters.
While parts of North Sound, such as Leverick Bay and Gun Creek, are accessible by road, many of the other places shown on the map are accessible only by water. A small ferry carries passengers from Gun Creek to Bitter End and also to Saba Rock for dining. Otherwise, dinghy’s and small motor boats are the transportation of choice to explore as much of the area as you can.
If you’re lucky enough to be able to spend some time in North Sound, here are a few things you might want to check out.
Leverick Bay has accommodations, a small grocery store, a couple of gift shops, two restaurants – Leverick Bay Restaurant and The Cove – and a Bar/Restaurant called Jumbies. Enjoy a rum punch and roti at Jumbies under the shade of a thatched umbrella with your toes in the sand.
During the high season, be sure to check out Michael Bean, the singing pirate, who performs during Happy Arrr Monday through Thursday. On Friday nights, the huge Mocko Jumbies show up for the beach party.
Dinghy’s can also be rented for the day from Leverick Bay Marina, but be sure to call ahead to see if you can reserve one. Read about our visits to Leverick Bay here: Leverick Bay, Virgin Gorda
Leaving Leverick Bay and traveling east past Gun Creek, you’ll spot a little dining spot right on the water named Fat Virgin’s Cafe. Stop by and say hi to owner Esther and order some delicious conch fritters and rum punch. Tasty West Indian-cuisine, friendly people, a gift shop, good drinks and a beautiful view make this a place worth stopping.
Behind Fat Virgin’s Cafe lies the luxury resort – Biras Creek. Accessible only by boat or helicopter this gorgeous resort is the ultimate secluded escape. If you want to dress up (check the dress code) for an excellent dinner experience, call for reservations in the main restaurant a Biras Creek. You’ll be treated to spectacular food and views.
Just north of Biras Creek, is yet another amazing resort – The Bitter End Yacht Club. Bitter End offers accommodations, fine and casual dining, a sailing school, and a wide variety of water sports and activities. Rent a Hobie Cat and glide across the turquoise waters of the Sound, then stop by the Crawl Pub for a cold beverage and a game of pool or foosball.
Saba Rock, a small rock oasis in between Bitter End and Prickly Pear Island, is a popular stop for boaters for it’s great food and lively bar with comfortable seating – all at the waters edge. Saba Rock also offers a boutique hotel, a small marina, a gift shop and a great view of Eustatia Island. Banana Daiquiris are a Saba Rock specialty and the Anegada Lobster Dinner is top notch.
Continuing around the Sound you’ll run into Prickly Pear Island. Vixen Point is one of the best beaches in the area and is also the home of Sandbox Bar & Grill. Play volleyball on the beach, swim in the calm blue water, or just pull up a chair and catch some rays. Lunch, dinner and drinks are available at Sandbox.
Take the hiking path from Sandbox to North Beach, another beautiful beach on Prickly Pear Island with good snorkeling and beautiful views of Eustatia and Necker Islands.
To round out your day of exploring, dinghy past Moskito Island. This island was purchased recently by Sir Richard Branson who also owns the nearby Necker Island. He has plans to turn Moskito Island into an eco-resort that will use renewable energy.
Have you had the chance to explore the beautiful North Sound of Virgin Gorda? What were the highlights of your time there?
To see more posts on Virgin Gorda and other islands, check out our Island Blog Directory
We awoke to yet another spectacular morning view through our porthole.
We were reluctant to leave this island with the electric blue water, but were anxious for the adventures ahead.
The sail out of Anegada was nearly as beautiful as the sail in – except for one thing.
We were leaving!
Before getting back to Virgin Gorda, our captain planned to make a snorkeling stop at The Dogs, a small group of uninhabited islands just off the coast of Virgin Gorda. The four Dogs Islands, called George, Great, West and Seal, have a number of coral ridges that are great for snorkeling and diving.
We stopped at George Dog, anchored, spent some time checking out the coral and fish in the clear blue water, and then found a place to lounge and relax in the sunshine.
From there we had a short motor over to check out the spectacular Little Dix Bay, Virgin Gorda.
Next stop – The Baths!
Even though we’ve been lucky enough to visit The Baths several times, we were nonetheless excited to explore them again AND show our boatmates this amazing area. The Baths National Park is found on the southwestern tip of Virgin Gorda and is comprised of massive granite boulders, white sand beaches and sparkling shallow blue pools which can be explored via a trail that winds through the rocks, sand and pools.
After a great afternoon of exploring, we swam back to our boat, where we were greeted with the drink of the day and a delicious dinner! At this point in the trip, we’d gotten used to such pampering and were trying to figure out how to take our crew home with us…
But alas, our sailing trip was nearing the end. That night we anchored in Spanish Town and dinghied in for a drink and the view at CocoMaya.
In the morning, we began the last day of our vacation….. :(
We spent the early hours enjoying Cooper Island and Cooper Island Beach Club.
A short hop over to to Salt Island for a snorkel of the Wreck of the Rhone – and then our final stop of the trip – Peter Island.
After dinner ashore at Deadman’s Beach Bar & Grill (part of the Peter Island Resort) we reflected on the great week we had just experienced. In 7 days we were able to to see so much of the BVI, including visits to the following islands:
Tortola
Norman Island
Sandy Island
Little Jost Van Dyke
Jost Van Dyke
Anegada
Virgin Gorda
Cooper Island
Peter Island
We were also treated to some excellent sailing through the beautiful islands, pampered with great food and drinks, and we got to experience all of this with a wonderful group of friends.
Sun-tanned, relaxed and refreshed, we were completely ready to go again!
Thanks to our wonderful crew and the folks at Festiva for another really great sailing vacation!
Looks like it’s time to check out another sailing itinerary! Perhaps the Grenadines again, or St. Maarten/Anguilla/St. Barths? Or maybe Greece?…..
To find out more about a Crewed Charter Sailing Vacation with Festiva including the itineraries they offer, contact them through their website: Festiva Sailing Vacations
Wow – we were already 4 days in to our sailing vacation. How time flies when you’re having so much fun – well, and a little rum!
We woke this morning to this view of Great Harbour from our porthole…
After a delicious breakfast of eggs, fresh pastries and fresh fruit prepared by our lovely cook, we dinghied to Great Harbour to explore just a little more. We then set sail for our next destination, Guana Island, and passed stunning Sandy Cay along the way.
After Sandy Cay, we enjoyed a very nice sail around Tortola, passing by some of the harder to reach beaches on Tortola’s North side such as Trunk Bay, Josiah’s Bay and Lambert Bay.
Passing beautiful White Bay on Guana Island, we pulled into Monkey Point, where we spent a few hours snorkeling at one of the best spots on the trip. Here we saw very large tarpon (at least 3 ft!) and schools and schools of small brightly colored minnows.
Next stop – North Sound, Virgin Gorda.
We docked that night at colorful Leverick Bay (see more about Leverick Bay here), which allowed us to easily get off the boat and explore the area.
We’d been to Leverick several times in the past, but were never there to enjoy the “singing pirate”, Michael Bean at Jumbies…that is until this time!
It was a fun show – lots of singing, pirate shenanigans and rum punch and we enjoyed Jumbies until the sun went down.
We were welcomed back on the boat with a delicious Happy Arrr of our own. Every evening our crew would prepare a delicious round of lite hors d’oeuvres and a “drink of the day”. Tonight’s drink? A strawberry daiquiri with fresh mint…yum…
Day 5 we awoke with anticipation of a sail to “the drowned island” – Anegada.
Lying approximately 15 miles north of Virgin Gorda, this island just doesn’t look like the others in the BVI chain. Only 28 ft at it’s highest point, it’s flat topography is far different from the other islands. Anegada is surrounded by coral reefs and hundreds of shipwrecks and it takes an experienced captain to safely navigate the sail in – and we were very happy to leave this task in our capable captains hands (another benefit of a crewed charter!)
At about 2 hours, the sail to Anegada was the longest of the trip. It was a gorgeous sunny day with enough wind for a decent sail, but smooth enough that we could do this….
And a little more of this…
Until we started to get close to Anegada and the water looked like this.
Once safely anchored in Setting Point, we dinghied to shore, rented an open cab truck for the day and set off exploring.
If you’ve yet to visit Anegada, let me tell you, it should be called “Ahhh”negada! The beaches, although devoid of a lot of foliage or palm trees, are simply spectacular. It’s almost hard to describe the water color – electric maybe? First stop – the beach north of Pomato Point.
And not another soul around….
We drove on a short way to Cow Wreck Beach and Beach Bar. We could have easily spent a few days here. Great beach – fun beach bar! Find out more about our visit to Cow Wreck here. After an hour or two we pressed on – intent on seeing as much as possible and landed on Loblolly Bay.
Here we enjoyed some good snorkeling and a beverage at the Big Bamboo Beach Bar.
Read more about our visit to Loblolly here.
Totally sun and salt water drenched, we made our way back to Setting Point and then our boat to enjoy our “drink of the day”, while watching yet another amazing sunset.
And to top this excellent day off, we cleaned up and went ashore for a Lobster dinner at Potter’s by the Sea. Man, I could get really used to this!
One of the best things about a crewed charter is that you can just sit back , relax and enjoy the experience. No cooking, no cleaning – just sailing, enjoying the view and soaking in the sunshine…
We awoke the first morning in the Bight of Norman Island to the smell of fresh coffee prepared by our wonderful crew. I threw on a swimsuit and cover-up (pretty much the attire for the week!), grabbed a book and made my way to the deck. It was 8:00am and the day was already gorgeous – the water sparkled in the sunshine and there was just a slight warm breeze. I grabbed a cup of coffee and settled in to a comfy seat in the sun on the front of the boat, attempting to get into the story in front of me – but my eyes kept wandering to the beautiful view around me.
Map of our crewed charter sailing route Day 1-3
The black line indicates our approximate sailing route and the white lines point out just a few of the places we stopped along the way.
Day 2
After a light breakfast, we motored around to The Caves of Norman Island where we spent some time snorkeling (check out that crystal clear water!) kayaking and attempting good form (or just to stand up) on the stand up paddle board. The Festiva catamarans come equipped with a SUP board, a kayak and snorkeling equipment – so you can try it all!
A delicious lunch on board the boat…
…and then we made our way to The Indians for another great snorkel.
We’d had a full morning of playing in the water and were sun and salt-water drenched, and really enjoyed relaxing on the beautiful sail around Tortola to Cane Garden Bay where we anchored for the night.
…then back on board we spent the evening sipping on some really tasty rum punch while listening to the sound of music from Quito’s waft over the calm bay.
Day 3 Day 3 started our with a visit to one of my favorite little islands, Sandy Spit, where we snorkeled, swam and walked the entire island (it takes approximately 10 minutes if you walk slow!) (Find out more about Sandy Spit)
Then, just around the corner, we made a stop at the new B-Line Beach Bar on Little Jost to check it out, play a little cornhole in the sand and try one of their specialties – the Passion Confusion.
From there we sailed over to the fabulous White, Bay, Jost Van Dyke where our captain anchored for the afternoon.
After a graceful entry into the waters of White Bay, we swam to shore with our soggy dollars to check out as many of the beach bars on White Bay as possible, including One Love, Soggy Dollar and Ivan’s.
Later that evening we motored over to Great Harbour for the night, enjoyed a sunset dinner on board, then dinghied to shore for some music and dancing at Foxy’s.
Once again exhausted from a great day of exploring Jost Van Dyke, we retired to the nets to chat with our boatmates and relive the experiences of the day.
Many of the structures featured below were damaged or destroyed during the hurricanes of 2017. Although the businesses on the beach have been rebuilt, the information is not current. We hope to update the post with new information and photos soon. Callwood Rum Distillery is now open again.
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Cane Garden Bay is a gorgeous sheltered bay on the north side of Tortola fringed by a long and beautiful light sand beach. It’s a popular anchorage for boaters and if you’re lucky enough to visit, either by boat or while staying on-island, there are plenty of things to see and do.
We’ve had the pleasure of visiting Cane Garden Bay on multiple occasions and just can’t get enough. Cane Garden Bay is Tortola at it’s best – friendly people, great live music, delicious food, a beautiful beach and a totally laid back vibe. Here’s just a few things you should be sure to enjoy while visiting Cane Garden Bay – besides just walking the beautiful beach, floating in the calm water and enjoying a stellar BVI sunset! If you’re looking for fancy resorts and high dollar accommodations and restaurants, don’t bother visiting Cane Garden Bay. What you will find here is a place to chill, relax and enjoy real island time.
We visited Cane Garden Bay most recently on our BVI Sail and had a day to explore. We’ll start from where we entered – the dinghy dock next to Ole Works Inn and Quito’s.
We dinghied into Cane Garden Bay from our boat anchored a short way into the bay. Once we got to the end of the dock we took a right and walked past Quito’s Gazebo.
Quito Rymer is one of the British Virgin Islands most famous internationally known musicians, who plays solo several nights a week and with his group “The Edge” on Friday nights.
Next stop after Quito’s – Paradise Bar & Grill, or Big Banana. When we talked to friends who are frequent visitors to Cane Garden Bay, they talked of enjoying breakfasts at Big Banana. Speaking from experience, the Big Banana house drink is delicious – rum, Bailey’s, coconut cream and banana – a Big Banana BBC?
Right past the Paradise Club, is Rhymer’s – Beach hotel and beach bar. When we visited Cane Garden Bay in 2006, we enjoyed lunch at Rhymers – even with the chickens and their young un’s walking right under our feet! Rhymer’s also offers several modest rooms to rent just steps from the beautiful beach.
After Rhymer’s, you’ll come across Elm Beach Bar & Suites, offering rooms, a restaurant, beach bar and a shop offering colorful island apparel.
Moving down the beach you’ll stumble on Tony’s Welcome Bar. All info we could find said this was “Stanley’s” Welcome Bar, but the sign says Tony’s(??). Regardless – this was the busiest bar on the beach while we were there and looked like a great place to chill and enjoy a beverage or two.
Last stop for us on the beach was Myett’s. Myett’s offers accommodations and spa, a fun beach bar, and a scenic restaurant.
We walked behind Myett’s to get to Green VI, a glass studio manufacturing handmade treasures from recycled glass.
Definitely worth a stop to check out the beautiful recycled glass ornaments, glasses and treasures that you can purchase and bring home.
We took a right at Green VI Glass Studio and headed down the street to the Callwood Rum Distillery.
If you have a chance to visit Callwood’s Rum Distillery, you should. Callwood’s has been producing quality rum since at least the 1800’s. Spend the money to take the distillery tour (only $2 per person). It’s not a very long or extensive tour but it gives you some insight into the operations, island history, and an opportunity to ask questions and take pictures without paying a picture fee. Take home a bottle of the panty remover…
All rummed up, we headed back to the beach to catch the spectacular sunset.
One of the best we’ve enjoyed in the BVI.
What do you like to do when visiting Cane Garden Bay?
All information is correct to our knowledge at the time of writing, but be sure to verify current information before your visit. Pictures and other content may not be re-used without written consent from Rum Therapy, LLC
Ever wondered what it’s like to take a crewed sailing vacation through the beautiful British Virgin Islands? Follow along in this series as we describe our boat, the experience and the places we visited along the way!
Imagine…
Skimming over the Caribbean waters watching the colors change from deep blue to turquoise then back in your own private catamaran charter. Water so clear you feel like could just reach down to the bottom of the sea and touch the sand. Spending a week exploring some of the prettiest islands in the Caribbean while being pampered by your very own captain and cook…
We began our love affair with sailing in the Caribbean in 2006 when we embarked on our first sail with our friend Guy, who had his own sailboat and spent months at a time sailing through the islands. Prior to this trip we’d only navigated the waters of the Caribbean on a cruise liner, and had not yet been to the BVI. As you can imagine, by the end of the first day on that first sail trip, we were hooked.
We got home from that trip already longing to do it again. Unfortunately, being landlocked most of our lives, we have not learned to sail our own vessel – yet. So, we began looking at crewed charter options. After much research, we found a company that offered a fully crewed charter (captain and a cook) and pricing that included almost everything, including food and beverage. We talked some good friends into coming with us and booked our sail. The company we booked with was Festiva Sailing Vacations.
Fast forward a few years and we recently completed our 4th sail with Festiva – the latest one in the British Virgin Islands. Each one has been very different depending on itinerary, crew and the guests on the boat, yet each one has been wonderful in its own way.
For this sail, we elected to book one of Festiva’s new Lagoon 450 catamarans. Our prior Festiva sails were on the just slightly smaller 440 catamaran which offered plenty of room for 3 couples, but we had 4 couples this time and opted for the 450 because it has one additional guest cabin. There are a few other differences as well, such as slightly bigger bathrooms in each cabin – complete with small shower stalls.
The front lounge area by the nets is a little more spacious; there is a lounge area (cushions – kind of like a day bed) just in front of the steering wheel and a few changes including more room in the outdoor dining area. See boat configuration here:
We were to board our Festiva catamaran at 5:00p.m. Saturday in Hodges Creek Marina on Tortola (see our Tortola Map for location). Hodges Creek is not far from Beef Island Airport (EIS), and although we have flown in to Beef Island in the past, this time we got a much lower fare flying into St. Thomas (STT) and took the ferry to Road Town, Tortola. Note: when determining the best price for your flight into the BVI, be sure to take into account the taxi and ferry fees from St. Thomas to Tortola, which can add up and, and whether or not you will have to book a hotel room the night before you sail.
After a day of playing on Water Island, we caught a 3:30p.m. ferry over to Road Town where a Festiva van was waiting to shuttle us and others to our boats in Hodges Creek. Upon arrival at Hodges, Festiva dock crew helped us move our luggage to our beautiful sailing home for the week.
Once boarded, we were introduced to our lovely crew, ushered to our respective cabins, given a quick introduction on where everything was and how to use it (especially the bathroom!) and then we all met up top for a welcome drink prepared by our wonderful cook.
We were given the choice of spending that first night in the marina, relaxing, enjoying drinks and conversation as we had done on past sails, or to get the party started and head to Norman Island before it got dark.
The vote was a unanimous “Sail to Norman”!
We had a lovely sunset sail, anchored that first night in The Bight at Norman Island, enjoyed a delicious dinner on board and spent the remainder of our first evening at Willy T’s for a shot-ski or two and a little rambunctiousness.
We returned to our boat, laid in the nets up front for a while admiring the million stars twinkling in the skies overhead, then made our way to our cabins. Totally spent, we slept like babies that night, gently rocked to the rhythm of the ocean…
Update: Corsair’s was severely impacted by the hurricanes in 2017 (as were all structures on JVD) but has since rebuilt. Still owned and run by Vinnie, it has a new look. See the photo below of the new structure.
Jost Van Dyke has more than it’s share of interesting beach bars scattered along its beautiful beaches and Corsairs, found on Great Harbour, is certainly one of them.
Corsairs is not hard to find for a couple of reasons. First, Great Harbour – although great – is not large and you can walk the entire length of it in just a few minutes. Secondly, the exterior of Corsairs is pink – kind of hard to miss. Actually, the pink exterior is kind of ironic, given the owner, Vinnie, is a tough looking biker who spends half the year in Colorado running a Harley Davidson store.
Corsairs is a great place to spend the afternoon sipping on Wench Juices or Pirate Punch’s while lounging on the front porch or swinging in the hammock, but don’t overlook the eclectic and tasty menu. We totally enjoyed some Conch Fritters with Goat Cheese Aioli during a recent visit and ordered some excellent pizza that Corsairs delivered to our cottage at White Bay Villas and Seaside Cottages during a previous stay on Jost Van Dyke. We’ve heard that other Italian offerings are excellent as well as some of their fresh seafood dishes such as Stuffed Lobster.
If your boat is moored in Great Harbour, you can beach your dinghy right in front of Corsairs.
Next time you find yourself in Great Harbour, be sure to stop in and say hey to Vinnie and enjoy breakfast, lunch, dinner or just drinks. According to their website, it’s also a good place to book for a Wedding, Divorce party, Bachelor party, Bachlorette party, Pity party, or any other Special Occasion!
Toasting the evening at CocoMaya, a beautiful restaurant and bar in Virgin Gorda…
Although we love re-visiting some of our favorite places in the islands, we also love to find and experience new ones – and then share them with you!
To see more posts on Virgin Gorda and other islands, check out ourIsland Blog Directory.
We’d read just a little bit about a new restaurant/bar on Virgin Gorda and during our last BVI visit, we were able to stop and experience CocoMaya.
Established in 2011 and not far from Spanish Town, we found CocoMayato be a real treat.We were able to spend one evening there and enjoyed relaxing in the outdoor lounge with our toes in the sand around the fire pit.
CocoMaya’s outdoor lounge is an excellent place to meet up with friends or just cozy up on a lounge chair for two around the fire.
CocoMaya’s decor is appealing and relaxing and blends right in with the tropical surroundings.
Wonderful aromas were wafting from the dining area and if we didn’t already have dinner planned upon our return to the boat, we would have enjoyed one of their menu offerings in the open air dining room with a beautiful view of the beach and sunset.
Although we certainly didn’t mind just spending time on a lounge chair for two on the beach with a soft tropical breeze and the warmth of the fire on our toes…
To find out more about CocoMaya Restaurant and Bar:
All information is correct to our knowledge at the time of writing, but be sure to verify current information before your visit. Pictures and other content may not be re-used without written consent from Rum Therapy, LLC
What’s it like to hike the trail through The Baths on Virgin Gorda?
A couple of weeks ago we had the chance to take another great hike through the boulders of The Baths to Devils Bay in Virgin Gorda. It was our 4th time to experience this amazing area and although there had been some changes made since our last visit, it was just as intriguing and awe-inspiring as ever.
Beach access has been limited to dinghy’s – which I’m sure is due to the large amount of people wanting to access the trail from their boats. If you are unable to swim about 50 yds from the roped off area where they’d like dinghy’s to drop boaters off, they are recommending that you go ashore at Spanish Town and take a taxi over.
We thought we’d just add a few new pics to the post we did of our last visit (The Baths), but we took a lot more pictures this time of the actual hike through the boulders from The Baths to Devil’s Bay, so we thought we’d write a new post and highlight what it’s like to hike the trail.
It was high season and we knew The Baths would be packed from about 10 – 3, so we showed up at about 3:30. Our dinghy dropped us off at the ropes and we swam to shore – electing not to take towels or even shoes because of the swim in. Previously we wore water shoes and I’d recommend them if you’ve got sensitive feet.
The initial entrance is but a small opening between two large rocks. Once through it opens up to a trail. Look for small cairns (rock piles) marking the trail as you go.
Not too far from the start you come across The Cathedral – one of the most photographed areas of The Baths. It looks different every time you visit depending on the light and the tide.
There’s another cool area to explore around every corner.
Make your way over the boulders and through the pools with the assist of wooden ladders and platforms along the way.
Once you get to this directional sign, you’re almost to Devil’s Bay.
You’re rewarded at the end of the trail with the sights of beautiful Devils’ Bay. Be sure to leave enough time to enjoy the clear, blue water before making your way back – or up to The Top of The Baths for a well deserved beverage!
To see more posts on Virgin Gorda and other islands, check out our Island Blog Directory