Ahhh…Tortola. We’ve have the pleasure of visiting this, the largest of the British Virgin Islands, several times – yet the more we visit, the more we realize we need to come back and spend more time. During our recent visit to the VI, we planned for another visit to Tortola, and once again ran out of time to see all that we wanted to see.
Regardless, we’ve seen and done quite a bit in our 3 visits (so far) to Tortola and here’s just a few of the highlights to date….
Tortola is a large and mountainous island, so it’s advisable to rent a car if you’d like to spend some time exploring. There are no car rental companies at the Road Town Ferry Terminal, so reserve one ahead ahead of time, (we didn’t and it took some time to find a car) and plan to take a taxi to the car rental office or check to see if the rental agency provides a shuttle. Remember to drive on the left and be prepared to tackle some pretty steep hills on the north and west ends of the island.
Our luxurious accommodations while on Tortola were graciously provided by Susan at the spectacular Limin’ House (more on this later), which is in the West End above Soper’s Hole, so we started exploring the east side of the island, hoping to scratch a few things to see off “the list” before checking in to the Limin’ House.
Road Town is a bustling town with a lot of bars, restaurants, shopping and attractions such as a botanical garden, and we could have easily spent some time exploring (preferably by foot), but there were cruise ships in town and it was super busy, so we quickly headed out of town to find some beaches.
On the east side of town we crossed the Queen Elizabeth Bridge and actually left the island for a while to explore neighboring Beef Island, a small island close to Tortola which houses the Beef Island Airport, several pretty beaches and some interesting shops in Trellis Bay.
The first beach we stopped at was the lovely Long Bay on Beef Island – not to be confused with the Long Bay on the west end of Tortola.
Long Bay – Beef Island
We continued on to Trellis Bay, home of Aragorn’s Studio and the location of one of the two Full Moon Parties in the area.
The Trellis Bay Full Moon Parties feature the Burning Man, Fireballs and Mocko Jumbies and are a bit…well, should we say, more family appropriate than the other one we will mention later in the article.
The Burning Man and Fireballs, created by Aragorn, that are spectacularly set on fire during the Full Moon Parties.
Aragorn’s Studio – great place to shop or just check out the local art.
Hammock in Trellis Bay
Trellis Bay is the place to catch a free ferry to The Last Resort – a bar and restaurant on neighboring Bellamy Cay that serves good food and drink and can feature some really boisterous entertainment in the evenings. We enjoyed a night there while sailing a few years ago and after returning to our boat, could hear the laughter and merriment continue until the wee hours of the morning!
The Last Resort On Bellamy Cay
The band loves to get the audience involved by offering free shots if you can name the song they are playing and are willing to come up and sing along.
From Beef Island we headed back to Tortola stopping by Captain Mulligan’s for a quick drink and a bit of lunch.
We’ve stopped by Captain Mulligan’s a couple of times now, but would love to be there to watch a football game on the huge screen out back. You can also hit golf balls (buoyant ones that are retrieved) into the ocean behind the bar!
Making our way west, we passed West End and Soper’s Hole and continued on to Smuggler’s Cove. This was our first visit to Smuggler’s Cove, despite the fact that we’d been told by several people that it was their favorite beach on the island.
Smuggler’s Cove – every bit as beautiful as we’d heard…
After spending a bit of time walking the beautiful soft and sandy beach, we headed to Long Bay, Tortola.
Long Bay is a mile long stretch of gorgeous sand and turquoise blue water.
We walked down the beach to see if Winston Nature Boy, the owner of Nature Boy Beach Bar, was around and to get a rum punch.
As luck would have it, Winston was in and we sat and chatted with him over a quick beverage. He’d made some changes to the bar since our last visit, and although still pretty rough, the location is great – it’s tucked away at the far end of Long Bay with a few beach chairs and not a lot of people.
Nature Boy’s Bar on Long Bay Beach
After relaxing for a while in the sun and the solitude, we made our way to Sebastian’s.
We snapped a few pictures, fully intending to come back, relax and enjoy some of Sebastian’s own rum ….but, alas, we ran out of time. This will be first on our “to do” list when we return to Tortola!
Onward up the road to the infamous Bomba Shack.
This is the location of the second and definitely wildest of the two Full Moon Parties in the area. We attended a Bomba Full Moon Party in 2010 while sailing and you can read more about the adventure here: Full Moon Party at the Bomba Shack.
Definitely worth a stop to try some of Bomba’s Rum Punch, even if you’re not here for the Full Moon Party. The Bomba Shack’s got a beautiful view of Jost Van Dyke and it’s fun to sit and sip some rum punch while watching the surfers out back.
A few other things that you shouldn’t miss while on island:
The Callwood Rum Distillery in Cane Garden Bay
Cane Garden Bay – great nightlife and entertainment
Shopping, people watching and enjoying a Pusser’s Painkiller at Soper’s Hole
And just in case you need more to do during your visit to Tortola, you can also take a ferry to Jost Van Dyke, or Virgin Gorda, or book an excursion to Sandy Cay and Sandy Spit.
After exploring and spending time on some beautiful beaches, it was a treat to head up the mountain to our luxurious Tortola accommodations at the Limin’ House. Located on the hill above Soper’s, we enjoyed fantastic views of not only Soper’s Hole and the boats in the harbour, but many of the surrounding islands and absolutely stunning sunsets!
The Limin’ House Villa is available as a vacation rental while on Tortola. If you are interested in finding out more about this spectacular accommodation, contact Susan at (941)-358-8907 or (941)-735-6220, Eastern Standard Time or Email at limin[email protected]
Website: http://www.liminhouse.com/
Facbook: https://www.facebook.com/LiminHouse
To see more posts on Tortola and other islands, check out our Island Blog Directory
All information is correct to our knowledge at the time of writing, but be sure to verify current information before your visit.
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We took our very first trip to St. John in the mid 90′s and knew nothing about the island before we went. Little did we know that it would become one of our very favorite destinations in the Caribbean! 
