British Virgin Islands

One of nature’s best-kept secrets is The British Virgin Islands (BVI). An overseas territory of the United Kingdom, there are over 50 islands and cayes to be explored here. The islands are located in the Caribbean, east of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. English is spoken here and despite being British, the local currency is the US Dollar because of the close proximity to the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the US mainland.

The four primary islands are Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada, and Jost Van Dyke.

Tortola

Notable for her natural beauty, Tortola -- the largest island in the BVI -- creates a lasting impression with more than 30 bays sheltered by impressive slopes of mountainous peaks that dominate the land; her highest point, Sage Mountain National Park contains a primeval rainforest hidden deep inside. Poised with rugged heights, Ridge Road provides panoramic views of sweeping Cane Garden Bay with pure white sands decorated only by coconut palms, seagrapes and a lone tire swing while Smuggler’s Cove is hidden with crescent beach and calm, crystal waters. One hundred pound tarpon are seen in the morning as yachtsmen swap stories at the chic Soper’s Hole on the West End and the energetic Road Harbour, riddled with sailboat masts and ferries, buzzes as the island’s main port-of-call and welcoming waterway. On the North Shore, Josiah’s and Lamert Bays stand unprotected from the Atlantic swells and host the miracle of man and nature becoming one with nothing more than the aid of a surfboard.

The capital city of Road Town flutters with activity, from shopping at Crafts Alive -- an open air market stocked with rustic dolls, colorful straw hats and hand-thrown pottery -- to browsing through native BVI plants at the J. R. O’Neal Botanic Garden and unlocking the island’s historical past at quaint museums. Unexpected dancing in the street occurs as roadside bands pour out rhythms of calypso, reggae and fungi, directing footsteps to a whimsical cadence. With full moon parties featuring mushroom tea and liquid pleasure in the form of all things rum, the most infamous entertainment in the BVI is found at Tortola’s Bomba Shack -- constructed from nothing more than two by fours, a sand floor and a rickety tin roof that resonates a symphony of notes during an afternoon rainstorm.

Whether following a day of beach retreat or a more active lifestyle, Tortola embraces visitors with her best-kept secret, the Jewels of the BVI -- a charming collection of intimate inns nestled in her hills and along her shores. Home to the most hotel rooms in the BVI (both on land and floating), Tortola exudes generosity and warmth at more than 70 locally-owned hideaways, including the gingerbread Belmont House, surrounded by woods and overlooking Smuggler’s Cove, and the Ole Works Inn, 18 rooms built onto the hillside of a 320-year old sugar mill. Additional rooms are found on Tortola in the form of luxury yachts and sailboats, the largest bareboat fleet in the BVI.

Virgin Gorda

A short sail from the main island of Tortola, just 12 miles across the Sir Frances Drake Channel, Virgin Gorda tempts visitors with the best of both beaches and mountains -- flat, powdery sands on the south side and lush vegetation on peaks and hills running along the spine of the north shore. Sitting more than 1,200 feet above the sunlit sea in a natural preserve of mahogany trees, Gorda Peak (the belly of the Virgin), provides panoramic views of the necklace of islands below, from remote Anegada high in the north to the smaller Fallen Jerusalem and Round Rock to the south.

Perhaps best known for her natural masterpieces, the Virgin stretches 10 square miles long and features uninhabited beaches including the nearly abandoned Savannah Bay, Long Bay and Mountain Point on the North shore with spectacular views of Tortola and the northern islands. Along the South shore at Bercher’s Bay and the South Sound a glimpse of the empty ocean is captured as it seems to extend into eternity with nothing but a soft haze to separate sea and sky.

Located at the tip of the Virgin’s southwest legs are the island’s most notable beaches -- The Baths -- nature’s wonder formed from eons of evolution. Large granite boulders stacked and strewn across white sand beaches form caverns and grottoes filled with shallow wading pools of the crystal sea. The rock labyrinth, with some individual stones as large as three-story houses, welcomes snorkelers to discover coral, sponges and marine life encrusted on the underside of boulders.

Above the water, the cavernous spaces are illuminated by beams of light squeezing through slender crevices in the cathedral-like ceilings. On the surface, the rocks, reminiscent of faces yearning to tell the secrets of centuries past, are both rough (perhaps the place of a pirate’s plunder) and smooth, as if polished by Mother Nature’s own hand.

Anegada

Unlike her volcanic siblings, Anegada stands as a flat coral atoll, drenched in level beaches rimming the island and extensive salt ponds in the west, radiating a pink hue from a flock of 100 roseate flamingos that call the island center home. Accessible only by prop plane or charter boat, the island has just one main road and a landing strip centered in a tiny cow pasture. Avid sailors test their skills upon sail to Anegada, venturing out of the safe harbor of the Channel into the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Unable to rely on sight sailing as in the Channel, sailors seemingly stumble upon the island’s south shore as she suddenly arises from the ocean swell, no height to share her position in the sea.

With less than 250 permanent residents, the island is home to more wildlife than humans, boasting an expansive Outback sheltering several rare species both plant and animal, including the endangered Anegada rock iguana, the seldom seen “air plant,” and frangipani tree that bends and diverts into multiple arms -- nature’s version of abstract art. Even the fishing is rare in Anegada, boasting some of the best bonefishing in the world, the elusive, saltwater version of fly fishing.

Both pristine and undisturbed, Anegada’s beaches of Cow Wreck Bay, Pomato Point and Loblolly Bay -- marked by white-sand, a crescent shape, succulent plant life and fragrant bay lavender -- have found themselves as the stars of numerous photo shoots and filmings. Although stunning on the surfaces, Anegada’s beaches are also known for their spectacular snorkeling. With the Anegada Reef surrounding the island, the shallow waters of Loblolly Bay open up to an explosion of color and texture from metallic mojarra fish squeezing in between the coral crevices and shimmering needlefishes with long, slender bodies slinking through the water, to brightly-dressed mantis shrimp found on the sunlit, sandy bottom. Boulder coral and thick strands of branching elkhorn coral form a maze of caves and tunnels in the deeper indigo waters, where more than 500 boats lie beneath with undiscovered treasures sought after by divers from around the world.

Jost Van Dyke

Slightly northwest of Tortola’s West End, Jost Van Dyke is a perfect stopover among BVI island hoppers, exuding a ‘lost in time’ feel with undeveloped beaches and shack bars, punctuated by its lack of manmade amenities -- no televisions, no computers, no distractions. Here, the beach is the main road. Just four square-miles, Jost Van Dyke is home to only 150 permanent residents and a handful of accommodations, however the island is one of the most popular day excursions in the BVI offering several restaurants, bars and plenty of barren beach, where the only requirement is sunscreen. Operating on “island time,” everything is slowed to an unhurried pace -- even the ferry that ships visitors from Tortola’s Soper’s Hole to Jost Van Dyke’s Great Harbor is called the “When” due to its unpredictable arrival schedule -- but visitors quickly adapt to this casual lifestyle.

The welcoming hub of Great Harbour, outlined by an offshore reef, is a flat bay decorated with a mini-armada of yachts and sailboats and flanked by steep hillsides dotted with colorful homes and roaming goats. Water taxis moving from Great Harbor to White Bay in the west throw day-trippers into the island’s stress-free atmosphere feet first -- literally. Taxis anchor just off shore, prompting journeymen to wade through waves to the beach. With the sun lingering closely, clothes dry almost instantaneously. Aptly named for its blinding white, crescent beach, White Bay boasts remarkably calm waters that are a fully saturated hue of turquoise. So clear, moving shoals of fish trying to elude hungry pelicans streak through the water in the form of indigo blue stripes.

A series of small islets lay just off the eastern coast, including Diamond Cay, taking visitors off-road on goat trails leading to the Bubbly Pool where at high tide water rushes over jagged rocks to create a natural sea spa churning up champagne-like bubbles. The uninhabited Green Cay and Sandy Spit welcome sailors to drop anchor and relax the remaining day undisturbed save for brief breaks to snorkel or dive. The Playground, located on Green Cay’s ocean side features brightly colored sponges on underwater pinnacles and schools of large tarpon, barracuda and juvenile angelfish. Just a mile south, Sandy Cay is the epitome of a tropical isle with gently sloping beach, varying botanical landscape and dramatic surfside cliffs with rugged rocks below.

Getting to the British Virgin Islands

The international airport in the capital city, Road Town, is not setup for large aircraft. To get here from overseas, most journeys will involve a connection in San Juan, Puerto Rico, or another nearby major international airport.

You may also arrive into the US Virgin Islands and transfer to the British Virgin Islands by boat.