LOOKS Travel Diaries

7 Days in British Virgin Islands

From meeting the gorillas in Africa to my first sailing adventure in the Caribbean in the beautiful British Virgin Islands (BVI).

I’m so excited to finally share my 7 days itinerary exploring these beautiful islands with you.

About the British Virgin Islands

The British Virgin Islands is a British territory in the Caribbean, east of Puerto Rico comprising approximately 50 small islands where about 15 are inhabited.

As for the climate this is tropical with trade winds. Temperatures vary little throughout the year. The maximum daily temperatures are around 32 ° C in summer and 29 ° C in winter.

As many of you know, the British Virgin Islands was one of the islands that was hit the hardest by Hurricane Maria in September 2017.

We visited BVI this past November (one year and two months after the hurricane), and the truth is that we could see how some of the islands in general have been recovered from this catastrophe.

Many hotels, restaurants and local businesses have opened to the public more quickly than expected. Some of them rebuilt from scratch and even had more modern renovations.

What you need to know?

  • Upon arrival at the airport, you will be charged for a tax that costs $10
  • The language they speak is English but there are many Latin people around so you will find people speaking Spanish
  • The local currency is not pounds, is American dollars
  • I would recommend a minimum of one week to explore these islands.
  • The best way to explore the different islands is to sail around. Hire a charter company like Moorings or My Caribbean Charters is more fun and seriously its such a nice experience. Make sure to take pills if you get dizzy easy.
  • To get Wifi and stay connected go to Digicel. You can get a SimCard with data for a week and a half for $85
  • Make sure to bring cash. You will need cash to pay for the taxis in the different islands (Approximately $15 per person per each way)
  • It is super safe! From the moment I arrive at Road Town I felt super safe and the people are super friendly with a great desire to receive tourists and help in any way they can.

How to get there?

 There are many flight options from Copa Airlines, to Avianca from Panama, however there are no direct flights. They will have a few stops in Bogota, and San Juan to catch a Cape Air flight direct to Tortola.

Even if you leave the USA it is very likely that you can find flights with American Airlines, United but also with a stopover in San Juan.

It is important to take into account that your bags of small flights  departing from San Juan are probably not included. For example, my bags for the Cape Air flight had an additional cost of $30 each for each flight.

Itinerary

Day 1

The first night we stayed at Mariner Inn in The Moorings Village at Road Town, Tortola.

This hotel is located in the marina of Moorings which was perfect for us because the next day we depart our sailing adventure from this same marina.

Mariner Inn rooms are quite comfortable, basic and accessible to the marina. It has a restaurant bar in front of the marina where @estefaniaacuna and I enjoy a delicious and quiet dinner overlooking all the beautiful yachts parked in the marina.

Day 2

We had breakfast at Mariner Inn and left on our private yacht where we sailed for 3 days with The Moorings.

This company provides luxury charter services. They rent all kinds of  boats depending your needs and your party number. They even offer to give you captain, cleaning service, wifi, chef (if necessary).

In our case we rented a beautiful 2-story yacht with air conditioning, 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms with shower, a kitchen, a dining room, tanning areas, grill areas and indoor living area on the second level.

We rent the boat without a chef since we will take care of our meals ourselves. Moorings was in charge of equipping the kitchen with all the food we ordered. We had a great variety of delicious and practical meals in order to be able to navigate calmly and enjoy every moment without spending a lot of time cooking.

Sailing around the BVI by far has been one of the most beautiful experiences that I have been able to experience so far. And the truth is that I did not think that I would like it as much. The reason why was because I thought I will get very dizzy but the reality is that I only got dizzy the first day.

Seeing the sunrise in one island and then seeing the sunset in another truly is an experience that we should all experience once in a lifetime.

Before leaving the marina of Moorings we made a route of the Islands that we were going to see during the 3 days of navigation with our captain.

Our first stop was Peter Island, a private island of 720 hectares with super crystalline and beautiful waters.

One of the highlights we visited was the famous boat The Willy-T known as the legendary floating bar that used to be in Norman Island and relocated to Peter Island after the hurricane.

After spending a few hours on Peter Island we sailed to Virgin Gorda where we spent the night.

When you are going to sail it is important to take into account where you are going to spend the night since this will depend on the cost. You can anchor your boat anywhere but there are certain places that have a cost that can be approximately $30 per night.

Day 3

We woke up in Virgin Gorda which in fact was my favorite island, the third largest island of BVI and perhaps the most idyllic. With its virgin beaches, turquoise waters, amazing landscapes.

Virgin Gorda is probably the most popular destination of BVI and in the Caribbean because it offers breathtaking landscapes, natural geological formations and historical ruins.

This destination has some of the most impressive and photogenic landscapes I have seen. What characterizes this destination are the giant round granite rocks stacked with each other throughout the area surrounded by one of the most crystalline and turquoise waters I have visited.

The Baths National Park in Virgin Gorda is a labyrinth of rocks next to the beach that form a series of pools and caves flooded with seawater. The natural beauty is abundant and accessible through native trails surrounded by beautiful butterflies, natural sanctuaries and natural wonders that you certainly do not have to stop seeing to check your bucket list.

The cost of The Baths park is approximately $10 per person.

If you are going to visit this park there are 2 ways to enter:

  1. The first one is entering where the marine park is. However, this option requires jumping from your boat directly to the sea to reach the shore of the national park beach. If you have cameras you cannot take them, the reason why we didn’t do it lol.
  2. And the other is that your captain drop you near the marine park in a pier where you will have to grab a taxi that will take you to the entrance of the national park. The cost of the taxi is around $ 15 per person (only one way)

After visiting Virgin Gorda we sail to Guana island. A private island that is actually one of the islands with the whitest sand beaches within the BVI islands.

Although the island is private, the beach was not, so we spent the rest of the afternoon on this island where we decided to spend the night.

Day 4

We were so in love with The Baths that we ask our captain if we could go back to Virgin Gorda one last time. This time we enjoy more bathing, swimming, snorkeling in its beautiful turquoise waters.

After spending the morning at Virgin Gorda our captain left us on the private island Cooper Island where we stayed 2 nights.

Cooper Island is a private eco resort that has 10 oceanfront rooms. Surrounded by nature and decorated with recycled teak furniture that provides a relaxed, cozy atmosphere with lots of natural light in the rooms.

This place is very famous for its restaurant, its Coffee Box coffee shop, its rum bar that has rare and unique vintage rums, its own a solar-powered brewery and a gift shop.

It is a popular destination as it is a guaranteed stop for yachts, group tours visiting The Baths on Virgin Gorda and day trips by boat from Tortola, St. Thomas and St. John.

The first day was a day of relaxation and really enjoying the beach and the open-air lounge of Cooper Island.

Día 5

The next day we did a diving course with Sail Caribbean Divers. The course consisted of a theoretical course and a practical course.

BVI in general is a very popular destination for diving. Before this trip I had prepared taking diving courses in Costa Rica so I was very excited to be able to dive in a new place.

Cooper Island is adjacent to “Wreck Alley”, a popular dive site in the British Virgin Islands where several ships have deliberately sunk as dive sites.

It was the perfect opportunity to dive and perform the practice test where we saw lots of marine life from stingrays, sharks, octopuses, beautiful corals and many beautiful fish.

Día 6

After our stay at Cooper Island we grabbed a water taxi that took us to the main island Tórtola in Road Town, which was where we initially arrived.

We stayed in a beautiful villa east on the high hills of Rhode Island near Long Bay called Far Pavillon of Sotheby’s International Realty.

This beautiful villa has three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a dining room, a living room, a swimming pool with infinity edge built as 2 pavilions that offer spectacular views of the sea from any angle.

During the day we toured the entire island of Tortola from end to end where we could visit many beautiful beaches, the town, we even met some new friends we made along the way that were beautiful ponys.

Later in the night we went to the full moon party in Trellis Bay and it was super fun. When there is a full moon in Road Town that is the main island, they always do parties where locals and tourists enjoy dancing under the moonlight near the sea.

At the party saw a nice exhibition by artist Aragon who had metallic structures with fire around the beach.

Day 7 

The next day we went for a final yacht tour with My Caribbean Charters, where we left from Nanny Cay Marina towards Norman Island.

On this trip we did snorkeling, had lunch on the island in their new restaurant that they just opened a few weeks before our arrival after the hurricane. We returned to the marina in the afternoon.

Our last night we visit the famous restaurant BananaKeet where the food is not only delicious but it offers the most spectacular and magical views of the island. I would definitely recommend going at sunset hours. 

I hope you enjoy this post and by reading this I encourage you to make a sail adventure soon.

Many thanks to the BVI tourism board for making such a memorable experience! Special thanks to Tania, Keith, Andrea and @estefaniaacuna for joining me to another of my adventures around the globe.

Love

Marcy

My Looks:

Black one piece swimsuit: Aquea Apparel

Black visor hat: Bikinis & More Panama

Purple one piece swimsuit: Milonga Swim available in Bikinis & More Panama

Tie dyed set (top and short): Bikinis & More Panama

Straw hat: Caren Lola

Red one piece swimsuit: Sonia Vigand Swimwear

Stripe white maxi dress: Bikinis & More Panama

Pom pom gold earings: Bikinis & More Panama

Waist bag: The Beach People

Sunglasses: RayBan

Cream beach bag: Bikinis & More Panama

White long sleeve dress: Bikinis & More Panama

Bird earings: Bikinis & More Panama

One piece white swimsuit: Sonia Vigand Swimwear

One piece golden swimsuit: Gooseberry Sea Side

Tan bag pack: Chloe

White long sleeve shirt: Polo Ralph Lauren

Jeans shorts: Forever 21

Crotchet high waist bikini: Capittana

Firma

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