British Virgin Islands Recommendations?

[iheartscience]

So I think my fiance and I finally figured out where we''re going on our honeymoon! We''re planning on going to the British Virgin Islands, and I would love any and all recommendations from the PS world travelers.

What island is the best to stay on? Any hotel/villa/resort recommendations? (I should add that we''re trying to keep it relatively cheap since we are spending so much on the wedding, so $700/night places aren''t a possibility!)

Should we rent a car? Are there any attractions/excursions we can''t skip? And is there anything we should avoid?

Thank you in advance!

 

[asscher_girl]

Hi Thing2of2! I lived on St. Thomas (USVI) for a while after college and while we mainly stayed there or made day trips to St. John, I have been to the BVI''s a bit. If you''re on a budget I''d say Tortola or Virgin Gorda would be your best bet. Each BVI is super tiny so there''s no need to rent a car. If you or your hubby can drive a boat though, I''d highly recommend renting one. We used to rent little 26'' boats (here the website for where we rented from on St. Thomas http://www.powerboatrentalsvi.com/rates.html ) and we''d island hop.

My fav BVI is Jost Van Dyke, the best beach on that island is White Bay (super fun bars like Soggy Dollar). Then you can take your boat over to the Indians (these really cool rock formations that stick out of the water) and snorkel/dive there.

One island that I haven''t been to but really want to check out is Anegada, it supposed to be amazing. A super chill island, small and quaint but totally fun.

If you go to Virgin Gorda, you have to check out The Baths. There are these amazing large boulders you can climb around, swim into the pools, etc.

If you want more entertainment, check out St. John or St. Thomas. The downtown St. John (right where the ferries take you to) is super fun at night. Tons of bars/restaurants and shops. If you''re there for B''fast/lunch check out JJ"s Texas Coast Cafe - soooo yummy! Must go to beachs on St. John - Cinnamon Bay, Trunk Bay and Hawksnest.

St. Thomas has 2 lively downtown - the main one: Charlotte Amaile, lots of bars again, on Tuesdays Greenhouse has 2 for Tuesdays! Gotta check out the view from the restuarant called Paradise Point too (you have to take a tram up the hill to get there). The other downtown is Red Hook/East end, great area too, not as many bars though.

If you go to St. Thomas, even though it''s super touristy, I love Magen''s Bay. It''s an amazing beach!

Hope some of that info helps, have a great time in the VI''s - it''s my home away from home

 

[jcarlylew]

gee- i thought i heard someone talking about where i will be in 2 days
well, 3 really.

I also vote for jost van dyke. Its a beautiful small island, and if you are arriving by boat, you have to swim to the bar.
i repeat.
swim to the bar.
okay, you can use the dingy if you want instead

i also really liked levericks bay for "all inclusive" since there is live music, an okay restuarant and lots to do via the hotel. and i believe there is a phone booth shower there. too funny.

actually, just go with what asscher_girl has said. she hit all the great spots!!

and again, if you can charter a sailboat, DO IT!!!

oh, when you fly into Beef Island (which most likely you will), you must go to the last resort resturant on a friday or saturday night. Live music, free shots. AMAZING food.

 

[iheartscience]

Oooh, thanks asschergirl and jcarlylew! I have to get back to work so I haven''t had a chance to go over everything you wrote yet, but I can''t wait to check it all out! I''ll probably be back later with questions for you both! Thanks again!

 

[jcarlylew]

not a problem! let me know if you need some pictures for inspiration!!

 

[bebe]

Love the BVI''s.

I can''t remember any resorts there and I''m sure the ones there are small.
We rented a house on Beef Island (Tortola) and had a to die for view of the Drake Channel.

Virgin Gorda has The Baths - great snorkleing. Go early to avoid the crowds.

I loved Tortola because it''s not busy or touristy. We explored every beach on the island,
ferried over to St. Thomas. We had dinner at 2 very nice restaurants on Tortola, but most nights
we had a cook cooking for us - that was the best!

It''s the perfect island to chill out on, but you can always take a ferry to St. Thomas for a faster pace
and of course to shop.

 

[iheartscience]

Date: 6/9/2009 7:31:09 PM
Author: jcarlylew
not a problem! let me know if you need some pictures for inspiration!!

As if you have to ask...of course I need some pictures for inspiration!

Hit me with as many as you feel like uploading, please!

 

[iheartscience]

Date: 6/9/2009 9:01:55 AM
Author: asscher_girl
Hi Thing2of2! I lived on St. Thomas (USVI) for a while after college and while we mainly stayed there or made day trips to St. John, I have been to the BVI''s a bit. If you''re on a budget I''d say Tortola or Virgin Gorda would be your best bet. Each BVI is super tiny so there''s no need to rent a car. If you or your hubby can drive a boat though, I''d highly recommend renting one. We used to rent little 26'' boats (here the website for where we rented from on St. Thomas http://www.powerboatrentalsvi.com/rates.html ) and we''d island hop.

My fav BVI is Jost Van Dyke, the best beach on that island is White Bay (super fun bars like Soggy Dollar). Then you can take your boat over to the Indians (these really cool rock formations that stick out of the water) and snorkel/dive there.

One island that I haven''t been to but really want to check out is Anegada, it supposed to be amazing. A super chill island, small and quaint but totally fun.

If you go to Virgin Gorda, you have to check out The Baths. There are these amazing large boulders you can climb around, swim into the pools, etc.

If you want more entertainment, check out St. John or St. Thomas. The downtown St. John (right where the ferries take you to) is super fun at night. Tons of bars/restaurants and shops. If you''re there for B''fast/lunch check out JJ''s Texas Coast Cafe - soooo yummy! Must go to beachs on St. John - Cinnamon Bay, Trunk Bay and Hawksnest.

St. Thomas has 2 lively downtown - the main one: Charlotte Amaile, lots of bars again, on Tuesdays Greenhouse has 2 for Tuesdays! Gotta check out the view from the restuarant called Paradise Point too (you have to take a tram up the hill to get there). The other downtown is Red Hook/East end, great area too, not as many bars though.

If you go to St. Thomas, even though it''s super touristy, I love Magen''s Bay. It''s an amazing beach!

Hope some of that info helps, have a great time in the VI''s - it''s my home away from home

Wow, I never thought I''d get to bug someone who has actually lived in the VI!

Thank you so much for all the info! Neither of us know how to drive a boat-is it difficult? Will they not rent us a boat if we''re not licensed? (Is there even such a thing as a boating license?)

I did look into Anegada (read an article in the Washington Post about the BVI and they mentioned Anegada) but I''m worried it might be a little *too* chill for me. But on the other hand, a deserted island vibe would be sweet for a honeymoon! I am mostly concerned about us having to cook for ourselves if there isn''t anywhere to eat. Plus I know my fiance will want to do stuff

instead of just laying around.

I''m going to look into Jost Van Dyke, too-it sounds like it has a little more going on than Anegada and I think everything I''ve heard about it has been great.

Thank you again for all the tips, especially all the specific restaurant/area tips!

 

[iheartscience]

Date: 6/9/2009 10:03:22 AM
Author: jcarlylew

gee- i thought i heard someone talking about where i will be in 2 days

well, 3 really.

I also vote for jost van dyke. Its a beautiful small island, and if you are arriving by boat, you have to swim to the bar.

i repeat.

swim to the bar.

okay, you can use the dingy if you want instead

i also really liked levericks bay for ''all inclusive'' since there is live music, an okay restuarant and lots to do via the hotel. and i believe there is a phone booth shower there. too funny.

actually, just go with what asscher_girl has said. she hit all the great spots!!

and again, if you can charter a sailboat, DO IT!!!

oh, when you fly into Beef Island (which most likely you will), you must go to the last resort resturant on a friday or saturday night. Live music, free shots. AMAZING food.

Wow, I have good timing if you''re going in 2 days! Okay, so Jost Van Dyke is at the top of the list! Thank you so much for all the recommendations! Between you, asscher girl and bebe I don''t even need my guidebook!

 

[asscher_girl]

You''re welcome Thing!

Bug away! hehe

You don''t need a boating license (anything goes in those islands) but I would say you should have some boating experience. We always just had one of the guys drive the boat and honestly I never asked if they had experience

The swells can get around 4-6 ft out there in between the islands but when you''re on a little boat they feel pretty big. You can hire a capitan for the day (it has more info on that website I listed above).

Yeah Anegada is small and super chill. So is Jost. I think Jost only has 1 very small hotel and some homes for rent (only about 200 people live on that island year round so its very low key). If you want to stay on a BVI, I''d go to Tortola. If you want to stay on a USVI, I''d stay on St. John. St. John has some mid price point places and higher priced hotels. There''s a really pretty place in downtown St. John called Gallow''s Point. They are individual units and super cute. There''s plenty of restaurants within walking distance (up a sorta big hill, but not too bad

) And the rates are around $300-500 depending on the time of yr you''re going.

http://www.gallowspointresort.com/rates.html

Let me know if you plan on making it over to St. Thomas, that''s were I can recommend the most.

What time of year are you going?

I''m so jealous, I miss it there so much! It''s been 3 yrs since we''ve been (I lived there 5 yrs ago) but I love it down there sooooo much!

Let me know if you have any other questions! I''m happy to help! Just promise me you''ll post a bunch of pics when you get back!

 

[Haven]

I definitely second the recs to visit The Baths on Virgin Gorda and Jost Van Dyke. They''re both really small, relaxed islands, but I''d say the two are must-visits. (If you can, try to bring an umbrella you can sit under at The Baths, there is very little shade and it can get very hot.) My very favorite day was on Jost, I read an entire book on the beach while cradled in a cozy hammock. Delightful.

We stayed at the Westin Resort on St. John for our honeymoon last July. It was unbelievable. We can''t wait to go back to St. John again soon!

Here''s a picture from Jost. Look at that sand! That water!

 

[Haven]

The Baths are really incredible. Here''s a shot of us from under the rocks:

 

[Haven]

And here''s a shot of St. John, my favorite.

 

[asscher_girl]

Date: 6/9/2009 11:30:48 PM
Author: Haven
And here''s a shot of St. John, my favorite.

Awww.... I love Trunk bay!!!!!!

 

[Haven]

Date: 6/9/2009 11:54:25 PM
Author: asscher_girl

Date: 6/9/2009 11:30:48 PM
Author: Haven
And here''s a shot of St. John, my favorite.

Awww.... I love Trunk bay!!!!!!

Great snorkeling, right? But man was it crowded! We took this picture early in the day and you can already see all those dots of tourists crowding the beach. St. John was really calm and not crowded at all . . . until we went to Trunk Bay!

Our favorite was Waterlemon Cay, there were only a handful of people there and we swam with the sea turtles. They were amazing!

The day we were on Jost there was a dolphin swimming about twenty feet from the beach. The bartenders told us they''d never seen that before, and later we found out that there was a commercial shooting not too far away and the dolphin had escaped! Talk about amazing, that dolphin was beautiful.

 

[iheartscience]

Thank you bebe, Haven and asscher girl for even more info! Haven, your photos are AMAZING!

I have to get to bed so I can''t let myself start researching all the new recommendations or I''ll be up all night!

Waaaah I want to stay up all night and think about my honeymoon! It''s actually only a month away-we leave 7/13 and come back 7/19.

Okay, I''m making myself log off now...but I''m sure I''ll be back tomorrow to bug you all more! Thank you again!

 

[jcarlylew]

haven - did you know that, that picture of trunk bay is on a lot of samsung cell phones for wall paper?

Don''t forget to visit the last resort restaurant as well, in the same bay as beef island.

and if you wind up going to soggy dollar bar, then you must play ring on a hook.

 

[Clairitek]

I''m not sure if you are set on hotels and resorts but the way I''ve visited the Virgin Islands was on a sailboat. It might not be your idea of luxury but we really enjoyed it! We got to visit 6 different islands during the week. There are many sailboat charter companies down there and they all will provide you a captain to sail the boat (for a fee of course). I haven''t looked into pricing recently but we were able to get a pretty awesome deal on our vacation when we went. We liked the freedom of being around people when we felt social and being alone on the boat anchored in some secluded spot.

You''ll enjoy the trip down there no matter where you go or what you do. Many beautiful places to be seen!

 

[jcarlylew]

Date: 6/10/2009 9:16:06 AM
Author: Clairitek
I''m not sure if you are set on hotels and resorts but the way I''ve visited the Virgin Islands was on a sailboat. It might not be your idea of luxury but we really enjoyed it! We got to visit 6 different islands during the week. There are many sailboat charter companies down there and they all will provide you a captain to sail the boat (for a fee of course). I haven''t looked into pricing recently but we were able to get a pretty awesome deal on our vacation when we went. We liked the freedom of being around people when we felt social and being alone on the boat anchored in some secluded spot.


You''ll enjoy the trip down there no matter where you go or what you do. Many beautiful places to be seen!

that is what we did too, except e''s parents did the "driving"