ejcrowe

Well, I've been back from my last trip for almost a week, which means it's time to start planning the next one, right?

DH and I will be traveling to Virgin Gorda with our 15 year old granddaughter for 4-5 nights next July. In your opinion, is it more efficient to fly to Tortola and ferry over, or to fly to San Juan and take the commuter flight to VG?

We're still looking at various 2-bedroom villas with the Virgin Oriental Villa managed by Guavaberry at the head of the list. If any of you have any recs for villas that can sleep 3 for US $250/night or under, I'd love to hear about them.

I'm very excited about this trip--we traveled with same granddaughter to Tortola when she was 13, and she loved it so much that she asked if we would take her again if she earned enough money to pay for her way. This girl is as wild about snorkeling as I am, and I'm just thrilled about having another snorkeling partner.

Other question: with only 4-5 nights away, would you spend a daytrip going to Anegada for snorkeling, or would you just stick around VG and maybe do a daysail for snorkeling?

Any favorite restaurants you'd like to recommend?

Thanks in advance!

MIM04

EJ - we just got back from VG yesterday. Virgin Oriental is the villa we rented.

Definitely take the ferry from Beef Island. I have done both many times, but it is much easier that way.

We were going to do the Anegada ferry for a day trip (runs on Monday) but decided against it as we did not want to lose a whole day in VG.

ejcrowe

welcome back, MIM! Did you have a good trip? I'd love to hear your thoughts about the villa once you've had a moment to catch your breath. Did you walk to Spring Bay from there, and if so, how long did it take?


Thanks for the ferry vs flying tip.

poss

We're long-time lovers of St John and snorkeling and did VG for the first time last year-- absolutely loved it! (Stayed at a villa on Mahoe Bay.) There's absolutely enough snorkeling around VG (nice and close to shore, as at St John). No need to do the Anegada trip imo.

ejcrowe

Thanks, poss, for the snorkeling feedback. The villas on Mahoe are out of our pricerange, but we'd like to try snorkeling along that beach. How is the access there for non-guests? Can we rent umbrellas and chairs at Mahoe? Is there any natural shade on that beach?

mnag

Beaches not to miss while on VG would be Baths (ofcourse), Spring Bay, Savvanah Bay and Mahoe Bay. We stayed with a big group at Bellamare on Mahoe. I beleive it is easily accessible even if you do not stay at the villas. There are no restaurants/ chairs etc that you can rent on this beach. I would also take a day and go over to the other side of the island and ferry over to the Bitter End Yatch Club (I think you catch the ferry from gun creek but am not sure since its been a while). They allow visitors to access their beach (as long as you eat at the restaurant or use other services). You could rent a little boat and go visit/snorkell around nearby islands such as prickly pear etc. We did not do the boat thing since there were little kids in our party but enjoyed just hanging out at their beach. The views are very nice. Also drive by the copper mine ruins for amazing scenery and photos. The copper mine ruins are a quick drive from the center of town. So as you can see plent to do at VG. We travelled via ferry from Tortola to VG.

poss

I agree with everything mnag says abt the Mahoe situation. (Can't remember whether there's much natural shade-- definitely not a lot...) Giorgio's Table is an excellent restaurant (I believe it's usually open for lunch) which is down the beach from the Mahoe villas. A little bit of a climb over some rocks-- and maybe not possible in all tide situations-- but really very good; but not inexpensive.
When you go to the Copper Mines, by the way, there's a pretty good restaurant just before that point: great views.
When we drove over to Bitter End, we went out with one of their little snorkel boats. Visitors are welcome to do that, and it's not very expensive. They seem to have little trips-- an hour or so-- many times a day.

MIM04

Giorgios is no longer open for lunch, FYI and its great but really expensive.

My favorite for dinner is Lobster Spaghetti at the Rock Cafe.

MIM04

EJ - have you looked into the 2 bedroom Guavaberry cottages? V.O.V is nice, but if you look at the layout the house is basically in 3 parts. The downstairs bedroom is its own separate "studio" which is not connected to the upstairs. It was great for us as me and DH were upstairs and my mom was downstairs, but I am not sure with a teenager I would chose this house. VG is very safe, however I would feel kind of uneasy about it anyway. There are many sliding glass doors in the house, and the door upstairs in the master outside shower does not lock. It is a nice house because its close to spring bay and very close to the baths and it has a pool. I never felt unsafe there or anything like that, but I would feel uncomfortable giving you 100% thumbs up without giving you this info. so you can make your own decision. The house is located down a long drive where there are several other rental homes. Some of our neighbors were quite noisy at night, but the roosters seemed to drown out the humans
Overall we love Guavaberry, we have stayed in many of the cottages. This was our first time renting one of the properties that they (only) manage. BTW the commisary run by Guavaberry has much better groceries and prices than the stores in town. We bought pretty much everything there. The prices are really good.
Have you looked at the other house, I think its just called the Beach House. We were considering this one, but then it was unavailable when we booked.

Let me know what other info. you need.

ejcrowe

Hmmm, that gives me a bit to think about, but I doubt it will give me much pause about renting the villa unless I see something else at the same price that I love. Right now with Virgin Oriental it's just a strong case of like. Do you mean that there is no interior connection between the upstairs and downstairs? That you have to go outdoors to go from one part of the villa to the other?

We want to have the option of a/c in the bedrooms for this trip since we're going in July, otherwise we would have gone with Guavaberry outright. we also like the idea of a freshwater pool for relaxing in at night or in the early morning. Other than villas at Nail Bay and Leverick Bay, do you know of any other two bedroom places with a/c in the bedrooms at the same price?

Do you remember how long a walk it was from VOV to the beach at Spring Bay? Not so far that two early morning risers could walk down there, enjoy some quiet time, and then be back to the villa before the old fart gets up and has breakfast made?

Did you and your family use the chairs & stuff set up by the Guavaberry folks on the beach?

Does the villa come with any fold-up beach chairs that you can take with you to other beaches?

Many thanks!

MIM04

Hi EJ,

Yes, that is correct the top and bottom of the villa are not connected. The bottom floor was added later. The top floor is a gallery/kitchen and masterbedroom / bath. The bottom floor (under the house by the pool) is a studio unit with bathroom. Just something to think about. I think the downstairs is actually more secure than the upstairs.
Also, the house does not have a generator. Our power was out about 3 days while we were there. It would be out several hours and come back on. It was very hot without the ceiling fans. Guavaberry does have a generator and some of the individual homes do, but this one does not.
The only hesitation I would say is to check with them if they have had an electrician look at the house. I got a terrible shock on the light in the master bedroom (they replaced the lamp during our stay, but there are electrical problems in the house)

Also, I would check into www.priorityproperty.com they have a couple of houses near the baths which look nice. One of them is near VOV.

Yes, you can walk to the beach. About 15 minutes. Its an easy walk. Basically go out to the main road and walk to Guavaberry and walk to their beach. We mostly drove as we have a small child. We did use the chairs provided by GSB. They have a small shed near the beach with chairs. There are lounge chairs at the house, but none small enough to take to the beach.
Oh also about walking. the baths are just up the road, and you can walk up to the top of the baths restuarant, it has a beautifull view.
In terms of safety, they just ask you please always use your safe.
Hope this helps!

MIM04

EJ - also the site I just mentioned, I have no experience with them. however they are the only co. I have ever found which reps. any villas near the baths (Besides GSB)

styleoracle

In March of 04 we really enjoyed staying at Mango Bay resort. They have Ocean-front Suites with 2-bedrooms that are $300 a night April 19-Dec 19. Might want to take a look. Owners are nice and helpful and we enjoyed snorkeling right out in front of the property. I think this place is a bit of a secret on Virgin Gorda. Check it out at mangobayresort.com and best of luck to you!