rayf

I'd love to hear from someone whose been here. Are there restaurants off the island that you can go to? I'm assuming you use the Marriott's water taxi?

sharona

My husband and I stayed there 2-3 years ago with some friends. They are a family with teenagers so they had a larger unit and we had just a room, which was perfectly nice. We went off-site about half the time for dinners. One night we went to Pusser's Marina Cay and they sent their boat over to pick us up. A couple of nights we went to Tortola and used the water taxi. It wasn't a problem going off-island to dinner.

rayf

Sharona,

Is there a charge for the water taxi? How far is Tortola from Scrub Island?

sharona

No, there is no charge for the resort's water shuttle. It's a short trip. Maybe 10 minutes? I can't remember exactly but it was quick.

Here is info from their web site:

SCRUB ISLAND’S PRIVATE LAUNCH:
Scrub Island is just a 10-minute ferry ride from Tortola’s Trellis Bay Dock via our private launch.

Hours of operation:

From Trellis Bay: 5:45 a.m. to 10:45 p.m.(every hour, 45 minutes after each hour)
From Scrub Island: 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.(every hour, 30 minutes after each hour)
The Scrub Island Ferry makes two stops during the day at Pusser’s Marina Cay from 7:45 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. during its normal route into Trellis Bay.

http://dzs2guythj86l.cloudfront.net/...rvice-2017.pdf

rayf

Sharona,

Any restaurants or activities you would recommend on Tortola? I appreciate all of your help!

sharona

Honestly, I don't believe there are any outstanding restaurants on Tortola. There are some good ones, of course, but no real fine dining if that's what you're after. We have always stayed on the West End so I'm more familiar with the restaurants on the other end of Tortola from Scrub Island. We've had good food at Pussers and Fish 'n Lime Inn (it used to be something else) and also a couple of the restaurants at Cane Garden Bay like Myett's and a couple of others that I can't remember the names of. Tortola has some picture postcard views if you drive Rt. 1 north from the West End. There are a few switchback curves and you think the road is going to drop off at the top of some peaks. But the views are worth it.

If you like snorkeling there are several places where you can just walk in and see a good variety of fish. Cane Garden Bay, Brewer's Bay and Smuggler's Cove all have pretty good snorkeling. I followed a school of blue tangs around for quite a while one day at Brewer's Bay. Luckily they stayed pretty close to shore.

Smuggler's Cove is one of the most beautiful beaches you'll see anywhere. There is no development there at all. There used to be a small beach restaurant but I'm not sure it's still there. Otherwise, you may find a local selling drinks out of a cooler. It's down a couple of fairly rough roads but the payoff is worth it. It's gorgeous.

And if you're so inclined you can take the ferry from the West End to Jost Van Dyke for the day. White Bay Beach is the home of the Soggy Dollar Bar, famous for inventing the painkiller. Have one or three painkillers while you're there. They are delicious. White Bay is another one of those too beautiful to believe beaches. White, powdery sand with a few beach bars sprinkled along the edge.

The folks at the front desk at Scrub Island are very knowledgeable and helpful. They'll set you up for anything you want to do.

Birdie

We were also there a couple of years ago and ate most of our dinners at the poolside restaurant there. The food wasn't amazing but it was good. The shuttle is easy but it's not a quick taxi ride into town for restaurants and you should have the concierge make taxi arrangements for you. Get the phone number of the driver in case they don't show.

We did a day long excursion with Dive BVI which was great and we took the ferry to Virgin Gorda where we rented a car and spent the day.