PlumeriaTattoo

We are considering visiting the Virgin Islands next May or June to elope and honeymoon. We'd like to visit Tortola, Virgin Gorda and St John while there (and probably also Jost Van Dyke). Does it make more sense logistically to stay on one island vs. another? We will rent a car on whichever island we stay on, but not sure if the ferries that take you from island to island are the kind you drive onto, so I guess transportation on the islands we visit may be an issue. Any thoughts on the best area to make our "home base"? We'll likely stay for a week or so.
Thanks!

RoamsAround

There's no car ferries between Tortola, Virgin Gorda, St. John and/or Jost Van Dyke. You can only travel between them by passenger ferry. And, you cannot necessarily travel from one of those island to another without first stopping at a third island.

So, a question for you - do you plan to stay on one island and make day trips to the others on your list? Or was it your intention to spend a few days on more than one island?

Getting between all three of those islands can be time consuming so trying to see all three in a single week may not afford you very much downtime on a particular island. Adding Jost Van Dyke to the mix makes it even more of a challenge. You might be trying to visit too many island in too short a period of time. Consider staying on one island and visiting one of the others just for a day trip about mid-way in your stay.

Your best best would probably be to base yourself on Tortola then check the ferry schedules to work out which of the islands you can easily visit in the time you have allotted. Check the following websites for ferry schedules:

www.bestofbvi.com/info/info_bviferry.htm
www.vinow.com/general_usvi/interisland_ferry/
www.bviwelcome.com/ferries.php

Assuming you base yourself on one island and visit one or more just for day trips it will probably be easier to use taxis rather then waste precious time getting to/from the car rental agency and filling out paperwork to rent a car on each island just for the day - but, of course, that's a personal decision.

suze

I'm no expert and have only visited St John. But it's not really an area condusive to island hopping and I think trying to see the 4 you mention in only "a week or so" would be too much. While St John is a lovely island, I'd probably just stick to the BVI's instead.

mnag

WE stayed on Tortola one year and used it as a base to visit Virgin Gorda and Jost Van Dyke. Of the BVI we prefer VG (would be beautiful for a honeymoon) because its very quaint, off the beaten track and has beautiful beaches and the baths. If you made VG a base you can visit Anegada.

ejcrowe

As others said, it really depends on what you want for that week or so. Do you really want to be on the go, all the time, to see as much as you can? If so, Tortola is the best "central" island for ferrying to the others.

Do you want to stay in one place, get a feel for it, and maybe take one daytrip to another island? Then it's a different story. Of those islands, Virgin Gorda is my personal favorite--it's easy to get around, the beaches are beautiful, the snorkeling is good, and it's small & friendly. Second after that would probably be St. John, which, while beautiful is MUCH more crowded than the other islands.

sradt

I agree with what has been said before. Virgin Gorda is also my personal favorite, we stayed there a many times and it might be the best suited for a honeymoon. It has beautiful resorts and spectacular villas. You can charter a boat to take you around for a day trip to a bunch of islands, do a day trip to Anegada or just enjoy the local beaches.

PlumeriaTattoo

I guess there is more to do on these islands that I originally thought. So my decision becomes more "which island should we stay on?" and from there plan a day trip to another. Still a tough choice as they all look amazing...

RoamsAround

Plum - Don't fret too much. All of the "experts" here had the same decision making problem when we first started going to the Caribbean. Do what we ALL did, pick one island (it doesn't make any difference which one) and maybe go to a second one for a day trip. Then go to a different one on your next trip - that's right - if you are like most people you'll be "hooked" and return year after after so you'll have plenty of opportunity to visit other islands.

I've bee going to the Caribbean since the mid-1980's and have a home on one of the islands but I still visit others ones. I haven't yet gotten to them all.