5 nights in BVI
 

Hi Folks,

I am traveling to the BVI for 5 nights in June for my honeymoon. The 7 days prior to that, my fiancee and I will be renting a villa in St. John.

Our St. John plans are settled, but our BVI plans are completely up in the air. So we have 5 days to explore the BVI, and I am looking for some recommendations for an excellent and affordable way to spend 5 days/nights there.

So on day 1, we will be starting in St. John or St. Thomas, which ever has the more convenient ferry to which ever destination we choose in BVI. And on day 5, we must be back in St. Thomas for our 2:30 PM flight home. Aside from our moderately tight budget, those are our only constraints.

Thanks in advance for your help,

Pete M

I'd suggest you check out Guavaberry Spring Bay on Virgin Gorda. These cottages aren't terribly expensive in the low season, and they're on Spring Bay, one of the most interesting beaches in the BVI (much like the more famous Baths). They're close enough to town that you don't really need a car. I'd suggest doing the ferry from St. John. It's too much trouble to go all the way back to St. Thomas.

I second Doug's suggestion. Guavaberry also has villas for rent that are pretty affordable in the off season. Rent a car and check out VG's many great beaches, and Spring Bay, one of my favorites, is right down the road.
Another option might be Sandcastle on Jost Van Dyke.

If you definitely plan on using the ferry for transportation to the BVI's, check out their schedules on vinow.com. The ferry only goes to Virgin Gorda on Thurs and Sun and the ferry to Jost Van Dyke runs Fri, Sat and Sun. Also the ferry only leaves VG at 5:00pm and JVD at 3:00pm so you wouldn't be able to make a same day flight. The ferrys run to Tortola every day. You also may be able to arrange a private charter but it would be alot more expensive.

Can't you take the ferry to Roadtown, Tortola and switch to a ferry to VG? I think we did that last time.

Thanks for the suggestions so far! You have introduced a very important issue which i have considered yet. It appears that the ferry schedule will dictate my ininerary.

I will be beginning my BVI excursion on a Monday, and have an afternoon flight home on Friday. My intention is to stay on multiple islands. Since my flight is at 2:30 PM out of St. Thomas, do you recommend spending my last night in STT, or would it be ok to stay on Tortola?

Depending on logistics, you might have to spend a final night in St. Thomas. It is possible to fly from Virgin Gorda to St. Thomas, but I'm not sure if the cost will be too much for you. I think Air Sunshine does this route for about $125 per person. Otherwise, you might be able to arrange a water taxi back to Tortola to catch a ferry there. The islands are actually very close together, so you do have a few options even if the ferry schedules don't seem to be going your way.

You BVI adventure will most definately revolve around the ferries.

Here's a link that will bring you up to speed http://www.bvivacations.com/Ferry.html

Inter Island goes CruzBay to WE Tortola several times a day, Mon-Sat. You could catch a cab to RoadTown then Speedy's to VG or just stay on Tortola.

If you select VG (Guavaberry is outstanding!!) I would suggest Thurs night on Tortola and an early ferry to St Thomas. You won't have any trouble reaching the airport in time from Tortola on Fri for a 2:30 departure. VG or JVD would be a BIG gamble.

Dave

Dave,
That is a great link! Just added it to my favorites.

iso_sun,
This is just my opinion, I have never overnighted in the BVI's, but staying on "multiple" islands with only 4 nights seems a little ambitious. Since it is so easy to day trips, you might want to consider a base to explore from. If you do decide on multiple destinations, I would pack light, dragging bags around to the ferrys can be a pain. Hope you post to let us know what you decide.

I did similar research a month or two ago for my trip to Tortola. We decided on Sebastians on the Beach for location and price. (http://www.sebastiansbvi.com/)
We can day trip to other islands from there. It will be our base for 7 days. their Jr. suite on the water is $150 PN. You would probably would want a car though, not sure if it's in your budget. Good luck!

There are some awesome beaches on Tortola, particularly on the west side.
Little Apple Bay has a couple of nice restaurants and Sebastians (nice little inn) which looks over at Jost Van Dyke (a great day trip as well on the 40 minute ride from near Pusser's). We drove down the beach past Long Bay Club and took the short sand road to Smuggler's Cove beach....awesome calm cove (a movie was filmed there one day). There's a little cabana bar, and totally uncrowded and pristine. Well worth the 5-10 minute drive. Little Apple Bay is neat, but a bit quiet at night.

Make sure if you are in a rental jeep you throw it in 4 wheel if on a steep hill (and there are many)....particularly if you go to Brewer's Bay, its a high road over the top.

We rented a villa from purplepineapple.com for 250 a night and had an unreal view of Little Apple Bay and Jost Van Dyke, You can hit almost all of the islands from Tortola, just stay away from Roadtown too much, its pretty industrial.

Also, don't cut it too close getting back to your flight, we got to the desk in St Thomas one hour before flight and they had closed the gate, and the ladies could have cared less what we ended up doing. There was no crowd, no nothing, just "company policy".

Another great site is BVIwelcome.com, its more for the locals and their chat site is great...

We had a similar situation last year, we went to Tortola for 3 days before our week in a STJ villa.
Having never been to Tortola, I shopped for economy and chose a guest house in Roadtown. As a previous poster stated, stay away from Roadtown! It is noisy and crowded. We switched hotels after the first night.
While driving the island we found Jolly Roger Inn. Very inexpensive, very fun, great food. You could sit on their dock and look across the harbor to Soper's Hole.
Maybe save one of the BVI islands for a daytrip from STJ. We always take the ferry to JVD for the day and it is always the best day of the trip.

Also, stay away from Cane Garden Bay on a day that a cruise ship is in Roadtown.....gets very touristy and crowded.

Smugglers, Brewers, and Josiahs are all very nice. Jost is also great for beaches, but it does get an occasional cruise ship as well.

Baths at VG are neat to see but again, if a cruise ship is anywhere near it, it will be very crowded.

Would second Sebastians on a budget, and there are one or two nice hotels up on the bluffs between Little Apple Bay and Brewers Bay, one has a great view and restaurant.