We are staying at the Sugar Mill Hotel in January. Can anyone recommend any other restaurants on Tortola? Can anyone recommend any good snorkeling beaches or guided snorkeling excursions?

Smuggler's Cove has great snorkeling. I saw some great reef fish, believe it or not, snorkeling in 15 feet of water at the Soper's Hole marina. I also had fun salvaging gold-plated coffee mugs, some cheap jewelry, and other items on the sandy bottom of the marina. The water was crystal clear there. Best beach for me was at Smuggler's Cove. Cane Garden Bay had a nice beach and snorkeling as well; you can hear island music coming from the nighclubs in the evening there- good for a romantic, evening walk. You MUST rent a 4-wheeled jeep and explore the vistas from the hilltops, and take a snorkeling tour to Buck Island. The western end of Long Bay beach is full of palms and seagrapes, and very secluded; only the eastern tip has some beach houses on it. Lastly, Brewer's Bay has great snorkeling with groves of palm trees and seagrapes. Many patch reefs offshore attract many reef fish and other ocean critters, consequently, the snorkeiling is eventful. Have fun. Robert

The best restaurant on Tortola is BRANDYWINE (Italian-Caribbean-Crossover cuisine), another favourite of mine is the Italian cafe/restaurant CAPPRICIO DEL MARE (opposite the ferry dock in Road Town).

Tortola has lots of beautifull beaches, but don't miss a day trip to the famous "The Bath" on Virgin Gorda (ferry takes 30 minutes).
Enjoy your stay in paradise!
Regine/KATITCHE POINT GREATHOUSE

We really enjoyed Pusser's - they have two locations--one downtown and one that sits on the edge of a harbor (sorry, I don't remember the name). We enjoyed eating outside watching the sailboats in the harbor. The food was reasonably priced compared to some places in the Caribbean. I agree with the previous post - rent a four wheel drive vehicle and explore. What magnificent views Tortola has. Oh, and eat at Skyworld - you get a 360 degree look around the entire island. Have fun!

We just returned from vacation in Tortola and stayed at the Sugar Mill Hotel which was wonderful and the views were beautiful. Dinner was something to look forward to!
We had a nice lunch one day at the open air restaurant at Sebastian's down the road from the Sugar Mill with a great view of the ocean and other islands. This area is popular with surfers.
If you are at Cane Garden Bay during the day go to Myett's for lunch and try the hamburger in paradise and the conch fritters--they are delicious. Also the Myett tropical drink is cooling and tasty.
There was a great band playing Caribbean music on Sunday at Sebastians which started late afternoon.
Have a great time!

I was thinking about staying at the Sugar Mill Hotel myself, how is the beach there?

The beach at the Sugar Mill is very small but it is reef protected with a jetty and just fine for swimming. We found it better to drive up to beautiful Cane Garden Bay for part of the day and then to come back and end the day at the beach at the Sugar Mill.