Micah3

I would love some help. We will be taking a ferry from St. Thomas to Tortola to start our week sail with Elite Island Yachts. We would love tospend a few more days in the Caribbean and don't know whether we should stay in Tortola, or go to a different island. We don't want to spend a lot more money going to different islands but are wondering about St. John, St. Thomas or just staying in Tortola. Any suggestions from you folks out there?
Thank you. (Also looking for recommended accommodations)

RoamsAround

you won't have to spend a lot of money going to St. John or St. Thomas. Both are reachable by ferry from Tortola.

St. John is a quiet upscale island, 2/3's of which is a National Park. St. Thomas is more built up with lots of duty free shopping and more access to budget accomodations. They are two very different islands so choose the one that most appeals to you.

Naveron

Believe me, there's more than enough between the BVI's and the USVI to occupy you for another week! You only mention Tortola but you could spend some time on Virgin Gorda, BVI or St. John USVI. Tortola is a good base to do day trips. But I also think that St. John would be a great spot to spend a few days. What a dilemma!

janiekins

I would recommend either Virgin Gorda (I am going in February) or St. John (I am going this Saturday).

Both are gorgeous and so much fun!

TPAYT

We love sailing, and after being on a boat for a week and doing alot of snorkelling etc., we'd want a few days of medium priced luxury(can't afford Four Seasons).We'd head for Caneel Bay St. John.

St. John is just beautiful and has great restaurants. It also has some nice shopping in Cruz Bay.

If I wanted alot of duty free shopping and also good restaurants, I'd go to St.Thomas.

Then there's always "The Bitter End Yacht Club"---is that where you're sailing from? It's wonderful.

Micah3

Thanks so much for responses! We have decided to spend 4 days at Long Bay Resort Villas in Tortola after we get off our sail with Elite Island Yachts. We would like to do a day trip to St. John as well. We are wondering about ferry from St. Thomas to Tortola - I heard it stops in two places. Would anyone be able to tell me which one to stop at to get to Nanny Cay Marina, would we get a cab from ferry drop-off and how much time would that take?

RoamsAround

I assume your question regarding the ferry pertains to your trip from STT to Tortola when you first arrive for your sailing charter. It really doesn't make any difference whether you get off at the West End ferry dock (1st stop) or Road Town (2nd stop). While Nanny Cay is closer to Road Town (by a couple of miles) it takes the ferry about 20 to 25 minutes to travel between WE and RT. I would estimate that a cab ride from WE to Nanny Cay would take about 20 minutes vs. a 10 minute or so ride from RT. Of course, you'll have to also factor in the times it takes to clear immigrations/customs upon your arrival on Tortola.

sgtmama

Long Bay is lovely, but would caution against the meal plan (unless they've totally revamped in the last two years) - dreadful food at very high prices. Tortolla has quite a few wonderful restaurants...Oscars high end but really great...Quito's great fish sandwhich lunch, both not far from Long Bay. Enjoy!