TORTOLA - CAPITAL ISLAND OF THE BVI

Experience the beauty of Tortola.

Powdery white-sand beaches, lush green mountains, and a sheltered yacht-filled harbour characterize the island of Tortola, where the past of the West Indies meets the present of the BVI. The largest island in the chain, Tortola offers a variety of exciting vacation possibilities.

The protected anchorages at Brandywine Bay, Cane Garden Bay, Hodge's Creek Marina Cay, Soper's Hole and Trellis Bay are ideal for boaters. Secluded palm-shaded beaches at Apple Bay, Brewer's Bay, Elizabeth Beach, Josiah's Bay Beach, Long Bay Beach and Smuggler's Cove make for excellent swimming and snorkelling. There are also many well-equipped facilities for fishing, snorkelling, scuba diving and more.

Wander through centuries-old ruins such as Fort Burt, Fort Recovery, the Mount Healthy Windmill and Callwood's Rum Distillery, which is still in operation, and explore Tortola's history at the BVI Folk Museum in Road Town.

Main Street in Road Town, the capital city, has an array of shops and restaurants; offering everything from local spices, jams, rums, and soaps to handcrafted jewellery, silk-screened fabrics, and local art.

The cuisine of Tortola reflects the island's rich cultural mix, whether it's a four-star dinner at a converted sugar mill or a delicious West Indian roti at a pastel-painted cottage. Local delicacies such as fresh lobster, conch, spicy goat, curries and Johnny Cakes make each meal memorable.

Escape to the cool slopes of Sage Mountain National Park, where traces of a primeval rain forest can still be seen at higher elevations. On the mountain ridge that runs through the island, observe local Caribbean life with its gentle rhythms, farms, settlements and churches. Outcroppings and vertical ghuts, or dry steam valleys, expose the deep, rich earth of this volcanic island. In Road Town, the J.R. O'Neal Botanic Gardens offers peaceful walks through pergolas and pathways covered with colourful vines, as well as a miniature rain forest and a fern house.

The people of Tortola are friendly and known for their warmth and hospitality. There are a wide variety of places to stay, ranging from campgrounds to luxury resorts and private villas. Tortola is also an ideal point from which to explore the other British Virgin Islands. Regular ferries, private and crewed yachts, and planes travel daily to the other islands of the BVI.

Europeans began making their mark upon Tortola history after 1493, when Christopher Columbus spotted the British and US Virgin Islands and named them after the 11,000 virgins of 4th- century martyr St. Ursula. Though the Spanish made a few attempts to settle the area, famous pirates like Blackbeard and Captain Kidd were the first genuine inhabitants of the island

In the 17th century the British, who had successfully usurped control of the area from the Dutch, established a permanent plantation colony on Tortola and the surrounding islands. The sugar industry dominated Tortola history over the next 150 years, faltering only in the mid 1800s with the abolition of slavery. A large proportion of the white landowning population left the British Virgin Islands with this economic downturn, but the political relationship between the island and the British continued and has lasted through

Geography

Tortola is a mountainous island 13.5 miles (19 km) long and 3 miles (5 km) wide, with an area of 21.5 square miles (55.7 square km). Formed by volcanic activity, its highest peak is Mount Sage at 1750 feet (530 m). Tortola lies near an earthquake fault, and minor earthquakes are common.

Economy and demographics

The population of Tortola is 23,908. The principal settlement is Road Town, the capital of the British Virgin Islands.

Financial services are the main source of income to the island. The hugely popular International Business Companies Act, passed in the early 1980s, led to huge growth in government revenue. BVI residents are amongst the most affluent in the Eastern Caribbean. Because of this, a large number of residents from other Caribbean islands work there.

Even though the British Virgin Islands (BVI) are under the British flag, the U.S. dollar is the official currency. The island is home to many offshore companies that do business worldwide.

PARADISE AWAITS YOU IN VIRGIN GORDA.

The dramatically shaped island of Virgin Gorda reminded Christopher Columbus of a reclining woman, so he named it Virgin Gorda, the "Fat Virgin." The third largest island of the BVI, Virgin Gorda measures eight and a half square miles.

In addition to the sheer beauty of the island, travellers are drawn to Virgin Gorda for its yacht clubs, quiet coves, safe anchorages and luxury resorts. On the North Sound, the Bitter End Yacht Club, accessible only by water, offers relaxation in an extraordinary, secluded environment. And with its spectacular setting, Little Dix Bay Resort, designed by Laurance S. Rockefeller, has its own spectacular setting.

Your privacy is ensured at one of Virgin Gorda's deserted pristine beaches, such as Savannah Bay, Pond Bay, Devil's Bay, Mahoe Bay and Spring Bay. Or visit the most popular natural attraction in the BVI, The Baths, where huge granite boulders create mysterious grottos, saltwater pools and a connecting trail that entices visitors to spend a day exploring, swimming, and snorkelling. Explore Virgin Gorda on the rugged trails that run throughout the island, and see the huge variety of unique indigenous plants that thrive in the national parks at Gorda Peak, Devil's Bay, Spring Bay and the North Sound. At the nature sanctuary at Little Fort National Park, marvel at the exotic birds as they swoop over the hills and ocean.

Not surprisingly, Virgin Gorda has been luring people for centuries. Discover the island's African and Indian heritage; trace its Spanish history at the ruins at Little Fort National Park; observe the British influence in Spanish Town and at the Cornish Copper Mines on the island's south-western tip, where ruins stand sentinel against the azure sea.

Experience the island's exquisite cuisine, a wonderful combination of all its influences, and explore the variety of shops offering local arts and crafts, as well as gifts, resort wear and souvenirs.

Virgin Gorda can also be experienced on a day trip. Spanish Town has its own airport, and  regular ferries run between Road Town, Tortola, and Spanish Town. Another ferry takes passengers from Trellis Bay on Beef Island to Leverick Bay, the Bitter End Yacht Club and Biras Creek.

Anegada, an island 10 miles long by 2 1/2 miles wide with extensive salt ponds, reaches its highest point at 28 feet, hence its name which means the "drowned land." Of coral reef origins, Anegada has "extruded" sixteen miles of sandy beaches with a primeval quality. Anegada is "guarded" by the famous Horseshoe Reef which, at eighteen miles long, is one of the world's largest coral reefs.

History. On the East End of Anegada, large piles of conch shells, some even forming islands, attest to the presence of aboriginal people. Later, pirates hid in the maze of reefs, with legends of pirate treasure.
 

Check with your innkeeper or restaurant to see if they provide free transportation. If not, call Anegada Taxi (495-0228 VHF 16).

Or rent a jeep or mini-van from D.W. Jeep Rentals (495-8018, 9677), who will also pick you up, and let you drop the jeep off, at the airport or anywhere else. ABC Car Rentals is at 495-9466.

Also, the Anegada Reef Hotel (495-8002 VHF 16) has a shuttle bus service to the northern beaches for $6 per person and rents cars ($50/$60 day including gas).

Restoration of the
Flamingos

.

The Anegada habitat is perfect for a wide variety of shore birds, especially the elegant Roseate Flamingos, which have been restored to the island's massive salt ponds on the western half of the island. See The Return of the Flamingos. See an update here on Flamingo hatching.

Feeding on microscopic aquatic creatures such as brime shrimp that contain carotene gives the flamingos their distinctive rosy tint.

Once thousands inhabited the islands. However, the young could be easily rounded up and herded to boats for food.

Anegeda "Harbour

" at
Setting Point.

Once off-limits for boat charterers, Anegada has better markings now. The Anegada "harbour" is simply an opening in the coral reef in its southwestern side between the Anegada Reef Hotel at Setting Point and Pomato Point. Most establishments can be reached on VHF Channel 16.

Arrivals by boat to the Anegada "harbour" often anchor off the Anegada Reef Hotel, as seen here from the hotel's self service honor bar. The shadowy figure at the right is evidenced only by a "very cold" beer.

Developed by the late raconteur and local legend Lowell Wheatley (see In Memorium and A Tribute), and his gracious wife Sue, the Anegada Reef Hotel (email 495-8002 VHF 16) has 20 rooms and excellent food, including great English breakfasts, fresh fish, conch and the house specialty, barbecued lobster.

JOST VAN DYKE, four miles long, is truly the "barefoot" island known by travelers around the world for its casual lifestyle, protected anchorages, fine beaches and beachfront restaurants and bars. Picture-postcard tropical isles, like Green Cay and Sandy Spit seen above, send an invitation to a special place.
 

A main street that's a beach, the Stress Free Bar, a harbour known for its Lobster feasts, a bypass road that's just a short-stroll, the Soggy Dollar bar named for a patron who swam ashore and home of the Painkiller drink--this is the life that defines laid back!

A favorite destination of yachties, Jost Van Dyke (see map) hosts the famous Foxy's New Year's parties that make one giant raft-up of Great Harbour.

60 ISLANDS TO CHOOSE FROM - WHAT'S YOUR PLEASURE?

Scattered in an aquamarine sea, the British Virgin Islands flank the broad Sir Francis Drake Channel, which has beguiled sailors for centuries with scalloped coves and sheltered anchorages.

There are more than 60 islands in all, whose names reflect their colourful past. Among these are Buck Island, Fallen Jerusalem, Ginger Island, Great Camanoe, Round Rock and Scrub Island. Visitors soon discover pristine palm-fringed beaches, rugged peaks and rich vegetation. Some islands are uninhabited and designated as national parks.

Idyllic Cooper Island, just five miles from Tortola, offers visitors the perfect getaway with four privately owned properties and a small beach club on Manchioneel Bay. Explore the island on foot and observe the extraordinary variety of exotic plants and birds.