BVI 2016 - Part 1

The British Virgin Islands (BVI) are spectacular. Blue, clear waters; gorgeous, sandy beaches; abundant sea life. . . our favourite area so far.

When we arrived in the BVI, we stopped at Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda, to check in. From here we made our way to Tortola to meet up with a lady named Ellie, whose boat was also build by the same factory as ours in Knysna. We spent a few days here, spending most nights at a small South African wine bar called the Watering Hole. The best thing was the little South African shop next door . . . you miss things like peppermint crisp and caramel in a can when you are away from home!

We left to Jost Van Dyke for a few days, where we visited the famous Foxy’s Bar (I know, all we seem to do is drink. . . lol). The next day we went for a snorkel in the morning and spent the afternoon on the deck with some cheese and biscuits and some margaritas because . . . well why not!

We went from here to spend a lot of time in Virgin Gorda (we are still currently here actually, lol). One of our favourite spots was a beautiful little bay called Anguilla Point, where we were the only boat anchored. The snorkeling around this area was magnificent! The highlight was seeing two nurse sharks! The neighboring two islands, Mosiquito and Necker are owned by Richard Branson.

Jangles at Anguilla Point

Nurse Shark

We had to go to a dock for a day at a marina in Bitter End, Virgin Gorda. Our timing was great, as the next day was world oceans day so we got to stay at the dock for 2 nights for the price of one. My dad managed to get the repair done he needed to do the first day (replacing the sail drive seal). This was a tough job as we had to lift the engine to do it. On world oceans day they had a lot of activities planned, which we all joined in on and actually had a lot of fun. We started with snorkeling around the bay and picking up any trash we found on the seabed. After that, there were activities on the dock – like knot tying, line throwing, and scavenger hunting – to win tickets for the raffle. We ended up winning about 70% of all the prizes (given the small amount of people that participated), which included: bags, hats and a grand prize of 2 free dives!

 

All the trash we collected

My brother, mom, and dad went for 2 dives with the dive school in Bitter End and I tagged along to snorkel. I have a problem diving, as it is a real battle for me to equalize my ears. The snorkeling ended up being really good with the highlights being a hawksbill turtle and a reef shark. My parents and brother also went on their own for a night dive, through an underwater archway and chimney . . . you will not catch me dead in the ocean at night. . . but they all loved it.

Mom, dad, and Josh on their dive

We sailed over to Anegada (The drowned Islands), where we spent two nights. The reefs around this island have claimed over 300 ships. This little island was amazing, with some of the most stunning beaches I have ever seen! We hired a car for the day. Henriette our car hire assistant informed us that the daily mileage limit was 20km, this being 4 trips around the island. We had great fun trying to find the flamingoes in the inland sea ponds. We drove to Cow Wreck Beach named as such for a ship that sank carrying a cargo of cows.  Mom and I had a fabulous 2 km walk along this beautiful beach that stretches for miles. We had lunch at the Anegada beach club, and snorkeled by Loblolly beach (the highlight was seeing a lionfish). We loved this little island with its pristine beaches.

Lionfish

We sailed to Great Dog Island and picked up a park buoy for 90 minutes. My brother and dad dived to see an airplane wreck, and my mom and I snorkeled the wreck. The wreck was fantastic to see, my brother actually swam through the plane’s fuselage.  There was a school of about 20 rather large barracuda that seemed to be keeping guard at the wreck site. We then moved over to Little Dix Bay at Virgin Gorda (where we currently are now). This bay is spectacular, it boasts a large resort that is shut down for renovations, So we have the whole place to ourselves. The snorkeling is quite something . . . with green turtles, stingrays, and nurse sharks hanging around the reef. We are spending the day here, going to do some more snorkeling, before we finally say farewell to Virgin Gorda and explore a few of the other islands here.

 

Josh swimming through the airplane

Josh coming out of the airplane wreck