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.
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| Jangles at Anguilla Point |
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| 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!
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Josh swimming through the airplane |
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| Josh coming out of the airplane wreck |
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!
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.
