Where the Dirt Road Ends: Boating the BVIs

Depending on where you are in the world, a 4wd isn’t the preferred exploration vehicle – that’s certainly the case when exploring some corners of the Caribbean!
We spent an amazing day exploring the British Virgin Islands with St. Thomas-based Sonic Charters aboard their 33′ Jupiter center console boat (complete with twin 300hp Yamahas!)

The British Virgin Islands are situated East of Puerto Rico in the Caribbean and within eyesight of the U.S. Virgin Islands of St. Thomas and St. John. There are about 60 islands in total in the BVI; we managed to set foot on 4 during our 9AM-4PM day on the water. This is some of the best boating in the world with line-of-sight navigation and relatively calm seas.

First stop: Jost Van Dyke. Yes, bring your passports, $40 cash, and a patient attitude – you gotta clear customs! Thankfully our boat captain, a seasoned pro, was able to handle customs for us while we checked out the local beach-joint, Foxys. We only spent about an hour on Jost, but it gave us a taste of what the day would hold.

Next up, the crowd favorite of the day, Virgin Gorda. We anchored out, swam to shore, and explored the world-famous Baths. Like something out of this world, the Baths beach is piled with giant granite boulders that date back to the volcanic formation of the BVI a long, long time ago. A must see…

Hiking the Baths made us a little hungry – time for a new island. Cooper Island’s Beach Club restaurant was an excellent place to sample some West Indian Roti; a traditional Caribbean dish of curried stew served in a Roti wrap. One of my favorites from back when I lived in St. Thomas.

Our final stop before heading back to the US of A was “Sandy Spit”. This tiny speck of land is literally where Corona commercials used to be filmed. It also had great snorkeling right off the beach, as half of the island is surrounded by reefs.