From empty white beaches with crystal clear warm water and palm trees to green hills and friendly locals, this island has it all.
Bomba’s Shack: chill and relax – this is the Caribbean
Bomba’s Shack: a great spot to watch the sunset
Bomba’s Shack: a bar made of driftwood, directly on the beach
Our accommodation at Guava Road
Smuggler’s Cove: picture postcard perfect
Tortola is more about being a tax haven than an idustrial hub…
An enterprising restaurant at the side of the road
Taxis take day trippers from the cruise ships to some of the more accessible and mainstream beaches
Security at the ports is low, and everyone seems relaxed
Palm trees as you would expect on a Caribbean island
Warm, clear water, Caribbean-style
Pat´s secret beach. We were the only people as far as the eye could see
Smuggler’s Cove: a favourite with locals and off the tourist route
Roadside attractions…
Columbus named the many islands after the virgins that got killed with Saint Ursula in Cologne, Germany, 383 AD. Hence the name Virgin Islands
A travel report by Gerhard Louw & Andre Winkler, from our week on Tortola, June 2016
In this blog, we like to reflect on places we visit in the context of our ebook, Living in Deutschland now, available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.de/Living-Deutschland-now-practical-integrating-ebook/dp/B015056WEW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1474803191&sr=8-2&keywords=living+in+deutschland+new
The book is written from our perspective of living in Cologne, so it´s fitting to start the story of Tortola with a little story about an interesting connection between Cologne and the Virgin Islands, which Tortola forms part of:
Christopher Columbus discovered the island group and based on the large number of islands, outcrops and rocks, he decided to call it after the famous legend from Cologne, that of Saint Ursula and the 11 000 virgins, hence the name “Virgin Islands.” Legend goes that she was beheaded in Cologne, together with the virgins around 383 AD by the Huns. Today she is commemorated in our city by the eleven tears depicted in the Cologne coat of arms and by a church, the Basilica of Saint Ursula.
Tortola is the the largest of the British Virgin Islands (BVI), an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom comprising approximately 60 islands and cays. Neighboring islands to Tortola include Virgin Gorda & Jost Van Dyke.
Tortola, “turtle dove” in Spanish, is a sizeable, green, tropical island with many hills and small mountains. According to Wikipedia, it has a surface area of 55 square kilometers (21 square miles) with a total population of 23,908, with 9400 residents in Road Town. Mount Sage is its highest point at 530 meters (1,740 feet) above sea level. A main feature is its coastline with some of the best beaches being Smuggler’s Cove, Long Bay, Cane Garden Bay, Brewer’s Bay, Josiah’s Bay, and Lambert beach. In addition to beaches, marine activities such as sailing, surfing, scuba diving, kite boarding, and windsurfing are popular. Approximately 90 percent of the population identify as of African descent.
Here are four places that should be on your itinerary, starting with a beach, of course!
- Smuggler’s Cove
A favorite with the locals and slightly off the tourist route (mostly due to the bad road to get there, which prohibits taxis bringing cruise ship day trippers to this little piece of paradise), Smuggler’s Cove is picture postcard perfect: warm, clear water, snow white sand and palm trees and the best of all, almost no people. We bobbed around in the water for hours, watching Pelicans dive bombing into the sea.
Snorkeling is probably the best wake-up call a person can get to be in the “now.” You put on those goggles, submerse yourself and there is a whole world going on, moving at a different pace, almost without sound.
- Bomba’s Shack
Difficult to describe accurately, but picture a bar made of driftwood right on the beach & totally chilled, it’s the perfect spot for sundowners. Kick off your flip flops as the floor is sand, open an ice cold beer and watch the sun set! Known around the world for its Full Moon Parties, every month, every full moon.
- Sage Mountain National Park
The highest point of Tortola, a rain forest-like park, where the air becomes thick and moist under the dense umbrella of green, with a smell of rapid growth in the air. Everything is still other than a variety of bird calls.
We were lucky enough to see a large red pebble-like creature crossing the path in front of us: a land crab. We had never seen one before, it was as if our eyes were playing tricks on us.
The significant trees had boards with their genus and we stumbled on a “Fish Tree”, the foliage is meant to smell of fish. We can confirm that this is the case! Quite bizarre!
- Our accommodation at Guava Rd.
Found on Tripadvisor, we were looking for self-catering accommodation that would not be too far from the beach but not completely isolated either. Guava Road fitted our needs perfectly as it was affordable and extremely spacious, with much-needed air-conditioning in the bedrooms.
An undisputed highlight was one of the owners, Pat, who really looked after us. Apart from picking us up at the ferry and dropping us off again at the end of the stay, she brought homemade banana muffins past and even took us to her favorite beach (which we promised to keep secret!)
The most gentle and happy “resident” stray dog came up to visit us on our terrace every evening and I (André) couldn’t resist giving him a treat.
Guava Road is not ideally situated for everyone as it’s just about 50 metres away from the rubbish skips where cars would stop and offload their trash. However, it’s just opposite a primary school and watching the kids playing on the school field (even in the heat of the day) with such energy and lack of inhibition was a delight.
Directly next to us was a restaurant call the “D’Coal Pot where we ate one night with friends. The place looks pretty shabby and makeshift but both the food and the service were very good.
On Friday afternoons a lady sets up shop selling homemade local specialties to take away, just a few meters away from the rubbish skips under a palm roof supported by wooden poles. Pat, the owner of our guest house recommended it to us so we went across to take a look: salted fish, boiled green bananas, oxtail, ribs etc. We ended up not buying anything because we went out for dinner with friends but it looked very authentic & tasty.
Every morning a chap would offload his goat just next to our house, and tie it up where it would graze for the day. He would return at sunset and pick it up.
So you can see, Guava Rd is a taste of local life: colorful, real and down-to-earth!
And now for some general observations from our week on Tortola:
- Local food & drinks
Expect lots of delicious food – especially seafood and tropical fruit. One of our favourite dishes was a combination of the 2: sour fish with papaya. Absolutely delicious.
Beer is good and affordable. Look out for Caribbean and even locally made rum, its great and really cheap.
- The locals
English is widely spoken and the locals have a strong accent which we really liked.
The provision of financial services is a major part of the economy and has generated significant growth in professional jobs and related revenues. According to the statistics, the BVI residents are amongst the most affluent in the Eastern Caribbean. So the status as “tax haven” has brought many benefits, but there are still big differences between the foreigners not living there permanently and the locals, which is most evidence in the size and condition of the houses.
People are warm, friendly and helpful. Upon arrival at the airport on St Thomas, we were greeted with a big smile from a guy offering tots of free rum and welcoming us to the Virgin Islands before we had even got our luggage.
Tip: Greet strangers using “good morning / afternoon / evening” instead of “hi.” People appreciate it as that is their custom.
- Getting around
You can count on reliable ferries between the British Virgin Islands (also from the neighboring U.S. Virgin Island, St Thomas).
On the island itself, taxis are available but public transport, like buses, are scarce. Our advice is to hire a car but be aware, not all the roads are good and although the distances are short, be careful. Some locals hitchhike so perhaps try that if you decide not to hire a car.
A highlight: Pat offered to take us to her favorite beach (a secret we promised to keep!) for a picnic. We followed her there with our hire car at high speed, she finally stopped at a junction with a very steep dirt road in really poor condition. I (André) decided not to drive down for fear of not being able to get back up again so we walked down and met her and the dogs there. A totally spectacular beach with not another soul, we had the whole place to ourselves! She had to head back to work pretty quickly after we finished lunch, which included some sparkling wine. She expressed concern about getting stopped in a roadblock, we assumed it was because of the alcohol which was not the reason. Her concern was because she was wearing a sarong! So avoid walking around in public in a swimming costume, it is considered disrespectful.
- It´s safe
Crime is virtually non- existent on Tortola. For example, keys are left in the ignition of cars.
It´s probably due to the fact that it’s an island but we always felt very comfortable.
Security at the ports is low – we literally pushed our hand luggage along a table, no scanner in sight when we departed by boat from Tortola to St Thomas, one of the U.S. Virgin Islands (and then onwards to Miami).
- Not for bargain hunters
It’s not a cheap holiday, that´s for sure! Grocery shopping, fuel/gas and eating out are all more expensive than in Germany or than in the USA. Rum though is cheaper than wine which isn’t entirely a bad thing!
- Crossing the road
The national bird is the turtle dove but I (André) reckon it should be changed to the chicken. They roam around freely wherever you are, they pick in the trash and crow early in the morning. How their owners keep tabs on them is beyond us, or is the saying “chickens come home to roost” really true?
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