USVI-On-Line

Okay all you experts out there , I need some help. We are planning a trip, not until 2009 . We are going to both St John and Virgin Gorda. We have been to St John 3 times. Spent a few hours on VG a few years ago on a daytrip. My love is snorkeling. Got all the neat gear, underwater case for digital etc. Which island has the best off shore snorkeling. I have snorkeled St John extensively, read all the books and tried most places. How does VG compare.
Nancy

HI,

We did St. John and VG last year. We stayed on the southern end of VG at Guavaberry Springs. We did all of our snorkeling around Spring and Devil's Bay. We found it to be quite good, when it was calm; however, many of the days were rough which made visibility poor.

I know there are other good off-shore locations - we were just lazy and didn't do any exploring. Depending on the length of your trip (we did 6 days each), consider a day trip to Anegada from VG. It's quite easy on the ferry. Good snorkeling there along Loblolly Bay and Flash of Beauty; again it was rough the day we were there, so we didn't see much. It was still a great day and the lobster lunch was delicious.

There is a lot of good VG info at www.traveltalkonline.com.

Enjoy,

I would have to agree if you can work out a trip to Anegada some of the best snorkeling in the islands. Short of that rent a boat with a good experienced captain and have him take to the best spots. You could contact Dive BVI and arrange to go on one of there trips.
Jay

Hi Nancy,

We are planning our third trip to STJ this coming June. In addition, we also decided to do a week on VG after spending a day there last trip and falling in love with the island. Dive BVI does indeed have some nice daytrips. As do Double D and Bitter End. I believe Dive BVI and Bitter End have afternoon trips if you just want to go out for a couple hours and are dirt cheap. I know they go to the Dogs and Eustacia Reef on certain days. Might be worth checking into. We also plan on taking the ferry over and spending one day on Anegada to have some lobster and a look see. I so can't wait!!!

After going to STJ for many years, we spent a week on VG last October (we'd been there once previously on a day trip). We really enjoyed it. We did a lot of snorkeling and weren't disappointed. I posted a report on the TTOL BVI forum:

http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/ ... Post747111

captainjay wrote:I would have to agree if you can work out a trip to Anegada some of the best snorkeling in the islands. Short of that rent a boat with a good experienced captain and have him take to the best spots. You could contact Dive BVI and arrange to go on one of there trips.
Jay

Anegada is great, but we've been there when the North Swell was up in October and November. That killed Cow Wreck and Loblolly snorkels. Still beautiful and we love the ambiance mixed with isolation. Here's a picture of Loblolly Beach at Big Bamboo with breakers.



We haven't been back since Clair Aero quit their scheduled service. Fly BVI has pretty good charter rate, but it's not the steal that Clair Aero was! I'd love to get back to Neptune's Treasure!

Cheers, RickG

RickG,

I've been intrigued by Anageda for awhile & would really love to go there for a 1 or 2-night stay next time we go down to St. John. However, I haven't been able to figure out how to get there. Sounds like you're the guy to ask?

Is flying the only option or does the ferry go there as well, or perhaps there's "option 3" that I don't know about.

Any help is much appreciated

There is a ferry (Smiths) that travels to Anegada 2-3 days per week from Road Town, Tortola and will make stops in Spanishtown, VG, if notified ahead of time.

It's tough to go for just one night. The ferry doesn't run every day. If you go there from the USVI its best to take an air charter from St. Thomas. Fly BVI has rates on their web page. This starts at $470 one-way for as many as 3 people.

http://www.fly-bvi.com/

Getting to Anegada by ferry from Red Hook usually means taking going to Tortola West End, taxi to Road Town and then the ferry to Anegada. Its more than 40 miles, so the ferry ride takes a while. If you take this router from the USVI you are looking at pretty long travel days.

http://www.smithsferry.com/anegada.php

You have to WANT to go to Anegada!

Cheers, RickG

Rick is right about trying to get there from the USVI the best way to do Anegada is by sailboat charter as part of a week long trip, in my opinion. Short of that if you are already planning a stay in the BVI's then figure out a room for two or three nights and book one of the hotels or villas I think the ferry runs on tues and Thursday. So stay a few days then head back. Also as Rick said when the north swells are up the snorkeling can be a challenge but when its right it is great.
Jay

Thanks for all the help guys! Thank you especially RickG for always including the relevant links in your messages; that's so helpful. I have to remember to do that more.

I know this is getting way OT, but I just have 1 more quick question: Is Neptune's right on a nice swimmable/snorkelable (that's probably a made-up word) beach or do you have to take a taxi or car from there to hit the nice beaches??