USVI-On-Line

I'm am off to VG Monday! What are MUST DO'S? Thanks! ...Giz

Must do a trip report with lots of details when you get back!

You should read my little write up here:

http://www.caribbean-on-line.com/bv/virgin-gorda.shtml

What I have always wanted to do was hike past the Baths (heading south) and just see the beaches/rocks down that way. I highly recommend a safari tour - unless you have a rental car and explore on your own. The views are just amazing.

Where are you staying? Hotel or villa rental?

Lucky you!!

Must do things:

Mad Dogs for Edith's tasty frozen Pina Coladas.
Snorkeling at Spring bay.
Dinner at Rock Café. Reserve a table by the boulders.
Sunset dinner at the Mineshaft. Sit at the small tables outdoor and also watch the chickens fly/climb up the tree for sleeping.
Take a snorkeling or dive trip with Dive BVI (they are great to deal with). Or take a day trip with them to Anegada.
Lunch at Flying Iguana and watch the small planes take off and land.
Savannah beach, preferably in the morning (not so much shade except for a few tiki huts). Wonderful beach!
Lunch at Saba Rock (call ahead and get picked up at Gun Creek for free).

Have a great trip!

We spent a week on VG last year and really loved it there. As for beaches, we spent most days at the boulder beaches on the southern part of the island. We expected to get to more of the other beaches but the Baths and the boulder beaches totally captivated us. We did get to Savannah Bay for a morning. Next time we'll get to more. We loved being in the caves. We went through them a number of times at different times of day. The atmosphere changes as the light changes. Staying on the island allowed us to be in the caves at times of day when no one else was there. It's a very different experience being in there alone.
A good plan might be to start the day hiking down to Devils Bay, claim one of the palapas, go through the caves from that direction and later snorkel and climb around Devils Bay.

When you leave the Baths, a stop at Top of the Baths is essential. It's good food with a spectacular view. Mad Dog's doesn't have the view, but it's a really wonderful place to stop and hang out for a while. Our favorite restaurant was the Mineshaft. We got there early to have a good table for the sunset and the chickens. It's pretty spectacular. We went twice.

We took the trail up Gorda Peak, then continued over the mountain to Leverick Bay. Both are worth the trip. We didn't see much of the places on North Sound. We spent some time poking around Spanish Town. We were there in mid-October, which is deep in low season. Some places were closed and very few tourists were around, so we got a bit different taste of things than if we'd gone at another time. We'd thought about taking a day trip to Anegada, but there was so much we wanted to see on VG that we decided to save Anegada for another time.

Thanks for the info everyone! We are getting stoked about the trip. Anthony, I will take that walk for you and yes we rented a villa for 7 nights and have a rental car. Maggy and Lex I printed out everything you wrote & will get it all done! We were in STJ the end of August and bought tix's to go to VG for the day. After waiting for an hour and a half they cancelled the trip (not enough people to go) and refunded our $$. I said right then NEXT TRIP IS VG! ....Giz

Hope you enjoy your trip. I expect that you will. Where are you staying?

It might sound a little silly but if you have a week there I would definitely go check out the beach and snorkeling at Little Dix - we only walked through the property but that beach was really beautiful and there are a lot of rocks around it that probably make for an interesting swim.

Have agreat trip Gizzmo!

Anthony - the beach at Little Dix is wonderful, but the snorkeling is not that good. It's very shallow where the reef is. At least we didn't find any good snorkeling spots when we tried in May.

Please tell us all about it when you return. We will be on VG in less than 90 days.

How exciting!!! Have an awesome trip and let us hear all about it when you return. I miss VG so much! Can't wait to see her again in June. In the meantime, I'll just live vicariously through you and PA Girl!

Chrisn, Lex and jmq's information and trip reports helped me so much when we were planning and I still have them bookmarked for a re-read before we go.

I am having STJ withdrawal already. I am excited about the trip and the fact we are going for 10 days, our longest vacation ever, but I am already missing our STJ "things" like stopping at the overlooks on our first ride out on North Shore Road, Mango Tangos, scoring our favorite parking spot at Maho, driving up the switch backs, etc.

The north shore of STJ is certainly magical as are the views from villas on many parts of the island, but if you are a beach person, there is something to be said for walking to the beach and not having to shlep in the jeep all of the time just to get to and from a beach, and you can have that in VG.

We love that difference between the 2 islands. Less time in the jeep = more time for reading and beach walks!

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Pq ... BpkA"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_8poT_jdtsYw/STWWp ... 2.jpg"></a>

Walks thru beachscapes like this:

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/iy ... Y_Xg"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_8poT_jdtsYw/STWU- ... 3.jpg"></a>



to beaches like this:

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/r5 ... 0UWA"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_8poT_jdtsYw/STWVk ... 1.jpg"></a>


<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/nf ... OHoA"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_8poT_jdtsYw/STWWN ... a.jpg"></a>

Just a little motivation for you PA...

jmq - the second to last picture, what beach is that?

We travel with the same couple each year, with various other family members jumping in and out, and their son and long-term GF both have major graduation milestones next February. Their graduation gifts are a trip to the VIs.

Mom and Dad are already thinking VG because of the beach access.

It hasn't quite sunk in yet that we will be there is less than 90 days.

I am getting the impression that island time on VG is taken to a whole new level. The car rental guy was like "yeah, don't worry, we will have a vehicle for you. No, no deposit, pay me when you get here. No, I don't want your cc #."

That’s Valley Trunk - another view…

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/ks ... iosA"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_8poT_jdtsYw/STaKr ... 3.jpg"></a>

Valley Trunk is located north of Spring Bay. In this image, it is the beach that has that diagonal line running thru it.

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/QX ... RVV4"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_8poT_jdtsYw/STagX ... G.JPG"></a>

From bottom left going up, you have the Guavaberry portion of Spring Bay, then the public portion of Spring Bay (parking available), then Valley Trunk above that. To get to it, you have to scramble up over the rocks – there is a rope line to up get up about 12 ft of steep trail, otherwise easy. The Baths is just south of the Guavaberry beach just out of the image. You cant walk there – it would be an extremely challenging rock climb – but you can snorkel there which is a pretty cool way to get there.