Tortola and BVI: Cane Garden Bay Beach, Sage Mountain Rainforest, Outer Islands Circuit, BVI Spring Regatta, the RMS Rhone Historical Wreck Dive, and the USVI Neighboring Connection
The Tortola and BVI experience beyond Road Town covers Cane Garden Bay and the Callwood rum distillery, the Sage Mountain rainforest summit, the outer islands of Cooper, Peter, and Norman, the Spring Regatta sailing festival, the historically significant RMS Rhone wreck dive, and the geopolitical curiosity of two flags on the same island chain.
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Cane Garden Bay: The Tortola Beach
Cane Garden Bay on the north coast of Tortola, the most beautiful beach on the main island and the home of Quito's Gazebo, the beach bar and music venue of the BVI reggae musician Quito Rymer, is the primary beach destination for the Tortola-based visitor and the anchorage for the charter boats that spend the night under the hills that shelter the bay from the trade wind. The Callwood Distillery at the east end of Cane Garden Bay, producing the oldest rum in the BVI from a process unchanged since the 17th century, is the most authentic heritage site on Tortola.
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Sage Mountain National Park: The Tortola Rainforest
Sage Mountain National Park on the highest point of Tortola at 523 meters, the most elevated point in the British and US Virgin Islands, protects the remnant subtropical forest that once covered the island, with the mahogany, the philodendron, and the orchid surviving in the cloud forest zone of the summit area. The trail network through the forest provides the finest land-based hike on Tortola and the only opportunity to experience the original vegetation of the island chain.
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Cooper Island and the Outer Islands
Cooper Island, Peter Island, and Norman Island, the outer islands of the BVI chain to the south of Tortola, provide the most secluded and most natural anchorages of the BVI sailing circuit, with the Cooper Island Beach Club providing the sustainable eco-resort experience on solar power, the Peter Island Resort as the most exclusive private island resort in the BVI, and the Norman Island Pirates Cave snorkeling and the Willy T floating bar tradition. The outer island circuit is the core of the BVI bareboat charter experience.
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The BVI Sailing Festival and Regatta
The BVI Spring Regatta and Sailing Festival, held in late March and early April, is the most significant sailing event in the British Caribbean, attracting racing yachts from the Caribbean island chain and from North America for the 5-day regatta circuit around the BVI. The regatta is the social event of the BVI sailing year and the occasion when the Road Town bars and restaurants operate at the peak capacity of the sailing tourism season.
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BVI National Parks Trust: Marine Conservation
The BVI National Parks Trust manages the marine protected areas of the British Virgin Islands, including the Baths at Virgin Gorda, the Horseshoe Reef at Anegada, and the wreck of the RMS Rhone, the British Royal Mail Ship sunk in the 1867 hurricane that is the most visited dive site in the BVI and one of the most historically significant wreck dives in the Caribbean. The RMS Rhone lies in two sections at depths from 8 to 25 meters off Salt Island.
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USVI and BVI: The Two Flags
The US Virgin Islands, lying immediately west of the BVI and sharing the same island chain, create the unique geopolitical situation in which the US dollar is the currency of both island groups, the customs formality of the passport stamp is required to cross between them despite the geographical proximity, and the Charlotte Amalie harbor of St. Thomas is visible from the western hills of Tortola. The USVI and BVI together constitute the most significant sailing destination in the Americas.