Visting Tortola for the First Time

Good Morning:

My wife and I will be visiting Tortola in April on the Summit

This is our first visit there

As the ship is only in port a short time, 7 - 2, looking for suggestion on how best to see the island and what to do in this short period of time?

Thank you!

Do the ship tour to the baths and bring a camera, very special place.

There is much information on the Port of Call board - Go to Caribbean, then Tortola.

Do the ship tour to the baths and bring a camera, very special place.

Totally agree....we enjoyed it. :)

You're not there for very long so if your cruise offers a ship excursion to the Baths do that. It's a must see.

I also agree, if the ship offers a tour the Bahts on Virgin Gorda...do it...:):):)

Note: You need to have average or better mobility for this tour...

BILL

Thank you all for your replies!

NH firsttimer, the Baths are usually my first recommendation because they are a unique sight. The only problem is when a cruise ship is in port it gets very crowded there very quickly and that can definitely take away from the experience. So I also recommend other activities and if you decide to return to the BVI as we do then you can enjoy the Baths and a few other areas more comfortably. And in your case you are in port a very short time and I would look at another option for that day.

It looks like you're in port on a Tuesday and if you go to the Baths you'll be taking the Speedy's 9AM ferry there and the 11:30 return and you'll only have 1 hour or so at the Baths. Not worth the 1.5 hrs it takes to get there in our opinion. The 12:40 return would give you another hour but that's the last ferry back and I would not recommend that. Smith's ferry times are worse.

So it's up to you but if you want a nice beach there are several on Tortola to choose from depending on whether you want a secluded and empty beach, a busy beach where everyone else goes, or something in between. And an island tour of Tortola is also highly recommended by others who had limited time in port. You will find several drivers offering tour and beach packages at the dock, or you can just taxi to a beach for the morning. Here's a brief description of the beaches - good luck!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1877491

There is much information on the Port of Call board - Go to Caribbean, then Tortola.

This is the ports of call/caribbean/tortola forum

This is the ports of call/caribbean/tortola forum

Blue I think this was moved by the mods to help out the OP.

My advice to the OP is to listen to Blue_Water, I have listened in the past and now after five or six times in Tortola I have seen a lot and I can never get sick of it....great port, and sound advice over her:)

aah - thanks, didn't even consider that! Sorry Eaton! :)

tortola is one of those ports that begs for a week long visit. if you want a breathtaking cab ride to a beautiful serene beach check out brewers bay. otherwise you really cant go wrong whatever you do.

tortola is one of those ports that begs for a week long visit.

That's a great description of Tortola in a nutshell, and cruising to these beautiful islands is a great way to be introduced to them. Back in 2005 we were looking for a very relaxing retreat following a rough stretch, and we spent a week on Tortola before ever cruising there. We have a friend who lives there during the winter and performs at Myett's (Kapeye) and his description of the island life there sounded perfect. So we had help in learning about the BVI before experiencing it on a cruise.

We had cruised to St Martin before, and we first spent a week there and then flew to Tortola for the week. That was the most amazing vacation ever, and I would recommend a week on Tortola to anyone who is looking for nice beaches or great snorkeling and diving or a beautiful island with exquisite views. And being able to take day trips to Jost Van Dyke, Virgin Gorda, and even Anegada is a nice bonus. St Martin was nice too, but Tortola has a certain vibe, and the people there are wonderful.

My wife favors other destinations a little more, and I may have to accept splitting our time between Tortola and St Thomas or St John. But that's a small price to pay to be able to return to Tortola.

Good Morning:

 

My wife and I will be visiting Tortola in April on the Summit

This is our first visit there

 

As the ship is only in port a short time, 7 - 2, looking for suggestion on how best to see the island and what to do in this short period of time?

 

Thank you!

We visited Tortola last week and our port time was short as well, 7 - 2:30. When we got off the ship, there were open air taxis lined up with drivers/guides offering island tours. We went with Reese of Chris Taxi and had an amazing tour of this beautiful island. The tour lasted about 3 hours with several stops including 30 minutes at Cane Garden Bay beach.

You can reach Reese at islandbbluv@yahoo.com if you would like to ask him any questions or get something set up ahead of time.

We will be in Tortola for the first time on the Carnival Sunshine on May 21st and we will be there from 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. ... my 20 year old son is going with me (this was a cruise that his daddy & I had booked last year .. and his daddy died with a massive heart attack in September..so he decided to go with me) I want him to be able to experience the most he can during this day (my thoughts are always this may be the only chance you ever get to come here) ..... I am not very athletic ... but looking at youtube videos of the Baths I think I could do that ... is this enough time to see the Baths? If it is should I book through the cruise.....I am not a person that feels really easy out of my comfort zone...and especially without my husband with me anymore.....I am just trying to make plans for each port. Thanks for any help!

GAMOM4 .... Sorry for your loss.

Great your son will be going with you this time.

If you don't feel comfortable not taking an excursion to the Baths unless it's an excursion by the ship, book it thru the ship. Don't add to the stress you've already had in your life this year.

LuLu

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Hi GAMom, very sorry to hear of your husband's passing, it's really a shame...

Regarding the Baths, yes you have plenty of time to enjoy the Baths and perhaps other spots on Virgin Gorda and a few options to choose from in getting there.

The ship excursion is the same method of transport as going on your own, you walk or take a short taxi to the ferry dock, take the 30 minute ferry to Virgin Gorda, hop one of the many taxis waiting to transport everyone to the Top of the Baths, then make your way down to the beach and the boulders.

The benefit of going on your own is you have some flexibility in the event you want to stop someplace else on the island. You may even get an earlier ferry if you get off the ship right away since it can take some time for the excursion group to assemble and get to the ferry terminal. You would have to monitor your time of course so you don't miss the return ferry. But the drivers aso return to pick you up at the appropriate time.

But if the ship excursion feels better that is so similar that yes, you can take that and enjoy just as much. Either way you will be with folks on the ship excursion and with folks who went on their own.

If you'd like you can also have a driver return and take you to the Minesgaft Cafe for lunch and the view, or even to another beach like Savannah Bay. But there is also a restaurant and wading pool at the Top of the Baths too.

Just wanted to note one other option for going to the Baths, Patouche is a great catamaran that takes you to Spanishtown where the ferry also docks on VG. You would still taxi to the Top of the Baths, but the time on the water is much nicer on the catamaran, and Joe may a stop somewhere else, I'm not sure. But you should be in port long enough to take advantage of that option, contact Joe at patouche dot com for more info if interested.

EDIT - Just wanted to add that whatever is comfortable to you is the way to go and the ship excursion is definitely a good option. I would avoid any of the smaller private operators as there have been horrible reports on some of these and you don;t need that.

Have a great cruise - do you have any questions on any of your other stops?

has anyone walked through the caves to devils bay, then snorkeled back over to the baths beach? If so how long a swim is it?

Hi GAMom, very sorry to hear of your husband's passing, it's really a shame...

 

Regarding the Baths, yes you have plenty of time to enjoy the Baths and perhaps other spots on Virgin Gorda and a few options to choose from in getting there.

 

The ship excursion is the same method of transport as going on your own, you walk or take a short taxi to the ferry dock, take the 30 minute ferry to Virgin Gorda, hop one of the many taxis waiting to transport everyone to the Top of the Baths, then make your way down to the beach and the boulders.

 

The benefit of going on your own is you have some flexibility in the event you want to stop someplace else on the island. You may even get an earlier ferry if you get off the ship right away since it can take some time for the excursion group to assemble and get to the ferry terminal. You would have to monitor your time of course so you don't miss the return ferry. But the drivers aso return to pick you up at the appropriate time.

 

But if the ship excursion feels better that is so similar that yes, you can take that and enjoy just as much. Either way you will be with folks on the ship excursion and with folks who went on their own.

 

If you'd like you can also have a driver return and take you to the Minesgaft Cafe for lunch and the view, or even to another beach like Savannah Bay. But there is also a restaurant and wading pool at the Top of the Baths too.

 

Just wanted to note one other option for going to the Baths, Patouche is a great catamaran that takes you to Spanishtown where the ferry also docks on VG. You would still taxi to the Top of the Baths, but the time on the water is much nicer on the catamaran, and Joe may a stop somewhere else, I'm not sure. But you should be in port long enough to take advantage of that option, contact Joe at patouche dot com for more info if interested.

 

EDIT - Just wanted to add that whatever is comfortable to you is the way to go and the ship excursion is definitely a good option. I would avoid any of the smaller private operators as there have been horrible reports on some of these and you don;t need that.

 

Have a great cruise - do you have any questions on any of your other stops?

Thank you so much for the information...I was just looking at patouche.com and sent them an email...for some reason on the website I couldn't see the cost of the tour. Since my son or I neither one are interested in snorkeling I am not sure that it would be a good choice for us .... but it sure has excellent reviews! The other island we are going to are ... Grand Turk, St. Thomas & St. Maarten....my husband and I went to St. Maarten & St. Thomas in 2012 and we did the Champagne Catamaran Tour in St. Thomas and Bernard's Tour in St. Maarten...I have just booked Bernard's tour again....the ONLY thing I didn't like about his tour was the bathrooms at Orient Beach.....when you get off the bus you have to go through a restaurant....(I am sure it is one of those things like in all other places...where everyone is friends..or connected in some way...I actually remember them saying something to someone that walked a different way to get down to the beach...) but anyway the bathroom was worse than disgusting.......are there any bathrooms on Orient beach that aren't?? My son is really excited to see the planes at Maho Beach.....we just always thought that Tony would be here with us whenever our son got to go....:( Any suggestions you have on any of these islands will be greatly appreciated :) Also...on Tortola if you think that something other than the Baths would be something we would enjoy let me know.....I was just thinking that since alot of cruise ships are going to stop going there that we better see it while we can. But I am open to any suggestions of other activities. 20 is a very HARD age ... for a son to be with their mama ... and just the two of them on an 8 night cruise.......

Regarding Tortola, I wish you were right about ships not going there anymore. Not sure where you read that, but I believe one of the lines has signed a multi-year, multi-million deal for docking there. Too bad..:(

But the beaches are beautiful, you can choose between secluded with a vendor or 2 (Smuggler's Cove, gorgeous), busy like Orient (Cane Garden Bay), or in between (Brewers Bay with one beach bar).

There are drivers at the dock offering great island tours for very good prices, and Tortola is a beautiful island to tour.

With 10 hrs in port you could even go to Jost Van Dyke. White Bay is very nice and home to the Soggy $ Bar and others.

You will find several shops near the cruise dock after your excursion, we like Sunny Caribbee spice shop.

But the Baths are a unique experience and I wouldn't miss that. With your time in port, if you went on your own you could go to Spring Bay first (very close to the Baths), then go to the Baths after it clears out a little. But I would highly recommend the Patouche option - doesn't get much better than that!

Many options, anything sound interesting?

On St Maarten we like the Golden Eagle daysail. We're not big snorkelers but it's a great day on the water. But the Orient and Maho option will be fun. We like the sunset Beach Bar at Maho.

I think you're considering the champagne cat sail on St Thomas, and even though you're not interested in snorkeling it's a nice day on the water. And you have only 8 hrs in port and it works. Otherwise you could taxi/ferry to Cruz Bay and take an island tour for about $45pp roundtrip w/ tour and tip. But the cat excursion is very relaxing.

But, if you want to get to Paradise Point before walking back to the ship you'll want to stay on St Thomas, either with a tour or some time at a beach like Secret Harbor or Morningstar which is closer to your ship.

Phew -too much typing! :p

Regarding Tortola, I wish you were right about ships not going there anymore. Not sure where you read that, but I believe one of the lines has signed a multi-year, multi-million deal for docking there. Too bad..:(

 

But the beaches are beautiful, you can choose between secluded with a vendor or 2 (Smuggler's Cove, gorgeous), busy like Orient (Cane Garden Bay), or in between (Brewers Bay with one beach bar).

 

There are drivers at the dock offering great island tours for very good prices, and Tortola is a beautiful island to tour.

 

With 10 hrs in port you could even go to Jost Van Dyke. White Bay is very nice and home to the Soggy $ Bar and others.

 

You will find several shops near the cruise dock after your excursion, we like Sunny Caribbee spice shop.

 

But the Baths are a unique experience and I wouldn't miss that. With your time in port, if you went on your own you could go to Spring Bay first (very close to the Baths), then go to the Baths after it clears out a little. But I would highly recommend the Patouche option - doesn't get much better than that!

 

Many options, anything sound interesting?

 

On St Maarten we like the Golden Eagle daysail. We're not big snorkelers but it's a great day on the water. But the Orient and Maho option will be fun. We like the sunset Beach Bar at Maho.

 

I think you're considering the champagne cat sail on St Thomas, and even though you're not interested in snorkeling it's a nice day on the water. And you have only 8 hrs in port and it works. Otherwise you could taxi/ferry to Cruz Bay and take an island tour for about $45pp roundtrip w/ tour and tip. But the cat excursion is very relaxing.

But, if you want to get to Paradise Point before walking back to the ship you'll want to stay on St Thomas, either with a tour or some time at a beach like Secret Harbor or Morningstar which is closer to your ship.

 

Phew -too much typing! :p

Wow! Thank you so much for taking the time to type all of this ... I have just read it and started looking up the things you mentioned. I do have one question...when you are on the Champagne Catamaran Tour- what is the name of the beach that you go to on St. John? And when you were talking about taking the taxi/ferry to Cruz Bay...that is just walking off the ship and doing on our own is that right?

Unless it has changed they go into Caneel Bay and moor off Honeymoon Beach. You need to dingy into the beach. Others who have done it recently can confirm or correct me. You can Google a map of the STJ beaches to see where this is. Snorkeling can be good there, we moored there on New Horizons in Jan and the current was swift and the beach was almost underwater. But you will have a beach when you're there.

Yes, for the taxi/ferry just walk to the taxis and you will find one going to the Red Hook ferry terminal. There should be a taxi coordinator that can help too. They will want to load the safari taxi before you leave. The ferry leaves on the hour so you want to try to get an early taxi to make the nect one. 20 - 25 min taxi and 20 min ferry. There will be more traffic going back to port so allow a little extra time for your return.

I received a reply this morning from Patouche and he suggested since we didn't want to snorkel and would have to swim to the shore that we take the ships tour because he said it taxis you to the baths no swimming involved....I am glad that he told me that ... alot of people would just try to get you to book with them. When you are at the baths do you carry a waterproof bag or something to carry your camera and money in? Do most of the places on the island accept credit cards?

I forgot Joe takes you right to the beach.

Most places accept cc's but do carry cash too as you may want to rent a locker at the beach or buy a drink. A water-resistant bag is a good idea for your cash and other stuff, also if your camera isn't water-resistant. You don't want to take a lot of stuff here but you can carry some items like a towel, and you'll want water shoes as well if you have them or they're very cheap at many stores.

Our best time ever going to The Baths was thru Potouche where no walking up/down the hill was involved. The sail part of it was also wonderful. :)

LuLu

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