Tortola on ur own

[jenn6743]

DH and I are going to be in Tortola in a few weeks. There is no shore excursions that we like. My husband is not much a beach person does anyone have a good suggestion for us to do on our own?

 

Jenn

[maven2]

There are some really good restaurants there if you would like a leisurely lunch. We found it difficult to navigate the roads there- many steep, hairpin turns not well marked. Worth a cab ride

[jenn6743]

There are some really good restaurants there if you would like a leisurely lunch. We found it difficult to navigate the roads there- many steep, hairpin turns not well marked. Worth a cab ride

 

Any suggestions for restaurant?

[maven2]

Sugar Mill was very good!

[blue_water]

DH and I are going to be in Tortola in a few weeks. There is no shore excursions that we like. My husband is not much a beach person does anyone have a good suggestion for us to do on our own?

 

Jenn

 

Hi Jenn,

The beaches are a big draw on Tortola but the island itself is very beautiful and a tour with a taxi driver is a great day. You can find a driver to give you a personal tour (they have fixed hourly rates) or perhaps find a driver another group is working with.

 

The tour would cover a drive over to the west and north coast and include gorgeous views of the bays from up high. You can stop for lunch on the tour or after you return to Road Town. Most restaurants like Sugar Mill are best for dinner, but there is one spot I would recommend for a lunch if they are open and that's Bananakeet. We stay at the inn there, it's situated on the edge of the mountain with panoramic views of Carrot, Apple, and Long Bays, as well as Sandy Cay, Jost Van Dyke and St John. Even if the restaurant isn't open it's worth a stop.

 

If the driver says Bananakeet is not open (they close for vacation in part of Sept) you may want to stop in Cane Garden Bay for lunch. This is where most cruisers will be, there are several beach bars/restaurants. We've stayed at Myett's and they have very good pub food. But next door is the original Stanley's Welcome Bar (now cousin Tony's) and their burgers and fish tacos are the best. Purported to be THE home of the cheeseburger in paradise when JB was stuck on Tortola, who knows?

Another lunch option is Sebastian's located on the water near Bomba's Shack.

 

Another excellent option is to hire a boat or a daysail (depending on your time in port) and seeing the islands from the water. A fun spot for lunch and Painkillers or Bushwackers is White Bay on Josts. The Soggy $ Bar, Seddy's One Love Bar, and Ivan's Stress Free Bar are famous spots.

 

You can shop right near the dock, we like the Sunny Carribbee spice shop (see their site). Pusser's Pub had good English-style pub food. Our favorite lunch spot is La Baguette, a French deli in Wickhams Cay II that has superd French-imported meats and cheeses. Great place to grab a picnic and a bottle of wine and stop someplace with a nice view for lunch.

 

Anything sound interesting to you?

Edited September 5, 2013 by blue_water

[KroozFoolz]

Hi Jenn,

The beaches are a big draw on Tortola but the island itself is very beautiful and a tour with a taxi driver is a great day. You can find a driver to give you a personal tour (they have fixed hourly rates) or perhaps find a driver another group is working with.

 

The tour would cover a drive over to the west and north coast and include gorgeous views of the bays from up high.

 

What is the hourly rate and is it per person or per taxi? Are these open air taxis (like we have seen on St. Thomas and St. John) or regular cars/vans (like on Cozumel)? If we don't stop for lunch or beach time, how much time should we allow for a tour of the island? TIA

[blue_water]

Hourly rates are listed as $55 for 2 ppl, $70 for 3, $85 for 4 and include a stop if you want that.

There are both types but primarily the open-air which range from 8 - 25 passenger safari trucks.

I would want at least 2 hours and would go 3 or 4 if the driver recommended that. There's also a rum tour offered through the ship that includes stops at a couple bars I believe.

But if you want to shop and lunch at the dock 2 - 3 hours would let you see much of the beauty of Tortola without a long stop.

[blue_water]

I know many ppl have been offered a tour for $20pp and they enjoyed a nice 2 hr tour + a 1 hr stop at a beach so that may be more typical than the listed rates. Tortola isn't that big an island so you can see alot of her in a couple of hrs.

Edited September 8, 2013 by blue_water

[KroozFoolz]

Thanks for the info! We are looking forward to our first visit to Tortola in February.

[svmodi]

Does anyone know how long the Tortola island tour runs for and what places are covered? Can they drop us off at the beach after the tour?

Are there any must-sees/landmarks/parks, etc.?

[blue_water]

svmodi you'll see open safari taxis at the dock waiting to provide island tours and they can include a drop off at a beach. If you hook up with others it can be cheaper per person.

 

The prime areas to see are along the north and west coast, the bays from above offer spectacular photo ops. Stop in CGB for lunch and the beach, visit Bomba's Shack by Zion Hill Road just before you get to Sebastian's and the Long Bay Resort, if you want to have a cold drink on a secluded beach have the driver drive just a little further to Nature Boy's beach bar. That's the end of the paved road.

All of these are along the western side and the driver can cover everything on a couple hour tour + any more time for the beach. For beach descriptions I'll attach a link here -

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

[svmodi]

Thanks Blue_Water! This was very helpful.