But Why the BVI’s Over the USVI’s?
My kid’s have been asking about going to the Virgin Islands for quite a while now. So after some TikTok research, I decided to make it happen. I started planning this 4 months prior. The plan was St. John. I started looking at Airbnb and Vrbo trying to find the perfect house. The thing about me, the house is usually chosen before the location. My wishlist on Airbnb is pretty wild. Blame the fact that I am a Real Estate Agent but if the house doesn’t make me all warm and fuzzy, we are not going! So the house was the real hunt. Although I know there are some gorgeous homes in St. John, I personally could not find one that fit my needs, beauty, and budget. So USVI came out of the search, and the Virgin Islands came in. Tortola. Where the heck is that? I didn’t care. I fell in love with Villa Taino and It was much cheaper than the USVI homes I saved. So, I booked it. We are going to the BVI’s, Yall. I don’t know anything about it, but I will figure it out.
A couple things to know about going to the BVI’s. Although the housing was cheaper. There were quite a few surprise fees to add. First, you do have to have a passport. I never consider this a real expense. I think everyone should have a passport at all times. It’s a necessity of life. Although, we had some… kid’s passports only last for 5 years, so they expired. So express shipping passports, can get expensive.
Port Fees. You have to take a ferry from the USVI to the BVI’s. I knew it would cost, but no idea how much. Although, 650.00 round trip was a bit much, but it is what it is. If you take a private water taxi it will cost wayyyy more. We did the ferry and it was fine. Airport taxi’s. You are going to want to get a taxi from the airport to the ferry each way. They will definitely get one over on you charging each family 100.00 each way for a 20 minute ride.
You can fly into Tortola and save on all those fees, but the flights for that were very high and not worth it to us. We flew in United and home Spirit. There are not may flight options and the STT airport is super small. Spirit has the most flights. If you know me, I am a flight shopping maniac, and always find the best flights possible. In the end, round trip was a little less than 500.00 a person.
Now let’s get to the good part! My host helped me plan everything ahead of time. For me, there were zero surprises but a ton of surprises for my family. She even arranged a taxi to pick me up from the ferry in Tortola and take us to our villa and also had my rental car at the house waiting. We rented a car from Jerry’s Jeep Rental. It was around 400 for the whole week and worth it. When you need to get to regular places like the beach, the docks, and the store it would cost a fortune on a taxi. The driving is super sketchy but after the first day you get used to it. I had groceries delivered ahead of time, so we didn’t have to get out after a long day of travel. She helped plan out everything! So here is the itinerary.
Day 1. We got to Villa Taino at about 6 pm. Went for a swim and a drink while taking in the beautiful views. The villa was absolutely perfect for our family. There were two structures. 1st was the main house. This is where the kids stayed. It was completely open living areas, and the upstairs had two master bedrooms with king size beds. (with freezing cold AC in the bedrooms). The rest of the main house was run by fans, but it really didn’t get too hot. Off the pool was our place. This was the main master suite, our own private space with a hammock. 6 people could sleep at the villa comfortably. It could not have been more perfect. Although it looks like over a thousand dollar a night views, It was not even close. Pro Tip, It is cheaper at hurricane season, so get you some good vacation insurance and roll out. Many of you pay more for Destin and Orange Beach. This place was a dream. 360 views all around. If you are going with a larger group there are plenty of houses for your group through the hosts at Villa Taino, they have tons of properties .
Day 2. Boat Day. The boat days were planned ahead. My host recommended Day Trips BVI. Deb’s the captain and I spoke over email for weeks to make sure we see everything we wanted to see in the BVI’s. This day we met our captain Sean and he took us to several small Islands for snorkling and drinks. We started off at Peter Island. The water was gorgeous, and there were sea turtles swimming with us! Anyways, with our matching bathing suits, and beautiful water all around us, the good vibes were it on Peter Island.
Next we hit Cooper island, Norman Island and the Caves, Snorkeled around the Indians, ate at Pirate’s Blight and then had a drink at the famous Willy T’s, where we jumped off the boat. I dropped the ball on pictures here.
The boat dropped us back off at the dock by 4 and we hit the grocery store at the dock and went home and cooked. We typically ate lunch while out and about and then cooked at home. We love cooking, and eating out gets super expensive, especially with drinks. Not to mention we didn’t ever want to drive in the dark mountainside. These were some of my favorite times of the day.
Day 4. Beach Day. I have not been to the USVI beaches but I would think they look a lot a like. We visited Cane Garden Bay beach for the first part of the day, then finished the day at Smugglers Cove. These were both perfect and had beach bars and music.
Day 5 was our second boat day. This day was bar hopping on the boat mainly. We visited Jost Van Dyke and hung around the Sandy Spit, hit a couple bars, went to see the bubbly pool and spent the rest of the day at Soggy Dollar. Was the most beautiful water I had seen yet. Side note: the bubbles are a little hike and my kids were less than impressed. Everything else was perfect.
Day 6 was a visit to the island of Virgin Gorda. We did this by ferry. It was like 30.00 round trip pp. The minute we got off the ferry there was a line of taxis ready to go. We jumped in with our taxi driver Lloyd and he kept us on schedule all day. He brought us uphill to the next ferry station which brought us to lunch at Saba Rock. Saba Rock is pretty, and an awesome spot to have lunch and mimosas. I would not stay over night there, bc there is not much. He picked us up after lunch at the ferry, and brought us to the Bath’s. The Baths and Devil’s Bay were beautiful and a must see spot to visit. Lloyd even took us on the scenic route and showed us amazing views of the island before bringing us to dinner at Coco maya then dropping us back at the ferry. Coco maya had amazing sushi!
Day 7 – The only thing I had planned was the full moon party on Trellis Bay at night time. Like I said before, driving the mountains got easier but still uneasy about night time. I would have felt better taking a taxi and it is about an hour away, so we skipped it and saved the money and got massages instead. Highly Recommend Journeys BVI spa. My kid’s are cheerleaders, I owed them one anyway from comp season. It was a perfect day. We grabbed food from the store, had the massages at the house and then chilled for the rest of the day. Couldn’t have pictured a better ending to the trip.
We agree this is the best trip we have ever taken, and we have had some great ones. I may never go back because there are a million other places I need to see in the future, but I will forever treasure this trip. A lot of people have dreams to sail the BVI’s on catamaran. It was so expensive, so we did it this way. Full cost of our trip was comparable to a nice all inclusive.
Here is some more info about Tortola Island! I miss the slow pace already. The pictures don’t even come close to capturing the beauty. Thank you Sam, Sharlene, and Pinky at Villa Taino for the best trip!
-Nikki
