Weekend in the BVI

The highlight of our weekend was definitely the time spent in the water. The ocean is incredibly clear, making it a perfect environment for scuba, snorkeling, and snuba. (Snuba is shallow diving where you are attached to a surface oxygen supply that floats along with you in a little raft. We saw a lot of people doing this. It looks like you dive to about 15 feet, and you only need about a half-hour of instruction before you do it.) We only snorkeled - which was awesome - but I really got the itch to learn to dive. Someday, I will take the training and return to the BVI to do so.

Strangely enough, my favorite food on the island was...chicken. Something about the spices and the way they cook it. Of course, the fish and lobster were nice, too.

Quick Tips:

At the current time, there is only one major airline serving the BVI: American Eagle, using ATR-42's. (You can also arrive by boat or by one of 3 or 4 local airlines.) Nearly all of the ATR's arrive from SJU - about a half-hour flight away (AA operates 2 flights/day to/from St. Martin). We used the Eagle, and our flights were right on time (what a pleasant surprise!). A tip for the ATR's: you want to be seated at the BACK of the plane, not the front. This aircraft loads and unloads from the rear, meaning the pax in row 1 will easily lose 30 minutes at customs when entering the BVI (we learned the hard way). Also, prepare to be thoroughly searched when entering and exiting the BVI. Although there are only a handful of Customs/Immigration people at this tiny airport, they are very serious people who take a close look at every piece of luggage entering/leaving the territory.

Everybody in the BVI uses US dollars, not GBP.

Best Way To Get Around:

Once on the island, you have two choices: (1) if you are staying at a full-service resort, you probably won't need any sort of transportation, other than the shuttle to/from your resort. (2) if you are staying in a condo or less-than-full-service place, you probably need a rental car. We didn't rent a car, but it seems like Avis and National have the biggest presence at this location (along with some local outfits that might offer better rates).

Prospect Reef is a full-service resort with exceptionally friendly staff. The service we received at this resort (porter, check-in, restaurant/bar waitstaff, etc.) was very, very good. The resort is not what I would consider to be in the "luxury" class, but a good value for the money. Rooms vary widely in quality - ranging from older buildings without air conditioning to very new, modern rooms in air-conditioned buildings. You can book at www.prospectreef.com, but I''d recommend browsing the website and then calling the 800 number on the website to specifically ask for what type of room you want. For example, if you want air conditioning, a certain bed type, a television, or an ocean view, call the number and talk to a human who can get you what you want. (We booked via the web, and arrived to find ourselves in a non-air-conditioned room. Because the hotel wasn''t full, they were able to move us to a great room with A/C and a balcony, overlooking the ocean.)

Again - rates are pretty good for what you get, and the web rates were not different from what was published in other travel guides or on the phone.

The resort has a fine restaurant and a bar/grill on the premises. They also have a private beach on Peter Island (15-minute boat ride away) with a nice, casual outdoor restaurant and various watersports activities. Also at the resort: spa services, a sea pool, a large swimming pool, a ballroom/meeting area, and workout facilities. You can also arrange fishing and dive trips from the resort.

There''s a grocery store within walking distance, if you are there for a longer stay.

The clientele was mostly American, with a few Brits here and there.

The pub at the Prospect Reef resort is located in the Marina area. It's a nice, outdoor pub - a good place to relax and sink a few Red Stripes in the evening. It also serves up surpisingly good food. We had beer-batter fish & chips, and it was very fresh and flavorful. For "dessert", try the Bush Walker. It's a chocolate-shake-thing with a kick.

First of all, I know this place is famous. No trip to Tortola would be complete without a stop at Pusser's famous Road Town pub. Before our trip, many people told us "Make sure you go to Pusser's Pub." Of course, none of them had been to the island.

It's a decent pub that serves up decent food. It's a bit overrated, IMHO. The service was not very good here, and even at 11:30 AM, we were surrounded by loud drunks from Liverpool. Not that I have anything against loud drunks from Liverpool - I just wasn't prepared for rugby songs at lunch. It seems that this is definitely the place to go if you want to follow up breakfast with 12 or 15 longnecks, but I wouldn't recommend it if you are halfway sober and are looking to stay that way.

This is a good place to stop, have a beer, have your picture taken, or whatever. It looks like a great place to party. It's not the best place to actually have a meal or relax.

I think the same people that own the Pusser's Pub also own this hotel and restaurant, but the atmosphere couldn't be any more different! The Fort Burt Restaurant sits high on a hill overlooking the ocean and islands. From our window table, we had a great view of everything. For dinner, the restaurant serves up a variety of Caribbean delicacies - including a local lamb, several jerk chicken dishes, and spiny lobster. They also have a passable wine list that covers all the basics.

We had the lamb and a jerk chicken linguine. Both dishes were very, very good. For appetizer, we had shrimp cocktail, which is served hot - not ice cold as it is in the USA.

I'd highly recommend this restaurant if you are looking for dinner in the Road Town area. Reservations will ensure that you get a good ocean-view table, but they aren't required. We had no problems getting a good table on a Friday night.

We spent a good four hours snorkeling along the reefs within a short distance of the beach club. In both directions from the beach club are other uninhabited beaches, lots of coral, and more fish than you can possibly imagine. Incredibly clear water and a bright sunny day made this a perfect snorkeling experience. Along with the dozens of types of fish and corals that we saw everywhere, we saw several stingrays, a couple of barracuda, and a beautiful long trumpetfish. The best part was swimming in schools of fish that extended as far as the eye could see.