What to do in Tortola?

[motherof2]

Cruising to Tortola on Enchanted Princess in Dec. this year, which beach ? Which town to visit? What not to miss? We are couple in our 70’s, don’t dive or hike 😥

[JimmyVWine]

I am partial to Cane Garden Bay, though I confess that I have always visited Tortola, St John and Virgin Gorda on sailboat and land-based vacations and usually check the cruise ship calendar to AVOID to best beaches when cruise ships are in port. So I can’t tell you whether your experience on a ship with 3,500 people would resemble my memories. 
 

[Steelers36]

22 minutes ago, motherof2 said:

Cruising to Tortola on Enchanted Princess in Dec. this year, which beach ? Which town to visit? What not to miss? We are couple in our 70’s, don’t dive or hike 😥

Have you checked the port page for Caribbean islands?

[Tak8]

I love going to Jost van Dyke.  Hit the Soggy Dollar bar for a Pain Killer or two. Beautiful water.  Plenty of boats go from Tortola to Jost. 

[DCThunder]

1 hour ago, motherof2 said:

Cruising to Tortola on Enchanted Princess in Dec. this year, which beach ? Which town to visit? What not to miss? We are couple in our 70’s, don’t dive or hike 😥

If there's an excursion to Virgin Gorda to see The Baths, you might want to consider that.  I haven't been there since 1987 off a sailboat so I expect the whole area of Spanish Town (main settlement on VG) will have changed, but The Baths are still unique in the whole Caribbean.  You do need to snorkle to get the best of them but you don't need SCUBA equipment or training.

[vakamalua]

If you take a boat to Jost Van Dyke, you’ll have to swim ashore to the Soggy Dollar.  That’s why it’s called the Soggy Dollar…

[azbirdmom]

2 hours ago, vakamalua said:

If you take a boat to Jost Van Dyke, you’ll have to swim ashore to the Soggy Dollar.  That’s why it’s called the Soggy Dollar…

Actually the description says that you transfer to another boat and land on the sand.  We've been all over the Caribbean but have never been to Tortola so I've been looking at excursions and this does look interesting.  https://www.princess.com/cruise-excursions/tortola-british-virgin-islands-excursions/jost-van-dyke-island-beach-break-and-scenic-cruise?portCode=TOV&portDate=12132022

[Chasing Summer]

I've done all of the excursions mentioned and you can't miss with any of them. Cane Bay is beautiful and if you've been to Magen's in St. Thomas, it will seem like that. There are bars and restaurants along a horseshoe beach. We did a catamaran to Virgin Gorda and snorkeled into the rocks. That was very cool but was a bit of a strenuous swim. You can also take a bus and come in from the beach side. I'm not sure that would be as fun because there are no services there, so you it's not really a hangout. Either way you get there, you have to walk amongst the rocks to get the full effect. The last one we did was Jost Van Dyke and I'm waiting and waiting until we go on a cruise to Tortola again to go there. That was also a cat ride and swim in. It was before the big hurricane destroyed everything, but there's not much to destroy and I know the One Love and Soggy Dollar bars are rebuilt. There are a lot of yachties that pull up for the day so it doesn't seem like a huge beach break from a ship. 

[Twosailors1t]

We’ve sailed in BVI many times and highly recommend Cane Garden Bay. Great beach, restaurants. Easy to take a van over the mountain to get there just outside the ferry building. Be sure to walk to Callwood’s Rum Distillery for a rum tasting at an authentic distillery. It’s a tiny, friendly place with great authentic atmosphere. We tied up to a mooring there last May in our catamaran. Many turtles in the bay and Rhymer’s band often plays in the evening. One of my favorite all time places in the Caribbean and we cruised the Caribbean for 1 1/2 years in our own sailboat. 

On Jost everything is rebuilt and open. More of a partying, drinking vibe there with speed boats pulling up and dropping anchor to visit the Soggy Dollar from other islands. Below recent photos of White Bay and Foxy’s, which has a great band called Evolution if you like rock n roll.

[fishin' musician]

If you want a secluded spot rent a car and go to Smugglers Cove.  We love Tortola and after a cruise ship visit we spent 8 days there a few years ago.  We got around on our thumbs, hitch hiking all around the island.  No chain anything... restaurants,  hotels, stores, etc..  The island is mountains separated by beaches... or is it beaches separated by mountains?

[rbtan]

We do Cane Garden. Take a taxi. Much cheaper than the excursions. Plenty of nice little restaurants along the beach. We had great Lobster(Caribbean type)at one. For a few $ more you can get a great tour as well. Just be aware of when you need to return to the ship!!

Edited August 9, 2022 by rbtan
spelling

[blue_water]

On 8/7/2022 at 3:30 PM, motherof2 said:

Cruising to Tortola on Enchanted Princess in Dec. this year, which beach ? Which town to visit? What not to miss? We are couple in our 70’s, don’t dive or hike 😥

Do a bit of research on the BVI, or look at a map. You will see there are several islands and four - 5 main islands, Tortola being the busiest.

 

A good recommendation for you really depends on the cruise ship calendar. So looking at your Dec 13 arrival,I see your 3,600 pax ship is in port 7 - 5, and a 4,000 pax Disney ship is there 7:15 - 6. You also have the Sea Dream anchored in White Bay, Jost overnight but they don’t arrive until after you depart Tortola.

So a busy day on Tortola. Many of your fellow passengers and those from Disney will be getting transported to CGB, the busiest beach in the BVI. Others will be taking ship excursions or going on their own to VG or Jost. Although the Baths on VG are a unique sight/experience, I would not recommend going there on a cruise, do that when you return for a land or week sail visit so you can avoid the crowds. Plus that involves a hike unless you choose an arrival by boat…
 

There are gorgeous beaches on Tortola that many day visitors never experience because they head to White Bay on Jost, or the Baths on Virgin Gorda. So if you would love a gorgeous beach that has some amenities, is reasonably easy to get to, and is not the most crowded that day, I would suggest Brewers Bay. Brewers just has that old Caribbean charm, and is not as busy as CJB, and easier to get to and back from that Smuggler’s Cove. Shared safari taxi is ~$9/pp and it’s a beautiful ride there and back!

[blue_water]

This is a link to a description to the more popular beaches of the BVI that I posted 5 years ago if you want to review it. Pricing and some other info may have changed, but the beach descriptions are still current…One difference is ships now provide excursions to Long Bay, Beef Island. So that is not the “locals” bay as it ounce was, at least when ships are in port. And Nigel is back at Smuggler’s Cove, not sure about Patricia, she was amazing!

 

Edited August 10, 2022 by blue_water

[glentally]

On 8/7/2022 at 3:54 PM, Steelers36 said:

Have you checked the port page for Caribbean islands?

This is the Port Page?

[Steelers36]

48 minutes ago, glentally said:

This is the Port Page?

Cruise Critic had dedicated forums for various port calls around the world and is the appropriate/best place to seek advice and info on beaches, hotels, transportation, etc.

[glentally]

21 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Cruise Critic had dedicated forums for various port calls around the world and is the appropriate/best place to seek advice and info on beaches, hotels, transportation, etc.

Yes I know.??  The question was about Tortola and this IS the Tortola forum.  What am I missing?

[Steelers36]

30 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Cruise Critic had dedicated forums for various port calls around the world and is the appropriate/best place to seek advice and info on beaches, hotels, transportation, etc.

Ignore.  Wrong response.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, glentally said:

This is the Port Page?

I got fooled by not checking the top of the page as to what forum I was in.  I had simply clicked into this post because I was alerted on CC that you had replied to my message.

 

In my defense, you replied to a message I posted way back in August because this thread was on the main Princess Forum pages.  Obviously, the CC M*derat*rs moved this thread to where it belongs, so your reply was redundant.

 

8 minutes ago, glentally said:

Yes I know.??  The question was about Tortola and this IS the Tortola forum.  What am I missing?

Okay, I get it now.  As I said, I didn't notice the forum where I had a reply notice from you and so I responded out of context.  This thread was moved several months back to the correct location.