Wow . . . now I understand this DIF you all talk about! I've talked up my trip so much that my sister and her husband are switching their vacation from Jamaica to VG and leave in 3 weeks!
We flew Jet Blue to San Juan then Air Sunshine with no problems (besides the lack of good restaurants and any organization or good signage at the airport!) Glad for the advice about getting to AS early as we were able to get on a flight 1 hour ahead of our scheduled time.
While waiting for our property managers (Howard and Irma from Tropical Care Services . . . they are marvelous!) to escort us to our villa, we got acquainted with Puck and Chester at The Flying Iguana and had our first (of many) painkillers!
Arrived at our amazing villa, Island Dream at Nail Bay. The road, by the way, was decent enough. We’ve driven much worse roads on other islands that didn’t have the security of guard rails like most of the sharp corners on the Nail Bay road does. They also made good progress in paving a section while we were there. The villa was perfect for us: secluded on a dead end road, small pool, front porch with amazing views, fun outdoor showers with resident geckos that liked to watch you shower (we named them perve 1 and 2) and a very short drive to 3 beaches and the very good local restaurant, Sugarcane.
Nail Bay beach (which you could walk to through a path through the woods) was our favorite for snorkeling. A bit tricky getting into the water as it’s very shallow to start over coral, but then it opened up to a big sandy hole surrounded by amazing coral and teaming with fish. We’re a bit chicken and didn’t go out too far but a couple we met who did a bit more exploring saw a ray, turtle and small nurse shark at this spot.
Long Bay had decent snorkeling but even better shelling. Mountin Trunk Beach was the official resort beach, meaning it had chaise lounges scattered along the beach and shade palms. This beach was great for swimming and pretty good snorkeling (saw an octopus!) Other beaches we visited were Pond Bay and Savannah Bay (both great for bobbing in the waves . . . and beach combing in the powder soft sand.)
Of course we did the Baths . . . twice. Went early (8 ish) so not crowded at all. Walked the course to Devil’s Bay . . . swim a while . . . take the path back to the parking lot and head to Mad Dog’s for ice cream (kids) and Painkillers (big kids!) Is 10:30 too early to be drinking?!?!? I figured it had juice in it so . . .
We did the Gorda Peak hike . . . nice walk and a great view from the platform. Spent a morning at Leverick Bay swimming in the pool before having a yummy lunch. This is where my 7 year old son discovered Virgin Painkillers. “Mom, they really work! I don’t feel any pain!?!?!”
Took the ferry to Fat Virgin Café for the Rotis (yum) and ignored the stuffy signs saying we shouldn’t walk on their campus and headed for BEYC. We must have missed the turn for the water-side trail because we ended up hiking (mid-day with no water!) up and over the peak behind BEYC. I really needed that water and rum punch at the Pub after that.
We tried to have a bonfire on Nail Bay beach to watch the Lunar eclipse. All went well . . . fire lit, blankets spread . . . then a scorpion walked on my daughter’s hand and that was the end of that! Back to the villa where they went to bed and we watched from the pool deck.
Shopping for provisions at Bucks was great. They are very well stocked and had everything we needed.
We had many yummy meals. Our favorite was the new restaurant at Old Yard Village called Barracuda. Dinner one night was so good we went back for an even yummier lunch by the pool (mahi fillet on focacia with some sort of lemon peel aoli sauce) . Sugarcane at Nail Bay was quite good and convenient for us . . . had several lunches and dinners there and were never disappointed.
Dinner at The Rock was okay . . . great atmosphere though. Lunch at Bath & Turtle was good (Jerk Chicken sandwich) and our lunch at Leverick was very good. Although expensive, the buffet lunch at Little Dix Bay was quite impressive.
I was very pleased with the quality and choices of restaurants on such a small island.
I’ve told everyone who asks (and many who don’t!) that this was our best family vacation yet. The island is a perfect blend of deserted beaches, great snorkeling, fun bars, decent restaurants, mountain hikes, cactus and gecko filled trails, boating adventures . . . the only way I could get my despondent kids on the plane home was to promise we’ll go back next year! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />
Photo link below.
http://tamsentm.smugmug.com/gallery/4415290_YghNF#259417007
