I was lucky and got to play tourist last week - my cousin's son & family were down on charter and I got to tag along. So goodbye Tortola and hello to the outer islands of the BVI!
While not a trip report, I hadn't been to the outer islands for a while. Here are a few observations -
• Tamarind Club (as reported by cousin's son, who stayed there the first night) - pool filthy (would not let his kids swim in it), male owner indifferent, owner's daughter surly, "hippy" bartender great, everyone smoking, 6 large dogs constantly in restaurant and bar area, rooms shabby, food good
• Loose Mongoose - great roti, but in flour tortilla rather than roti skin, mahi-mahi sandwiches pretty good, waitress indifferent
• Top of the Baths - excellent lunch, excellent service
• Big Bamboo - pretty good food (including huge lobster), Aubrey great with kids, "Singin' Sally" still a great waitress
• Lobster Trap - I wanted to take the adults to Pomato Point but it wasn't open that night, so we went to Wilfred's other restaurant, located in the anchorage; everyone later agreed that this was the absolute best lobster of the trip
• Marina Cay - misplaced our reservation due to miscommunication between the bartender and the manager, but fit us in, wide selection of food, most people happy with food, lobster was okay but had been frozen, excellent service from the waitress (Carla) and kitchen considering that the restaurant was completely full
• Myett's (happy hour with Capeye) - my cousin's son surprised me with some house drink that I thought was an awful concoction; started with tequila and Jager, and went downhill from there. Capeye did his pretty standard take on there 60s, 70s and 80s while surrounded by the typical Cane Garden Bay burnouts. The kids enjoyed being part of the IRS and actually kept better time than Malcolm. Prince was encouraged to leave the bar for a very bad rendition of a Billy Joel song, and should not, and I repeat, NOT, quit his day job any time soon. After the music ended we had another drink, and I was very surprised how empty the restaurant was when we left at 7:45. I always considered Myett's food the best of CGB and the bay was full.
Cooper Island Beach Club - lots of changes (as has been pretty well reported here) with the new owners. The entire property has been redone, and is very nice. Wi-Fi was so slow it was unusable, I guess too many devices connected for the amount of bandwidth. Bad bartender. Everybody really liked their food with the exception of the roti, which was very dry, no vegetables, too much chutney on top and no kuchela in the restaurant. Fairly attentive staff.
The kids loved anywhere with a beach, especially their time on Sandy Cay and in front of Cooper. The divers did Diamond Reef, the Indians, the Rhone and the Beatta (in wreck alley) and were pleased with the health of the coral, but somewhat disappointed in the number of fish. The weather wasn't normal, more rain than usual for this time of year, a little cool, and one day completely without wind and another with too little to sail downwind and get where we wanted to go.
Most importantly, my cousin's son and family loved every minute of it and will be back!
