Tortola

Tortola is basically the heart of the British Virgin Islands. It is the biggest and busiest of all the islands. It also tends to be the place most people are in one way or another trying to get away from.

Sopers Hole is a nice harbor.

Cane Garden Bay is a big open harbor, lots of mooring balls, plenty of restaurants, bars, and entertainment. It’s a deep inlet, so well protected from pretty much everything but north swells. When you come in, make sure to stay in the channel – finding a reef the hard way is bad for both you and the reef!

Once in, you have choice of mooring balls or anchoring (somewhat limited around the outskirts of the mooring field or outside the reef). When you take the dinghy in, don’t do like I did and tie up too close to shore (the dinghy can get under the pier and get swamped!) – the dock was being repaired from hurricane damage before I was there, so they might have put more boards in to prevent it, but just be aware.

Onshore, Pussers is good (service is a little iffy, but the food is good – if you’re in the mood for conch fritters, wait and get them at Cooper Island Beach Club! Quito’s is also good food and drink, and you’ll often find live music there.

In fact, unless you have to be right in front of the band, you can sit comfortably aboard Moon Dance in the evening and listen to the music! It’s a good show, and Cane Garden Bay is a popular anchorage!