Tortola Island in the British Virgin Islands
♦ Routes (free): Detailed travel itineraries in USA
General Information
A British Virgin Island that has become one of the most popular destinations in Eastern Caribbean cruises in recent years. A perfect combination of pristine beaches, luxury yachts, and an authentic Caribbean atmosphere.
This island is the largest of the British Virgin Islands and the most populated with about 24,000 residents. It is a mountainous island, and the highest mountain on it is 530 meters high, called Mount Sage. The island's length is 1 km and its width is 5 km. Although it is British, the official local currency is the Dollar because of its proximity to the US Virgin Islands. The economy on the island relies mainly on financial services. The main city on the island is Road Town with about 10,000 residents.
Tortola Beaches
For lovers of beaches with turquoise water and beautiful views of green mountains and magical bays, Tortola is a perfect destination. The best beaches on the island are located in the north of the island and include Smuggler's Cove beach, and the beaches Long Bay, Cane Garden Bay, Brewer's Bay, Josiah's Bay, Lambert Beach.
As mentioned, many cruise ships arrive in Tortola during cruises to the Eastern Caribbean and as in most places in the Caribbean, the most successful thing to do is spend time at the beach, but not only that.
Guided Tours in Tortola
♦ Recommended guided tours in Tortola to book from Viator:
Mountain Tour and Beach Swim
We booked a private guide online who took us first on a walking tour of the highest mountain on the island, where on the way to and from it, you can overlook the smaller British Virgin Islands and also St. Thomas, one of the US Virgin Islands. At the top of the mountain is a national park named Sage Mountain NP with forest hiking trails.
We walked for about an hour on a guided tour of the main trail in the forest and finished with a nice picnic. From there we descended on the other side of the mountain through impressive viewpoints.
We finished with a swim at the most popular beach on the island:
Cane Garden Bay Beach with clear turquoise water and soft white sand. You can rent lounge chairs and umbrellas at a reasonable price all along the beach.
After returning to the ship, it is recommended to look out from the decks at the photogenic island and of course not to miss the view of the island during the cruise departure.
Trip to the Nearby Island Jost Van Dyke
It is recommended to sail to a small island near Tortola which also belongs to the British Virgin Islands: Jost Van Dyke Community, which is the smallest of the four main British Virgin Islands.
There are public ferries to it, but it is recommended to take a boat tour booked through the ship. The main reason is that there is too high a risk of missing the ship on an independent boat trip to another island. From the ship, a private boat trip departs only for cruise passengers from the cruise pier and arrives at the small port of the island, where trolleys were waiting to take us on a short and scenic drive of about five minutes to the most beautiful beach on the island, White Bay, which has soft white sand and clear turquoise water.
There are lounge chairs and umbrellas on the beach (included in the tour price, as well as a light and unnecessary lunch and non-alcoholic beverages). Many of the beachgoers arrive in private yachts anchoring in the bay and jump from their boats for swimming and spending time at the beach.
The duration of the boat trip to the island from the cruise port is about fifty minutes.
You spend about three hours at the magical beach and sail back to the ship. We arrived exactly at the last moment for "All Aboard" (no need to worry because the ship waits for latecomers on tours purchased from the ship, unlike private tours where it does not wait), we boarded the ship and sailed after about half an hour.
The departure from Tortola port is scenic and impressive and includes a fairly narrow channel between islands and cliffs. It is recommended to see it from the upper decks because the combination of the scenic sailing with the beautiful ship is a winning combination.