British Virgin Islands: Tortola

February 2026

Back in Georgetown days when I had a close Puerto Rican friend, Ivan, I traveled multiple times to San Juan. On one trip, his father (quite generously) sponsored us for a weekend jaunt to St. Thomas. While there, we visited St John and I was blown away. Those few days set the bar for any beach I would see the rest of my life. I always wanted to return to the Virgin Islands, but since Brian and I lived in Asia for many years and our travel focus was "far away", we never went (not to mention that hotels are extremely expensive).

On my Eastern Caribbean cruise, the very first stop was Tortola. As it turned out, classmate from Georgetown, CN, had done a lot of sailing in the area. She highly recommended "The Baths" on the neighboring island of Virgin Gorda. In fact, it is the most famous location in the British Virgin Islands. The tour via the ship was expensive and the trip seemed doable on my own with a regular ferry and a taxi. I prefer to be independent when possible.

Uncharacteristically, I slept late and missed the ship's arrival. We were already in port when I got breakfast.

Sadly, we arrived to cloudy skies and rain (it cleared off in the afternoon) but worse yet, we arrived with two other ships. That meant that of the 12,000+ people visiting Tortola, a lot would be traveling to "the Baths". I made the executive decision not to go. Nothing is worse that visiting a wonderful place mobbed with people - in my experience it is better not to have gone at all. I can always return....

Note: later I told CN what happened and she was aghast at potentially over 1,000 people showing up at the place. And - I met someone who went on an excursion to "the Baths" and said it was a madhouse of people pushing and shoving just to move around!

So, I was going to be roaming around Road Town that morning (with a lot of company) dodging the intermittent showers. CN's review: "There isn't much to see or do in Road Town - at least not many years ago" rung in my ears.

Best views are always from the ship!

I expected to see a lot of buildings like these. In fact, only a handful exist.

Old Government House (now a museum). Any guesses on which country these islands are a colony of?

Interior. I walked some back streets to get a sense of "local life". Compared to many Caribbean Islands, BVI has it good.

In the final analysis, Road Town offers very little more than a big pier for the behemoth cruise ships, and a hub for shopping and transportation for locals. If I were to return, I would either take a taxi to a beach on Tortola (or go to Virgin Gorda and see the Baths on a non-cruise ship day). CN's experience of the town was the same as mine.

My expectations for Tortola were low and they were met. I was not disappointed - I still discovered a new place (and more importantly how to visit in the future).

As for best beaches in the world? I have seen so many tropical, white sand beaches that I think no one place can claim that title. However, I will say this of the Virgin Islands: its Caribbean blue waters exist even in front of the cities. That is something that is not guaranteed elsewhere. In most places in the world, the water of the port city is generally murky. Road Town Harbor has that signature blue water that all travelers love.

The ship exited just as the sun was setting. The Virgin Islands are an archipelago divided between the US and UK - the place is full of islands. The exit and sunset were beautiful through a multitude of islands on either side of the ship.

My journey to the "eastern islands" had really begun.