Zimagal Monthly Magazine - Volume One, Issue Nine

Seeing The Virgin Islands with Champagne Tastes...
on a Beer Budget - by Sam, aka SunnyAlso

This past February, my boyfriend and I took a much-needed vacation to the British Virgin Islands. My best friend Dawn and her husband had moved to Tortola a few months prior. Her husband, Glenn, is the Executive Chef of Pussers restaurant which is located on a private island called Marina Cay. Marina Cay, only one square mile in size, is located approximately one mile from the island of Tortola. We paid only $550 per person round trip through USAir, though I've since learned that American Airlines has direct flights to Tortola (Beef Island Airport) straight from BWI for much cheaper. We were quite happy with this price since it was "in season".

The first 2 days we stayed at Marina Cay. The free ferry to the island docked right at the airport. We had a private bungalow (one of only 12) with a deck that overlooked the Caribbean. From our deck you could see the boats and schooners pulling in to dock. The air was salty and warm yet pleasantly dry.

View from one of the many beaches.

We ate like beasts at Pussers, whose menu is primarily Caribbean, and though a bit standard, was very yummy and quite reasonably priced. The restaurant is completely open and sits right on the beach. We drank mango margaritas and daquiris and coladas. We drank Carib beer. We watched the wild life (great amounts of lizards) and we studied up on nearby islands and local attractions. I was pleased with the costs of the bungalow, only a $109 per night in season!

We spent the rest of the time on Tortola, taking day trips to wherever we wanted to go. Tortola is primarily unindustrialized. The tourist rate is not very high and no large corporate chains have yet taken it over. The island is only 15 miles long, however it's hard to run out of things to do. Wild chickens and turkeys peck the ground and while driving you never know if a cow or goat is around the corner. We found that you could take ferries to nearby Johns Island (which is 95% national park due to the rain forest covering it), St. Thomas (a mini-Miami and not at all for me), Virgin Gorda (hey, who can argue with a fat virgin?) and of course Puerto Rico (but we valued our lives so didn't visit that one). Most of the ferries ran round-trip all day for less than $40 and overnight transfers were allowed.

Cavern on Virgin Gorda.

We visited the Baths on Virgin Gorda - caverns and caves filled with exotic fish and warm baths. It was a perfect place to snorkel and hike. The Baths have a lot of wild cats running around. Don't worry, they are completely harmless! The Baths were probably my most favorite experience. The pools were natural hot tubs and the cavern were enough to take my breath away. And it only cost the $18 to ferry over round-trip!

We spent one day in St. Thomas, which as I stated earlier, was like a mini-Miami. Except for the terrific price on jewelry, I see no reason why one would want to just visit St. Thomas. However, like I said jewelry is very inexpensive. I bought 4 rings and 2 bracelets for under $200. It is also a great place to buy duty free alcohol.

Another day we did a "day sail". We signed up to take a charter boat out for 8 hours of the day. It cost $80 per person and included an open bar, a gourmet lunch, snorkel and diving lessons and 3 different dive sites. The boat was beautiful and the Captain and 1st Mate were wonderful people. We did a sunken ship dive and snorkeled coral reefs and just plain old swam and splashed around. I would have felt like I had gotten a good deal if I had paid $150 per person.

Another view from a beach.

Marina Cay. The pavilion-like building is Pussers.

Back on Tortola we did a toured horseback ride along the country side. Our guide was a Rastafarian named Shadow; appropriately enough, his horse's name was Shadow Master! The ride was only $20 and included a free beer (as I found most things on the island did). We made it a point to fraternize with the natives and found them nice and helpful (though not particularly talkative).

We got great deals on herbs and fruits that normally cost a lot of money here. We spent a lot of time eating. We wanted to try "real" authentic Caribbean food and found some great places to dine. For special occasions we went to The Sugar Mill, the only 5 star restaurant on the island. We did a lot of partying.

Unfortunately, we had to be to bed early because the turkeys start calling at the crack of dawn! We had a great time and could have pulled the entire week and a half trip off with less than $1500 dollars for 2 people.

Not all was perfect however. There are some things to look out for while visiting the islands. The cabbies will take you for all they can. However, the island of Tortola has almost no crime.

Gardens at Marina Cay.

Hitch hiking is the essential means of transportation. Chances are if you're walking down the road, a native Tortolian will pick you up and take you to wherever you have to be (safely, I might add). Also, the island is home to many creepy-crawlies including tarantulas and scorpions and while they are not running amuck, I think its fair to mention it. And the most important thing to look out for is the Mushroom Tea Man at Bumba's Shack!