TORTOLA excursions

Suggestions , tours in Tortola(sp ?)

So, what's involved in getting over to Virgin Gorda and "the baths".
I'll be on Zuiderdam in a month, and Tortola is one of the stop. How
often does that ferry, that someone mentioned, make the run between VG
and Tortola? Is it pretty reliable? Once on VG, how do you get to "the
baths". Is it walk-able or are there cabs? Is this a safe thing to do
alone (I'm travelling solo this time). Does this beach area have any
facilities or concessions? It sounds too beautiful to miss, so any
additional info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Lee

I just returned from the Oosterdam (will post a review later), and
The Baths at Virgin Gorda was great. We purchased the excursion through
the ship so that we wouldn't have to worry about timing for the taxis
and ferry. Overall, we felt that this gave us more time at The Baths
than we probably would have had if we had done everything on our own,
so it was worth the extra expense for us. But I'd highly recommend the
trip, whether you buy the ship's excursion or do it on your own.

We were picked up right from the ship by a ferry boat that took us
to Virgin Gorda (30 minute ride). Then we were loaded into open air
buses that took us to the beach. The parking area has a restaurant and
some gift shops. You take a path down to the main beach, where there
is a bar (I assume you can buy food - we didn't go over there), a
restroom, and some booths where you can buy some trinkets or have your
hair braided. Nobody approaches you to buy anything - it's all very
pleasant.

The beach was absolutely gorgeous - this is the only island in the
Caribbean that has these huge boulders on it. You can also take a
hike to a nearby beach called "Devil's Bay", but it does require you
to go under, over, and between many large boulders - some of which
surround the path to make "caves". There are a few places where there
are some ladders to help you go over boulders. You don't really have
to be in "excellent" condition to make the trek, but you do need to
be able to crouch down low (or be able to crawl) to get under some
low "ceilings", and you'll definitely want to have your hands free
to help climb in a few spots. But the trip is well worth it! Devil's
Beach was gorgeous, but there are NO amenities there - just the beach.
If you want food, drink, and restrooms, stay at the other beach.
People were snorkeling at both beaches, but the water was pretty
rough, with a lot of surge. I didn't want to try it, because I tend
to get seasick with that much surge. Some people had gone out and
said they saw 5 squid. I just enjoyed laying on the beach, taking
pictures, and enjoying the water. Some people walked around on the
trails from the beach, to the other side of the island. It's a great
place to wander and explore.

A. Brown
Remove the junk to email

> On 5 Feb 2004 07:55:43 -0800, leeschw@campmor.com (Lee) wrote:
>
>>So, what's involved in getting over to Virgin Gorda and "the baths".
>>I'll be on Zuiderdam in a month, and Tortola is one of the stop. How
>>often does that ferry, that someone mentioned, make the run between VG
>>and Tortola? Is it pretty reliable?
>

There is another trail that one can use to get to Devil's Bay that does
not require climbing around, under, and over the big boulders. From the
restaurant, go up the hill through the middle of the taxi parking lot to
the opposite side of the lot from the restaurant. The trail is a fairly
easy walk but is at least three times longer than the trail from the
restaurant to Spring Bay. It may seem like you are walking in the wrong
direction but you eventually end down at Devil's Bay. Any of the locals
(taxi drivers or restaurant employees) can direct you to this other
trail but be sure to greet them first with "Good morning (or afternoon)
Sir (or M'aam), how are you today?" and then ask for directions. My
wife and I enjoyed our visit to the Baths last November and we used both
trails.
Regards, Bobby

"A. Brown" <a_brown151junkm> wrote in message
news:Xns949198DA43E97abrownyahoocom@216.148.227.77 ...
> I just returned from the Oosterdam (will post a review later), and
> The Baths at Virgin Gorda was great. We purchased the excursion
through
> the ship so that we wouldn't have to worry about timing for the taxis
> and ferry. Overall, we felt that this gave us more time at The Baths
> than we probably would have had if we had done everything on our own,
> so it was worth the extra expense for us. But I'd highly recommend the
> trip, whether you buy the ship's excursion or do it on your own.
>
> We were picked up right from the ship by a ferry boat that took us
> to Virgin Gorda (30 minute ride). Then we were loaded into open air
> buses that took us to the beach. The parking area has a restaurant and
> some gift shops. You take a path down to the main beach, where there
> is a bar (I assume you can buy food - we didn't go over there), a
> restroom, and some booths where you can buy some trinkets or have your
> hair braided. Nobody approaches you to buy anything - it's all very
> pleasant.
>
> The beach was absolutely gorgeous - this is the only island in the
> Caribbean that has these huge boulders on it. You can also take a
> hike to a nearby beach called "Devil's Bay", but it does require you
> to go under, over, and between many large boulders - some of which
> surround the path to make "caves". There are a few places where there
> are some ladders to help you go over boulders. You don't really have
> to be in "excellent" condition to make the trek, but you do need to
> be able to crouch down low (or be able to crawl) to get under some
> low "ceilings", and you'll definitely want to have your hands free
> to help climb in a few spots. But the trip is well worth it! Devil's
> Beach was gorgeous, but there are NO amenities there - just the beach.
> If you want food, drink, and restrooms, stay at the other beach.
> People were snorkeling at both beaches, but the water was pretty
> rough, with a lot of surge. I didn't want to try it, because I tend
> to get seasick with that much surge. Some people had gone out and
> said they saw 5 squid. I just enjoyed laying on the beach, taking
> pictures, and enjoying the water. Some people walked around on the
> trails from the beach, to the other side of the island. It's a great
> place to wander and explore.
>
> A. Brown
> Remove the junk to email
>
> > On 5 Feb 2004 07:55:43 -0800, leeschw@campmor.com (Lee) wrote:
> >
> >>So, what's involved in getting over to Virgin Gorda and "the baths".
> >>I'll be on Zuiderdam in a month, and Tortola is one of the stop. How
> >>often does that ferry, that someone mentioned, make the run between
VG
> >>and Tortola? Is it pretty reliable?
> >

"A. Brown" <a_brown151junkm> wrote in message news:<Xns949198DA43E97abrownyahoocom@216.148.227.7 7>...
> I just returned from the Oosterdam (will post a review later), and
> The Baths at Virgin Gorda was great. We purchased the excursion through
> the ship so that we wouldn't have to worry about timing for the taxis
> and ferry. Overall, we felt that this gave us more time at The Baths
> than we probably would have had if we had done everything on our own,
> so it was worth the extra expense for us. But I'd highly recommend the
> trip, whether you buy the ship's excursion or do it on your own.

I'm guessing that the same excursion will be offered on the Zuiderdam.
So, what was the overall length of the excursion? I browsed the
excursion options, and they all don't seem to spend as much time at
the beach that I'd like to spend, which is why I'm leaning towards
venturing off on my own. I think we have a pretty long day in port
that day. I'm hoping for at least 3 hours or so at the Baths, not the
45 minutes to an hour that's usually figured in. How much time did
you actually have at The Baths (not in transit).

Thanks,
Lee

Just home from OOSTERDAM cruise. In tortola we did the SEA AND SEE tour
and it was very worth while.

leeschw@campmor.com (Lee) wrote in
news:c7f9fead.0402170940.c745568@co m:

> "A. Brown" <a_brown151junkm> wrote in message
> news:<Xns949198DA43E97abrownyahoocom@216.148.227.7 7>...
>> I just returned from the Oosterdam (will post a review later), and
>> The Baths at Virgin Gorda was great. We purchased the excursion
>> through the ship so that we wouldn't have to worry about timing for
>> the taxis and ferry. Overall, we felt that this gave us more time at
>> The Baths than we probably would have had if we had done everything
>> on our own, so it was worth the extra expense for us. But I'd highly
>> recommend the trip, whether you buy the ship's excursion or do it on
>> your own.
>
> I'm guessing that the same excursion will be offered on the Zuiderdam.
> So, what was the overall length of the excursion? I browsed the
> excursion options, and they all don't seem to spend as much time at
> the beach that I'd like to spend, which is why I'm leaning towards
> venturing off on my own. I think we have a pretty long day in port
> that day. I'm hoping for at least 3 hours or so at the Baths, not the
> 45 minutes to an hour that's usually figured in. How much time did
> you actually have at The Baths (not in transit).
>
> Thanks,
> Lee

It was a 4-hour excursion. The ferry to Virgin Gorda took 30 minutes,
and it was 25 minutes coming back. I didn't measure the actual time
at the beach, but with the bus rides figured in, it was probably
around 2 1/2 hours. Yes, you could probably get in some extra time
(depending on how long your ship is in port). We could probably have
been there an extra hour. However, you may LOSE some time by having
to time the ferries and taxis. I had been told that the commercial
ferry takes 45 minutes, which was longer than our trip, and
of course, the ferries only run on certain schedules, so you may
not find ones that come and go at the times you'd like. We were
scheduled to leave at 4pm, so had to be back on ship by 3:30pm -- if
you have a longer day in port, it may not be an issue for you to
take the cheaper trip on your own (or if you don't mind getting up
very early). I'd suggest checking out the time schedules for the
ferries in advance, and the hours you're scheduled to be in port,
and see what works out best. Personally, we wouldn't have wanted
to leave the ship any earlier than we did (we gathered for the
excursion at 8:15am), because we're not early risers - and we
wouldn't have wanted to push the upper limits on time for the
return trip. So for us, I doubt we'd have had more time going on
our own, and I know it would have been more stressful because I'd
have been too worried about making sure we didn't miss the ship.

Juliana L Holm <jholm@osf1.gmu.edu> wrote in
news:c1027e$ubm@portal.gmu.edu:

> A. Brown <abrown_151junkm> wrote:
>>> This would be incorrect. We took the ferry on our own and it was
>>> about a half hour.
>
>> That is good to know - I was misinformed. Perhaps the person was
>> referring to both ferry and taxi time combined,
>
> Possible. Our taxi was less than 5 minutes, and we walked right on a
> ferry, but there could be some delay.
>
> or was just estimating
>> the time.
>
> Or trying to hard sell the cruiseline's excursion.
>

No - it was someone who had done the tour on their own, definitely
not trying to sell the ship excursion.