Eight Favorite BVI Walks
If you want to get to know the BVI more intimately, try exploring it by foot. I am an avid walker, who likes walks that are pleasant and scenic and where I am immersed in nature. Join me on a few of my favorite BVI walks and explore these islands at the same time. You won’t regret it.
Some Walks on Tortola, the BVI’s Main Island
A Sunset Walk on Long Bay
Walking Long Bay Beach at sunset is one of my preferred activities. It is a Zen experience, calming and reaffirming that there can be such beauty in the world. There are two Long Bays in the BVI, one is on Beef Island, which is also beautiful and definitely worth a visit.
But Long Bay, at the West End of Tortola is dear to my heart. It is a mile long (or close to it) and its powdery white sand seems silky under my bare feet. You can swim at Long Bay, but to me it is about the walk, especially late afternoon when the sun is setting. The hill at the end of the beach has special significance. A settlement of Taino Indians was once located behind the beach and its residents worshipped the hill at its western end as a deity known as a zemi.
You will share the beach with wading birds, and scuttling crabs. Pelicans fly overhead and dive into the sea after their dinner, and are a source of non-ending entertainment. You will also share the beach with furry friends, since Long Bay is a favorite place for dog walkers.
Gardens and Flamingos from Long Bay to Smugglers
This is another favorite walk of mine as well as for visitors and local walking groups. Located between Long Bay beach and Smuggler’s Cove, the route is relatively flat and a boon to those with bad knees or an aversion to steep hills.
For the most part the villas at Long Bay are set back from the road fronted by tropical gardens with an explosion of magenta bougainvillea, scarlet hibiscus and fragrant oleander. I usually take the bottom road starting at the Long Bay end. The area on the north side of the road is owned by the BVI Government. Once a luxuriant palm grove, Hurricane Irma took down most of the palms in 2017. It is now overgrown with thick tropical foliage; an occasional palm tree pops up here and there. The area was the location of the Taino Village that I mentioned earlier.
As you go a little further along you will see the Belmont Salt Pond peeking through the brush, and is now the hang out of several roseate flamingos that feed on the brine shrimp found in the pond.
The road is unpaved so it has a nice rural feel, and except for the occasional car that is heading to Smugglers Cove, there is little traffic. The reward, of course, is a swim at Smuggler’s Cove a small gem of a beach. A reef protects it from high surf and provides a shelter for fish that makes for some enjoyable snorkeling.
Views Between Smugglers and Sopers
If you are looking for more of a challenge, continue westward from Smuggler’s Cove to Soper’s Hole. The road will get steep and craggy, so make sure to wear sturdy shoes and bring a bottle of water. Continue along the coast a 100-feet up or so with the ocean to your right. A few villas are found along the road, but for the most part you will enjoy scenic views out onto Jost Van Dyke, the Tobagoes and Little Thatch.
Eventually you will descend into Sopers Hole. Across the harbor you will see the charming Caribbean style Soper’s Hole Marina. If you feel ready for a meal or cold libation, follow the road eastward to the small bridge to Frenchman’s Cay. Several restaurants are located at this Caribbean style marina and shopping area.
A friend of mine who stays on a boat at Sopers Hole does this walk from the opposite direction, enjoying a rewarding dip at Smugglers Cove at the other end.
Hidden Treasures in Carrot Bay
This quaint fishing village is made for walking and exploring. A sea wall dominates the sea side of the village ,and houses and churches line the opposite side of the road. The Coal Pot restaurant is a fixture of the bay with a lovely mural decorating its tall front wall. A bit further along you will come to the North Shore Shell Museum. This small wooden lean-to perched on the water’s edge is filled with hundreds of conch shells collected by the owner, Egbert Donovan, and other of the bay’s fisher folks. Just after the Shell Museum is a sea pool where colorful wooden fishing boats are hauled out of the water. In the early morning and late afternoon you will find residents enjoying a dip in the sea poo enclosed by colorfully painted boulders. If you are in the mood for a beer or a rum, there are several bars along the way.
I last took this walk in December when I volunteered for the Audubon Christmas Bird Count and walked the bay’s back roads. Here you will find homes set back amongst tropical gardens. What fun it was to walk through these small and winding roads spotting king birds and doves There are homes with large breadfruit trees in the front yards and groves of mango and banana trees.
Tropical Rain Forest at Sage Mountain National Park
This is Tortola’s most well-known walk. The 127-acre park encompasses several eco systems from Caribbean dry forest to lush Caribbean “moist” forest. Sage Mountain was the first national park in the British Virgin Islands. Laurance Rockefeller the well-known American philanthropist and lover of all things BVI, purchased the top of the mountain, which encompassed Tortola’s highest point (1,716’). He then donated the area to the BVI government.
It was a wise move. This area of the BVI is unlike any other. There is a mahogany forest planted by BVI conservationist J.R. O’Neal, and a large area of dense tropical vegetation that has the attributes of a tropical rainforest (although its actual annual rainfall is short of what it takes for official rain forest designation). But walking here is moist and damp under foot and towering ficus trees, tall elephant ears and luxurious ferns abound.
Follow the graveled paths and look out for the signs and you will enjoy a most pleasant day out in the BVI.
Explore the BVI’s Virgin Gorda
Beauty at The Baths and Devil’s Bay
Found in the Virgin Gorda Valley, the Baths are easy to reach from the Tortola to Virgin Gorda ferry, or anywhere you might be staying on VG. Take a taxi or your rental car to the parking lot at the Top of the Baths, where there is a Caribbean restaurant and small shopping area. Start with a snack or coffee and take in the view overlooking Virgin Gorda’s famed granite boulders.
The path to The Baths which starts at the parking lot is narrow and sandy and winds through sand colored boulders, Turks head cactus, wild frangipani and other native succulents. The walk is easy enough that I have taken my Mom, not known for her athletic prowess. She had a great time! When you get to the bottom enjoy the immensely beautiful beach and its looming boulders.
From here, enter a small gap in the towering boulders and you are in a fairyland filled with sea pools and ethereal shafts of light. This is where it got a bit more challenging for Mom, but there are ropes and ladders to assist visitors over the rocks. Eventually you come out at an even more spectacular beach, Devil’s Bay. This beach is perfect for a swim or snorkel along its rocky edges. The walk continues along another path from Devil’s Bay to the parking lot. A perfect circuit through some of the BVI’s most stunning scenery.
Explore Gorda Peak
Gorda Peak is Virgin Gorda’s highest point. Up until a few years ago, I had amazingly never been to Gorda Peak. So I jumped at the chance to go there with my husband and a friend who has a house on Virgin Gorda. The path to the peak (1,370’) winds through Caribbean dry forest, one of the last remaining examples in the region. Protecting this habitat is a priority for conservationists. The area is the home of several endangered plant species including the tricky to pronounce, Callyptranthes thomasiana and Zanthoxylum thomasiana. Interestingly the Virgin Gorda Gecko, the world’s smallest lizard, is native to the area.
The path ends at a lookout, which affords lovely views of the Virgin Gorda hillsides and out onto the island’s lovely North Sound, home to the BVI’s most famous resorts (including Richard Branson’s Necker and Mosquito Islands) and an anchorage filled with charter boats and luxury mega yachts.
Norman Island has a Great BVI Walk
Norman Island’s Treasure Walk
Most people who go to Norman Island sail there, tying up to the mooring balls provided by the National Parks Trust at the Treasure Caves. The Bight, a deep bay with a glass-like surface, is a popular anchorage with yachtsman. If you are not sailing, you can also take the Pirate’s restaurant ferry to The Bight. The ferry is free if you have lunch at the restaurant.
Beyond swimming and sunning, Norman Island offers several good walks which start behind the restaurant. Pirates keeps a vegetable garden at the rear of the restaurant and on the way to the trail head have a look at the herbs and vegetables growing in neat rows.
The beginning of the trail to Money Bay begins just beyond the garden. Take the unpaved path upwards until you reach the fork in the road. If you want to go to Money Bay, and its beach on Norman’s south side, take the left-hand fork and continue up a moderately steep hill. Along the way, the trail affords lovely views of the Bight, and the islands beyond. But the reward is when you get to the hill’s crest and look down on the island’s rugged south shores and remote bays. Follow the trail down and you will be able to take a dip in the placid beach at Money Bay, and feel far from civilization.
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