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Waking up to more donkeys

The mansions of Peter Bay

Today was the day of our trip to the British Virgin Islands. We woke up and unfortunately had to skip breakfast in order to meet the boat in Cruz Bay. The boat came on time around 8:10 and we went aboard. There were five other couples aboard, all of whom were vacationing in St. Thomas and had already been picked up. The captain was a young guy named Andy, and his assistant was a young woman whose name I've forgotten. They were both very nice and knowledgable. They asked several times if people wanted drinks. The boat was called the Stormy Petrel, after a bird that disappears when storms come near. We sailed out of Cruz Bay and headed north, passing our resort and all the North Shore beaches. It was cool seeing everything from that vantage point. Andy pointed out all the mansions on Peter Bay, including country star Kenny Chesney's.

One of the beautiful islands we passed on the way to Virgin Gorda

Lara and the Stormy Petrel

Our first stop was the Baths on Virgin Gorda. We passed many islands on the way there, and they all looked very similar, with the same type of vegetation as St. John. To the untrained eye they all looked the same. It was a fun and beautiful boat ride. Andy pointed out the islands and gave names and anecdotes for many of them as we rode by. We reached Virgin Gorda and went into Spanish Town briefly to go through customs. There were many beautiful, expensive-looking yachts there. We bought some cookies from a little bakery there run by a Frenchman. After poking around a bit we were back on the Stormy Petrel. Andy and his assistant handled all the passport/customs stuff.

The Baths

Lara at the Baths

We headed down the coast toward the Baths. The Baths are a formation of huge granite boulders. Many are leaning against each other and form cool little rooms with the clear seawater passing through them. The Stormy Petrel anchored about 40 yards offshore and we donned our snorkel gear to swim ashore. As we swam in we could see that some of the granite boulders were totally underwater and had coral on them. There was a decent number of fish there too, but some of the coral was dead, including huge skeletons of elkhorn coral. It was kind of similar to trunk in that much of the coral was dead most likely because of all the traffic it sees.

The Baths

The Baths

Leaving our snorkel gear on the beach, we entered the Baths. The formation created a series of rooms and passageways which Andy led us through. It was a lot of fun, and it's visually spectacular. Waves rush through some of the passageways which is pretty cool. It wasn't very crowded the time we were there, which was great. We took a number of pictures and did a lot of rock scrambling. At the end we jumped off of a 10-foot rock into the water and then swam to shore. I would definitely recommend a trip to the baths. While the snorkeling isn't spectacular, the rock formations are, and it's a lot of fun.

The restaurant on Cooper Island

Cooper Island

The group swam back to the boat and we headed for our lunch destination, Cooper Island. While on the ship we chose what we wanted off of the restaurant's menu and Andy radioed it in to the restaurant. When we got there the food was almost done. Andy said that Cooper Island has a population of less than 10, and they're there basically to run a small hotel and restaurant there. It was a beautiful little island, with a beautiful beach, and with vegetation and mountainous terrain that looked like St. John or any of the British Virgin Islands that we had already passed. Lunch was great...Lara and I split the conch fritters. Neither of us are seafood lovers, but it wasn't fishy and we loved them. I had to order them since I had heard so much about them on Internet message boards. Lara loved her pasta salad, and my jerk chicken wrap was good too.

Peter Island Snorkeling

Peter Island Snorkeling: Conch!

Our next stop was Peter Island for some snorkeling. I had looked at staying there for our honeymoon, but it was too expensive. We stopped in a little bay that had some very nice, healthy coral formations and anchored in the middle of the water. There were tons of fish and it was probably the best snorkeling I've done so far, but I wouldn't say it was necessarily better than that you can find on St. John. There was just more of it. It had the same kind of fish and coral but there was no sign of damage to the coral...very nice. Lara enjoyed the snorkeling more because she had a snorkeling belt—a little foam float that wraps around your waste. Not that you can't float effortlessly in the Caribbean—it's just a great thing to give you peace of mind and confidence. She was pointing out some of the aqua/green parrotfish to me and it made me happy to know she was enjoying herself.

Lara and the Peace Hill windmill

Looking east from Peace Hill

After 30-45 minutes we boarded the boat again and headed home. We reached St. John and Andy's assistant pointed out Waterlemon Cay, saying that it had unbelievable snorkeling. I'm excited because we're heading there tomorrow. Arriving back in Cruz Bay, we went through customs again and said goodbye to everyone. Lara and I both enjoyed the trip and agreed it was well worth the money. We got in our Jeep and headed back to Caneel. After stopping there for a restroom break we got back in the Jeep to go see the view from Peace Hill. It's a very short uphill climb from the dirt parking lot off of the road. It used to be the place where the "Christ of the Caribbean" statue stood before Hurricane Marilyn took it down. The ruins of an old sugar mill and windmill are there too. The view is great from up there, which is why we went. Unfortunately the vegetation blocks much of the view, but it's worth the short hike to go there. You can see many of the beaches and other islands from up there.

We're back on the balcony of our room and I'm writing today's portion of the trip report eagerly awaiting our dinner tonight in Cruz Bay at Tage. I've heard nothing but good things about it. More on this tomorrow.

Lara and I at Tage

Tage is now my favorite restaurant in the whole world. Not that I've traveled the world trying the world's best restaurants, but it has now attained this coveted title. We had a chocolate martini to share between us. It was delicious. Lara said it's her new favorite drink. We skipped appetizers because we were so full after having the appetizer and meal at Chateau Bordeaux that we couldn't eat dessert. I had the beef and Lara had chicken stuffed with ham. It was ridiculously good. I had the souffle for dessert and Lara had sugar donuts with Kahlua. Both were delicious. Unbelievable experience...the service was great too...everyone was helpful and friendly.

Lara at Honeymoon Beach	Goats on the cliffs outside Cruz Bay	The mansions of Peter Bay	Part of the north side of St. John	Secluded beaches on the British Virgin Islands	Secluded beaches on the British Virgin Islands
A dolphin/porpoise near Virgin Gorda	The Baths	The Baths	Lara at the Baths	The Baths
The Baths	The Baths	The Baths	Our guide Andy just before jumping off the rock	The Baths
Lara hitting the water	Me hitting the water	Leaving the Baths and Virgin Gorda	Leaving the Baths and Virgin Gorda	Lara and I with Virgin Gorda in the background	Cooper Island restaurant
Me at Peter Island	Peter Island Snorkeling	Peter Island Snorkeling	Peter Island Snorkeling	Peter Island Snorkeling	Peter Island Snorkeling: Parrot Fish
Peter Island Snorkeling: Parrot Fish	Peter Island Snorkeling: Parrot Fish	Peter Island Snorkeling: Tons of coral and fish	Peter Island Snorkeling	Peter Island Snorkeling	Peter Island Snorkeling: Parrot Fish
Peter Island Snorkeling	Peter Island Snorkeling	Peter Island Snorkeling	Peter Island Snorkeling: Parrot Fish	Peter Island Snorkeling: Parrot Fish	Peter Island Snorkeling
Lara and the Peace Hill windmill	I wasn't posing like that...she took the picture while I was taking off my sunglasses	Me at the Peace Hill windmill	Clemson on Peace Hill	Peace Hill	Peace Hill
Lara inside the Peace Hill windmill	Inside our room	Inside our room	On our balcony	On the Caneel grounds	Lara posing by a Caneel sign
Lara outside Tage	Me outside Tage