I have found heaven on Earth. Gorgeous, lush, secluded, and tropical are simple descriptions for the British Virgin Islands. The locals are your best friends before you even meet them. You feel incredibly safe to the point you forget to lock the front door of your villa. You can spend the entire day on the public beach without seeing another human being. The wildlife is at your arm’s length. Join me on my first journey to my personal heaven on earth.
A blurb on the Travel Channel told me that the British Virgin Islands (BVI) were where I was headed. Hours were spent researching this unknown location. This chain of islands is the northern section of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean east of the US Virgin Islands. I quickly discovered this vacation was going to require automobiles, planes, and boats to get us to our desired destination. I found an eight-acre island, Marina Cay, which rented villas. A rum company, Pussers, owned the island. I figured what could be better than that on vacation! Booking the villa was as easy as two e-mails.
Getting There
I arrived at the airport early that May morning for a full day of flying into Beef Island, BVI, ahead of me. I disembark the airplane directly onto the runway and walk along a marked route to the customs/immigration area where I am greeted with big smiles and fresh lemonade.
After retrieving the luggage I followed the directions on the e-mail from Marina Cay. It said to exit the airport, turn left, walk until the sidewalk ends, walk across a wooden bridge, and finally cross the gravel to the dock where I catch the ferry. The e-mail failed to mention that it would be dark. There are no lights on the strange path but I found the dock, and a gentleman in a crisp white uniform took the bags and directs me to the back of a boat. I was concerned there would not be room due to the small boat and the amount of luggage. Luckily all fit and we headed out into the darkness.
All I could see were single lights everywhere in the sky, as if someone had hung large Christmas lights many feet above the water. It was beautiful. I had never seen anything like that. I ask what I am seeing and was informed there were sailboats anchored for the night, and the lights were the tops of their masts.
Marina Cay
Fifteen minutes later, as we arrived at the Marina Cay dock and I was feeling the day’s exhaustion. Alison, the lady who sent the e-mail, greeted me. She had flashlights and said the gentleman would bring the luggage to the villa. She gave me a brief tour of the island as we headed straight uphill to the villa. The only light comes from the glow of the moon and the flashlight. It already seemed incredibly peaceful. “There are only two villas on this side of the island,” Alison informs me. She told me that she had the restaurant leave a Caribbean salad in the villa refrigerator. When she left, I sat on the balcony under the stars enjoying the salad and listening to the water hit the shore below.
In the daylight I saw the amazing surroundings I had missed in the dark. I discovered the villa was on the side of a cliff directly above the water. The colors of the water are indescribable, vivid blues and greens. In the shallow water below stingrays circled, turtles walked on the rocks, and millions of fish swam. I could not wait to snorkel in the gorgeous water.
The cobblestone path to the beach is lined with flowers of every variety and color. The sweetness in the air from the flowers and the amazing views of the Caribbean waters over the tops of the greenery made time stop. Breathtaking! The restaurant building, painted with Caribbean reds and blues, was an open-air building that looked out over the bay and the beach. I spent the entire day on the white sands of Marina Cay. There were close to a total of thirty people that came and went during the day. Sailboats anchor off Marina Cay, and the passengers bring their dinghies onshore to eat at the restaurant. Peace and quiet is the theme of the island.
The Locale
I took a ferry to the island of Virgin Gorda to see The Baths, the National Park featured on the show that sparked this adventure. Amazing! Humongous granite boulders form caves and climbing obstacles. After an arduous hike in and out of these boulders and caves you come to a snorkeling mecca. The underwater visions with vividly colored fish are tremendous.
The locals in BVI are the kindest people I have ever met. The waitress joins us and got to know us during the busy lunch hour. The patron at the grocery store explained the history behind the wild grape tree in front of the store when he overheard a couple wondering what type of tree it was. The ferry driver gave me a perfect seashell when he discovered my daughter’s name was Shelby. Never once did I have the hair on my arms rise. I felt safer there than I do in my hometown.
All Good Things Come to an End
I spent two more days being lazy, drinking rum punches, making new friends, floating in the beautiful water, and enjoying paradise on earth. Unfortunately, I had to leave and go back to reality.
It has been nine years since that initial trip, and I have been back often. I have since discovered other villas and other islands. Every time I am debating on a new destination, but decide to return to BVI, I land on Beef Island and head to the end of the sidewalk to the wooden bridge.
Note: Pussers Marina Cay unfortunately had to close after Hurricane IRMA however, there are plenty of amazing places to visit in the British Virgin Islands chain! Visit the BVI tourism website to learn more about other islands.
