Tortola is said by some to have the best beaches in the Caribbean. But there are no public buses. Taxis are generally expensive and it could be cheaper to rent a car and share if you plan to explore the island. We have found no free wifi unless with a purchase, that included in the port shops and cafe areas as well as bars walking around town. It is run by the British banking industry. The town is very small and many cruisers will take the transfer to Cane Garden Bay Beach, which is only a short stop on most Island Bus Tours. The beach is near the Rum Distillery, both seen on our Island Bus Tour Film. If walking around there is little in the port where you dock, and the dark, hidden, and rather politely titled FOLK MUSEUM, is a historic record of a dark era in our past. It shows how the island was taken with bloodshed, and then how slaves were shipped there. We have reprinted the passage from the romantic novel American Portrait because it does kind of nail the way you might feel.

The port itself now has an award-winning shopping park, and there are bars and cafes on the few roads. Between them, you will find craft stalls and shopping. The other local features are the Botanical Gardens, a small sugar museum and the ferry to other islands or the fort. Features requiring transit are Island Bus Tour and Cane Garden Bay Beach. The walking tour offered in the magazine as you arrive has about a dozen stops, most being shops.

• BEACHES – Tortola is said to have some of the best beaches.
• Cane Garden Bay is on the North Shore, with bars, shade, crystal clear water and many water sports available.
• Nicloles Brewers Bay, is near Cane Bay, not advertised, and it is likely you might be the only ones there. 
• Brewers Bay is a quieter beach near a campground with s snack shop. It has shaded areas. Calm water preferred by serious snorkelers as it has a reef.
• Josiah’s Bay is on the East and is a wide sandy beach. It has snack bars and is used by surfers in the winter when there is swell.
• BrandyWine Bay is a half-moon white sand beach just east of Road Town with very calm water and shaded ‘bohios’ and restrooms. This is the Bay they wish to develop for Cruise Passengers as a centre, but the beach needs widening, and the road moved along with other things that residents have objected to before the plans have even been submitted. TBA.
• Long Bay is a mile of white sand at Tortola’s West End.
• Smuggler’s Cove: An off road experience to Smuggler’s Cove will find a treasure of a crescent-shaped beach with many Seagrape trees for shade.