Bvi

[scuba kbell]

This month I am going to Tortola for a few days and then Virgin Gorda for a few days. Does anyone have any recommendations for dive shops on either island? In Tortola I am staying in the West End and in Virgin Gorda I am staying at Mango Bay. Also, is there any opportunity to go shore diving on either island? Is it worth it to rent a car on either/both islands? Does anyone have any places/beaches that you think are a must see on either island for a first time visitor on non-diving days? Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[PatW]

You can shore dive right at Mango Bay. If there is any real chop, the visibility will not be good. It does not get very deep. But I have seen angel fish, trumpet fish, and even a turtle there. You can rent a tank rather inexpensively at Dive BVI in Spanish Town.

I have always used Dive BVI. I have always had good luck with them. They have a decent shop, good dive masters, and the go to nice sites. The RMS Rhone is a great dive. The DM usually has a pretty in depth spiel about the Rhone which is well worth the dive in itself. I usually do not like wreck dives. So if you can fit it in, I would do it.

I have always rented a car when at Mango Bay. Mango Bay is too far away from everything to work otherwise. It is a short drive into Spanish town. You have little grills at Mango Bay and it is easy to get something to grill in town if you don't want to eat at one of the restaurants in Spanish town. Also, getting supplies for lunch and breakfast makes sense. The rooms have kitchenettes and it saves time, calories and money doing it yourself.

 

[TSandM]

I can't help you with dive ops, because we dove off a boat, but HERE is my report of our BVI trip. I thought the diving was very pleasant, and we saw a lot of interesting things. On Virgin Gorda, the Baths are well worth an afternoon's relaxing.

 

[diversteve]

The Baths are world famous - you can snorkel there - it's really too shallow to dive. Not to mention the 15min. walk down a narrow path.
Virgin Gorda--The Baths--in the British Virgin Islands.

Other things to do: Ultimate BVI - British Virgin Islands - Dining, Hotel, Beach & Sailing Guide

For dinner we liked Rock Cafe - it's nicer than the name suggests. Try the Mine Shaft Cafe on buffet night also. The Friday Night BBQ at Leverick Bay is pretty popular, locals, ex-pats, tourists all go. You'll definitely need a car to get there as it's on the north end. Virgin Gorda is long and narrow - so you'll need a car to get around.

+1 for DiveBVI, one of the best dive outfits we've ever used.

You can get out to the Aquarium dive site from shore (ask DiveBVI) also but it's in the boat channel so take a flag - sailboats are pretty quiet and there's a lot of them there. It's shallow but it's really a good dive, we did it as a 2nd dive one morning.

I've only been on Tortola once but the West End is a long way from Roadtown - I would guess something in the 15-20 mile range. You're actually much closer to St. John than Roadtown there. There is a small touristy - maybe a dozen shops - area at Soper's Hole - we went in there once as part of a day sail. It's directly across from the ferry terminal if that's how you're getting there.

 

[Rhone Man]

On VG, the only real dive operator of note is Dive BVI.

On Tortola, there are lots, but if you are staying in West End, I would suggest Blue Water Divers (who are located in Nanny Cay).

Not a lot of shore diving in BVI - you can do some shore dives in Brewers Bay on Tortola though.

Feel free to drop me a PM if you need any more detailed information (although I am travelling on business for the next week, so I might be slow to respond).

 

[Thiad]

+2 for DiveBVI. Dove with them for two days last week and was incredibly happy with both the company and with their crew. They were very professional, had a lovely boat (Sea Dragon for us), and really know the area well. I was pretty happy with the diving though the visibility wasn't as great as I'd like.

Dive the Chikuzen if you can - well, well worth it.

 

[scuba kbell]

Thanks everyone for the great advice so far! One last question: Are the same dive sites accessible from both Virgin Gorda and Tortola? I see some of the same sites listed on the web for ops on both islands. I was thinking of only diving from Virgin Gorda since we will be there a bit longer and will be closer to where the boats leave from. Would I miss any good sites that can only be reached from Tortola?

 

[Thiad]

I only did one dive in Tortola - Brewer's Bay Pinnacles. It was lovely, but the distance seemed quite a bit (and it's all relative), from Virgin Gorda. DiveBVI headed us out to Cockroach Island as well as The Dogs for our dives with them (as well as Chikuzen). We had fantastic conditions and did one dive called "Visible" which was very nice. Apparently it's usually bad visibility or bad currents - can't remember which, and doesn't get dove often.

Regardless, you are going to have a fantastic time. We had the incredible fortune of seeing four beautiful reef sharks during our dives - two!! at Painted Walls (near Dead Chest). That was simply the most amazing dive I've had this year.

 

[diversteve]

I think you'll actually do better from Virgin Gorda. We dove with DiveBVI out of their main location and in addition to running all the way down the channel to dive off Norman Island - and Salt (the Rhone), Cooper, Ginger etc. - once or twice we went up to the Dogs. Seal Dog Rock is a great dive - thousands of baitfish on the BVI side - deeper on the other. That might be too far for a boat from south Tortola to dive regularly - IDK...

 

[Rhone Man]

Thanks everyone for the great advice so far! One last question: Are the same dive sites accessible from both Virgin Gorda and Tortola? I see some of the same sites listed on the web for ops on both islands. I was thinking of only diving from Virgin Gorda since we will be there a bit longer and will be closer to where the boats leave from. Would I miss any good sites that can only be reached from Tortola?

Each dive op (naturally) tends to emphasise the dives that are closer to their base. The Dive Operators in VG will do the wreck of the Rhone once a week or so, whereas the Road Town based operators pretty much do it daily. The VG operators would almost never do sites like the Indians, Mercurius Rock or Santa Monica Rock - too far away. Similarly, very few of the Tortola dive operators go to the wreck of the Chikuzen, whereas Dive BVI in Virgin Gorda does it every Thursday.