ShakaZulu
Contributor
Well, we finally made it back from the British Virgin Islands.
Sat 12/30: Arrived in Tortola, finally got a car and checked in at Sebastians, our hotel on the beach. Had dinner and went to sleep.
Sun 12/31: Woke up late, went for a kiteboarding session at Nanny Cay. Winds are 15-20mph everyday, but there is only one spot to launch and you better stay upwind or your kite/gear is gone. The winds blow east to west and there is no land if you miss the entrance. Rode for about an hour, got some air and the returned to our hotel. Layed out in the sun and had a few cocktails. That evening we went to Jost Van Dyk Island with the ferry and partook of the New Year Festivities at a bar called Foxy’s, too much fun and way too many “PainKillers”. Managed to get on the ferry and made it back to our hotel around 2:00am.
Mon 01/01: During the evening I realized I was getting sick, and woke up sick as a dog with the flu. My dahling girlfriend went to get me breakfast and some medicine, but I was out for the count. She enjoyed a fun day, reading and laying out.
Tues 01/02: No improvement in my condition, but we decided to drive around on the Island and explore some beaches. Lisa started to cough, and by the end of the day, we were both in bed, sick.
Wed 01/03: Me still sick, haven been woken up 50 times by the rooster that wakes the entire Island up at 4:00am, decided that I think I can dive. Got my gear, arrived at Blue Water Divers, and loaded the boat. Went to pickup some divers on their sailboat, and did a dive at Peter Island and Norman Island. I was the only person with a BP/W on the boat, and after some humorous TEK comments, we went diving. I wasn’t very impressed with the color of the underwater surroundings, but it was two good dives. We followed the DM, leading us around. My pictures suck, but here is a link with some pics:
http://www.scubapost.net/forums/shakazulu/BVI/
After the diving, I realized that we needed to see a doctor, as our flu now turned to bronchitis. Dr Cambell from the Eureka medical center finally saw us, and set us off with $140.00 of prescription drugs. That night was the full moon party at a BomBa Shack, about 500ft from our hotel. They serve mushroom tea (the magic kind) at this event, and the crazyness went on till 4:00am, that’s right, about the same time when the rooster started to wake the rest of the Island.
Thur 01/04: So, with no sleep from the 40000000watts of island music, and the rooster noise, we felt great. I cancelled the diving for the rest of the week, and crawled back in bed.
Fri 01/05: We woke up, and even though we were still sick, decided to catch a ferry to Virgin Gorda, and go checkout the baths. Amazing, just a bunch a big boulders, but they make a tourist attraction out of it.
Sat 01/06: Since we felt better, we decided to go layout on our favorite beach, Smuggler’s Cove. Around 12:00 we went back to the hotel to start packing. Caribbean Sun Airlines politely cancelled our flights from Tortola, so we had to cut short our vacation by a day in order to meet our connection flights in San Juan back to the US. We went for dinner at the Metropole in San Juan, and checked into the Best Western for that evening.
Sun 01/07: Traveling from San Juan, to Atlanta to San Diego, damn it’s soooooooo far.
PS: I found the locals to be very unfriendly, rudest people I have ever met, obviously there were exceptions. They have no respect for the visitors, and you pay a lot of money for poor services. All in all, I felt cheated and will never go back to these Islands. The attitude of the people ruined the trip for us…….
Sat 12/30: Arrived in Tortola, finally got a car and checked in at Sebastians, our hotel on the beach. Had dinner and went to sleep.
Sun 12/31: Woke up late, went for a kiteboarding session at Nanny Cay. Winds are 15-20mph everyday, but there is only one spot to launch and you better stay upwind or your kite/gear is gone. The winds blow east to west and there is no land if you miss the entrance. Rode for about an hour, got some air and the returned to our hotel. Layed out in the sun and had a few cocktails. That evening we went to Jost Van Dyk Island with the ferry and partook of the New Year Festivities at a bar called Foxy’s, too much fun and way too many “PainKillers”. Managed to get on the ferry and made it back to our hotel around 2:00am.
Mon 01/01: During the evening I realized I was getting sick, and woke up sick as a dog with the flu. My dahling girlfriend went to get me breakfast and some medicine, but I was out for the count. She enjoyed a fun day, reading and laying out.
Tues 01/02: No improvement in my condition, but we decided to drive around on the Island and explore some beaches. Lisa started to cough, and by the end of the day, we were both in bed, sick.
Wed 01/03: Me still sick, haven been woken up 50 times by the rooster that wakes the entire Island up at 4:00am, decided that I think I can dive. Got my gear, arrived at Blue Water Divers, and loaded the boat. Went to pickup some divers on their sailboat, and did a dive at Peter Island and Norman Island. I was the only person with a BP/W on the boat, and after some humorous TEK comments, we went diving. I wasn’t very impressed with the color of the underwater surroundings, but it was two good dives. We followed the DM, leading us around. My pictures suck, but here is a link with some pics:
http://www.scubapost.net/forums/shakazulu/BVI/
After the diving, I realized that we needed to see a doctor, as our flu now turned to bronchitis. Dr Cambell from the Eureka medical center finally saw us, and set us off with $140.00 of prescription drugs. That night was the full moon party at a BomBa Shack, about 500ft from our hotel. They serve mushroom tea (the magic kind) at this event, and the crazyness went on till 4:00am, that’s right, about the same time when the rooster started to wake the rest of the Island.
Thur 01/04: So, with no sleep from the 40000000watts of island music, and the rooster noise, we felt great. I cancelled the diving for the rest of the week, and crawled back in bed.
Fri 01/05: We woke up, and even though we were still sick, decided to catch a ferry to Virgin Gorda, and go checkout the baths. Amazing, just a bunch a big boulders, but they make a tourist attraction out of it.
Sat 01/06: Since we felt better, we decided to go layout on our favorite beach, Smuggler’s Cove. Around 12:00 we went back to the hotel to start packing. Caribbean Sun Airlines politely cancelled our flights from Tortola, so we had to cut short our vacation by a day in order to meet our connection flights in San Juan back to the US. We went for dinner at the Metropole in San Juan, and checked into the Best Western for that evening.
Sun 01/07: Traveling from San Juan, to Atlanta to San Diego, damn it’s soooooooo far.
PS: I found the locals to be very unfriendly, rudest people I have ever met, obviously there were exceptions. They have no respect for the visitors, and you pay a lot of money for poor services. All in all, I felt cheated and will never go back to these Islands. The attitude of the people ruined the trip for us…….
. I think if you charter a boat, you will definately have a different experience, not sure if I can spend two weeks, in such confined quarters with other smelly feet 
