The British Virgin Islands are a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean, more than fifty islands and cays beginning just east of St. John, a ferry ride and a passport away. Tortola has the airport, the ferries and most of the houses; Virgin Gorda has The Baths; Jost Van Dyke the beach bars; Anegada the reef. Choose the island first.
No villa here is listed yet; the island guides are. Listings follow as owners on Tortola, Virgin Gorda and Jost Van Dyke join.
Four main islands, and none alike.
Tortola is a ridge with the capital and the airport; Virgin Gorda has the granite boulders of The Baths; Jost Van Dyke is beach bars and one road; Anegada is flat coral ringed by reef.
Another country, with a border.
Every visitor, US citizens and children included, carries a passport book or a US passport card, per the Government of the Virgin Islands. The money is the US dollar and the language English.
Choose the island first.
Only a ferry or a launch joins the islands, so the island comes before the house. Tortola is the easy base; each island beyond it is quieter, and more bound to the boat timetable.
Stay on Tortola for the ferries and the widest choice of houses: Road Town for the boats and the shops, Cane Garden Bay for a beach you walk to, the East End for a flight in or out. Virgin Gorda is slower, its days arranged around The Baths in the south and North Sound in the north. Jost Van Dyke and Anegada reward a second visit, planned around the boat, since every island beyond Tortola adds a crossing to each arrival and departure.
Every island on one mapThe British islands beside St. Thomas and St. John, with the border, the airports and the ferry docks.
Tortola is the main island of the British Virgin Islands and the one most visitors land on: a single ridge with the capital, Road Town, and the harbors on its sheltered south side and the beaches strung along the north. It has the most houses, the airport and Road Town's supermarkets, and it asks for a car and a passport.
No villas here yet: read the Tortola guide11 mindrive to town
Virgin Gorda is the British Virgin Islands at a slower pace than Tortola: a small, steep island east of it with the granite boulders of the Baths at one end and the sailing water of North Sound at the other. It suits a party on its second Virgin Islands trip, ready to rent a car, carry a passport and plan around the ferry.
No villas here yet: read the Virgin Gorda guide19 mindrive to the ferry
Jost Van Dyke is the small, steep island north of Tortola where a week in the British Virgin Islands is lived between two bays: Great Harbour, with the ferry, the customs office and Foxy's, and White Bay, with the Soggy Dollar and the sand the day boats sail in for. It suits a party happy to live by the ferry.
No villas here yet: read the Jost Van Dyke guide9 mindrive to the ferry
Anegada is the odd one out in the British Virgin Islands: a flat coral island at the northern edge, ringed by Horseshoe Reef, its north-shore beaches empty at the end of sand roads and its lobster landed to order. The catch is the ferry: three sailing days a week, two weeks on and two off, which makes it a second visit rather than a first.
No villas here yet: read the Anegada guide12 mindrive to the ferry
Peter Island is a private island in the British Virgin Islands, across the Sir Francis Drake Channel from Road Town, and staying there means staying at Peter Island Resort, rebuilt after the 2017 hurricanes. It suits a couple or a family that wants one beach, one resort and no decisions; the price is that every meal and every boat is the resort's.
No villas here yet: read the Peter Island guideScrub Island is a private island off Tortola's east end, a short launch ride from the airport, and staying there means Scrub Island Resort, Spa & Marina, an Autograph Collection hotel where no cars are allowed. It suits travelers who want a pool, a marina and a boat waiting by the runway; the catch is that every restaurant on the island is the resort's.
No villas here yet: read the Scrub Island guideGuana Island is a private island just north of Tortola, nearly all of it left wild, with seven beaches, miles of trails and a single small resort. Only the resort's guests may land, on its own boat from Beef Island, and there are no private homes to rent. It suits a small party that wants a beach to itself.
No villas here yet: read the Guana Island guideThe capital of the British Virgin Islands is a working harbor: in Road Town, Tortola, the ferries, the cruise pier, the charter fleets and the island's full-size groceries all meet the water, and the houses climb the hills behind. Stay here for the boats and the shops, and accept that every beach is a drive.
No villas here yet: read the Road Town guide9 mindrive to the ferry
At West End, Tortola, the road runs out and the boats take over: the marina at Soper's Hole on the harbor side, Long Bay and Smuggler's Cove over the hill, and the ferry terminal for the boats from Red Hook and Jost Van Dyke. Stay for the beaches and the boats, and accept the hour's drive to the airport.
No villas here yet: read the West End guide33 mindrive to town
Cane Garden Bay is Tortola's beach village, a crescent of sand on the north coast with bars along it, villas behind and houses climbing the hills, over the ridge from Road Town. Stay here for a swim and a dinner you walk to, and accept the company: on a cruise day the sand fills by late morning.
No villas here yet: read the Cane Garden Bay guide17 mindrive to town
One headland east of Cane Garden Bay and down a switchback road, Brewers Bay on Tortola is the quiet version: reef at both ends of the sand, one beach bar and a few houses on the slopes. It suits snorkelers and anyone who would rather cook on a terrace than share a beach; dinner out means a drive.
No villas here yet: read the Brewers Bay guide15 mindrive to town
Almost everyone who flies into the British Virgin Islands lands on Beef Island: the territory's main airport takes up much of it, the Virgin Gorda ferries leave from Trellis Bay, and the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge ties it to Tortola's East End. Together they make the flat, practical end of Tortola, for a party that flies in, island-hops out and can live beside a runway.
No villas here yet: read the East End and Beef Island guide25 mindrive to town
Tortola's surf beach is Josiah's Bay, a wide strand at the foot of a green valley on the East End side, with villas on the slopes above and the airport close behind. Come to surf in winter and swim in summer, and respect the water: there is no lifeguard, and the rip is real.
No villas here yet: read the Josiah's Bay guide23 mindrive to town
Spanish Town is Virgin Gorda's port and only town, on the flat southern ground known as The Valley. It is the practical choice for a first visit, with the ferry, the grocery stores and the Baths a short, level drive away. The catch is a working port and a ferry day that ends early.
No villas here yet: read the Spanish Town and The Valley guide3 mindrive to the ferry
North Sound is the sheltered lagoon at the top of Virgin Gorda and the island's sailing water, a ring of resorts and small islands that most visitors reach by boat from the dock at Gun Creek. Stay here for the water, the launch to dinner and the view across it, and accept that the car stops at the dock.
No villas here yet: read the North Sound guide20 mindrive to the ferry
Leverick Bay is the one resort village on Virgin Gorda's North Sound that the road reaches: a small marina with a restaurant, beach bars, a store and a spa at the water's edge, and villas on the steep hill above. It suits a party that wants the sound and its Friday night on the beach without giving up the car.
No villas here yet: read the Leverick Bay guide23 mindrive to the ferry
The beach that made Jost Van Dyke famous is White Bay, a long run of white sand west of Great Harbour lined with beach bars, the Soggy Dollar among them, with the rental houses on the hill above. The day boats own it at midday. Stay here for the mornings and evenings, when the sand is yours.
No villas here yet: read the White Bay guideEvery ferry to Jost Van Dyke ties up in Great Harbour, the island's main settlement: a jetty with the customs office on it, a beach lined with restaurants and small stores, and Foxy's Tamarind Bar at the east end. Stay near the water to have the dock, dinner and the morning boat on foot, and accept a working harbor's hours.
No villas here yet: read the Great Harbour guide5 mindrive to the ferry
The Baths on Virgin Gorda are granite boulders and sea pools, on the National Parks Trust's day pass, $3 an adult as of October 2026, which covers Devil's Bay too; Savannah Bay, the long beach north of Spanish Town, is free. On Tortola's West End, Long Bay is a mile of sand and Smuggler's Cove has reef close to shore. White Bay on Jost Van Dyke is at its quietest before the day boats arrive in late morning, and on Anegada, Loblolly Bay has Horseshoe Reef close enough to swim to.
Calmest today, Oct 23: The Baths, White Bay and Savannah Bay. From the morning swell against the way each bay opens, our read from the map; each beach page has the numbers.
The Baths are the most famous sight in the British Virgin Islands.
Savannah Bay is Virgin Gorda's long, quiet beach, a curve of sand where the island narrows between The Valley and North Sound, with a reef close to shore and nothing for sale on it.
Cane Garden Bay beach is the Tortola most people picture.
Crook Bay is a small cove of sand and boulders on Virgin Gorda's south shore.
Devil's Bay is the reward at the end of the boulder trail on Virgin Gorda.
Lambert Beach is the wide, quiet bay on Tortola's north-east shore, a long run of sand east of Stony Bay Point with a resort behind it and little else in sight.
Leverick Bay beach is a small strip of sand on Virgin Gorda's North Sound.
Little Trunk Bay is the small, quiet cove just north of Spring Bay on Virgin Gorda: white sand between granite boulders, clear water and usually nobody on it.
Long Bay on Virgin Gorda is not the long beach on Tortola but a small half-moon of sand tucked inside Mountain Point on the northwest tip.
Mahoe Bay is a small, calm cove on Virgin Gorda's northwest coast, below a hillside of villas and beside one small resort, with a reef close in and the Sir Francis Drake Channel beyond.
Mountain Trunk Bay is the quiet cove below the Nail Bay estate on Virgin Gorda's northwest coast.
Nail Bay is the villa estate on Virgin Gorda's northwest slope and the long beach below it.
Trunk Bay on Tortola is a long, quiet strand on the north shore, the next bay east of Brewers Bay, with villas on the hillside above and nothing on the sand but the sand.
December to April is the dry season and the busy one; February to April are the driest months, about 2 inches of rain each by our read, since the territory publishes no station normals. Hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30, and 17 of the 19 storms that passed within 100 km of Road Town in 34 seasons came from August to October; November brings the most rain.
Highs of 84 to 86 and the driest months, by our read. The BVI Spring Regatta races out of Nanny Cay on Tortola around the turn of March and April, and one storm in 34 seasons came this way, in December.
The sea warms to 83 to 85 and the highs reach 87 to 90. Tortola's Emancipation Festival runs from late July into August, and 7 of the 19 storms on the record fell in July and August.
The three wettest months, November the wettest at about 6 inches. September and October hold 11 of the 19 storms, Irma among them in 2017, and some North Sound resorts close for part of the autumn.
British Virgin Islands weather by monthRain, sea temperature, the hurricane record and the rate index, month by month.
In the Caribbean east of Puerto Rico, at the eastern end of the Virgin Islands, an archipelago in the Leeward Islands; the BVI begin just east of St. John. Tortola, the largest island, holds the capital, Road Town, and the territory's highest point, Sage Mountain, 1,710 feet by the National Parks Trust's figure; Virgin Gorda lies east of it across the Sir Francis Drake Channel, and Anegada, a flat coral island, sits apart about 15 miles north of Virgin Gorda.
No. The British Virgin Islands are a British Overseas Territory, separate from the US Virgin Islands next door, so a boat from St. Thomas or St. John crosses a border and clears immigration at the dock.
The border. St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix are US territory, reached from the mainland on a domestic flight with no passport; the BVI are British, with their own passport rule and arrival levy. Much else is shared: the US dollar, English, driving on the left, and the same Atlantic time all year.
Yes, every visitor, US citizens and children included: a passport book, or for a US citizen a passport card, valid for the whole stay, under the Government of the Virgin Islands' rule in force since March 1, 2025. The driver's license that gets a US citizen onto St. John gets nobody into the BVI. A visitor is admitted for up to a month, per the UK government, as of October 2026.
The US dollar, by the territory's Legal Tender (Adoption of United States Currency) Act, though the islands are British. Carry cash for the smaller islands: we found no bank machine at Great Harbour on Jost Van Dyke as of October 2026, while Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour has a Banco Popular branch.
English. Menus, road signs, the rental contract and the entry form are all in English, and the islands keep Atlantic Standard Time all year with no daylight saving, the same clock as St. Thomas.
Sailing first: short hops between sheltered anchorages, and the BVI Spring Regatta each spring at Nanny Cay. Then The Baths on Virgin Gorda, and the wreck of the RMS Rhone, sunk by a hurricane in 1867 and lying 20 to 80 feet down off Salt Island in a National Parks Trust marine park, reached by dive boat. At the table, fish and fungi, a cornmeal and okra side, is the territory's own dish.
The guest writes to you.
List your house once, for one flat fee a year, never a percentage. You reply, you set the price, you take the booking. We never touch the money.