--- title: "British Virgin Islands: Which Island, and How to Get There" url: https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi description: "The British Virgin Islands island by island: Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Jost Van Dyke and Anegada, the ferries from St. Thomas, and the passport you need." updated: 2026-10-21 source: https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi --- *Long Bay, Tortola: a leaning palm over white sand and small surf, a steep headland beyond.* British Virgin Islands # British Virgin Islands 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. The land 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. Arriving 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. Staying 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. ## Which island to stay on 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. Area to stay Beach (a palm) Ferry dock, airport Capital, main town Ferry route US and British waters [Open the full map](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/map) [Every island on one map](https://virginislandvilla.com/virgin-islands/map) The British islands beside St. Thomas and St. John, with the border, the airports and the ferry docks. ### [Tortola](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/areas/tortola) 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 guide](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/areas/tortola) 11 min drive to town ### [Virgin Gorda](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/areas/virgin-gorda) 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 guide](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/areas/virgin-gorda) 19 min drive to the ferry - Mahoe Bay 11 min ### [Jost Van Dyke](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/areas/jost-van-dyke) 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 guide](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/areas/jost-van-dyke) 9 min drive to the ferry - White Bay 13 min ### [Anegada](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/areas/anegada) 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 guide](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/areas/anegada) 12 min drive to the ferry [Compare all 18 areas side by side](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/areas) ## British Virgin Islands beaches 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](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/the-baths), [White Bay](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/white-bay) and [Savannah Bay](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/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, Virgin Gorda, from the water: granite boulders above turquoise water, a dinghy moored* [The Baths](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/the-baths) The Baths are the most famous sight in the British Virgin Islands. - Sheltered today - Entry fee - Busy on ship days - *Turquoise water and anchored boats off White Bay, Jost Van Dyke, seen past cactus* [White Bay](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/white-bay) White Bay is the Soggy Dollar Bar's beach. - Sheltered today - Free - *Savannah Bay, Virgin Gorda, from the overlook: white beach, reef-streaked water, a green headland* [Savannah Bay](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/savannah-bay) 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. - Sheltered today - Free - [Long Bay](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/long-bay) Long Bay Beach is a mile of sand on Tortola's West End. - Sheltered today - Free - [Apple Bay](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/apple-bay) Apple Bay beach is the surf break at Tortola's west end. - Sheltered today - Free - [Brewers Bay](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/brewers-bay) Brewers Bay is the quiet snorkeling beach on Tortola's north shore. - Sheltered today - Free - *Cane Garden Bay, Tortola, from the hillside: the curve of the beach, pale blue water, green ridges* [Cane Garden Bay](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/cane-garden-bay) Cane Garden Bay beach is the Tortola most people picture. - Sheltered today - Free - Busy on ship days - [Cow Wreck Beach](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/cow-wreck-beach) Cow Wreck Beach is the Anegada beach with the bar. - Exposed today - Free - *Granite boulders at The Baths on Virgin Gorda, seen from the water, west of Crook Bay* [Crook Bay, Virgin Gorda](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/crook-bay) Crook Bay is a small cove of sand and boulders on Virgin Gorda's south shore. - Free - *Devil's Bay, Virgin Gorda: rounded granite boulders in clear turquoise water, sailboats offshore* [Devil's Bay](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/devils-bay) Devil's Bay is the reward at the end of the boulder trail on Virgin Gorda. - Sheltered today - Entry fee - Walk in - [Josiah's Bay](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/josiahs-bay) Josiah's Bay beach is Tortola's surf beach. - Sheltered today - Free - [Lambert Beach](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/lambert-beach) 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. - Sheltered today - Free - [Leverick Bay beach, Virgin Gorda](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/leverick-bay) Leverick Bay beach is a small strip of sand on Virgin Gorda's North Sound. - Free - [Little Bay, Tortola](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/little-bay) Little Bay on Tortola is a small cove on the north-east shore. - Free - *Sand and granite boulders at dusk on Virgin Gorda's southwest shore, near The Baths* [Little Trunk Bay, Virgin Gorda](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/little-trunk-bay) 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. - Free - [Loblolly Bay](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/loblolly) Loblolly Bay is the beach people cross Anegada for. - Exposed today - Free - [Long Bay, Virgin Gorda](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/long-bay-virgin-gorda) 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. - Free - [Mahoe Bay](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/mahoe-bay) 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. - Sheltered today - Free - *Granite boulders and anchored catamarans off the coast of Virgin Gorda, seen from the hillside* [Mountain Trunk Bay, Virgin Gorda](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/mountain-trunk-bay) Mountain Trunk Bay is the quiet cove below the Nail Bay estate on Virgin Gorda's northwest coast. - Free - *A palm-lined bay and wooded headlands on Virgin Gorda, seen from the hillside above* [Nail Bay, Virgin Gorda](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/nail-bay) Nail Bay is the villa estate on Virgin Gorda's northwest slope and the long beach below it. - Free - [Smuggler's Cove](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/smugglers-cove) Smuggler's Cove is the beach at the far western tip of Tortola. - Sheltered today - Free - *Spring Bay, Virgin Gorda: a small sandy cove and shallow pool between huge granite boulders* [Spring Bay](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/spring-bay) Spring Bay is The Baths with room to sit. - Sheltered today - Entry fee - Busy on ship days - [Trunk Bay, Tortola](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/trunk-bay) 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. - Free [Compare all 23 beaches](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches) ## Getting to the British Virgin Islands 1. 1 · Fly Into Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport (EIS) on Beef Island, joined to Tortola by the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge. American Airlines flies nonstop from Miami; others connect through San Juan, St. Thomas, St. Maarten and Antigua, per the BVI Tourist Board as of October 2026. 2. 2 · Ferry From St. Thomas, Charlotte Amalie to Road Town is 50 minutes by Road Town Fast Ferry's figure, and Red Hook to West End runs three times a day as of October 2026; fares are quoted at booking. Virgin Gorda is a second ferry, Speedy's from Road Town or Trellis Bay, $30 one way as of October 2026. 3. 3 · Border A passport book or US passport card for everyone, per the Government of the Virgin Islands, and the online entry form before you travel. The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office lists a $10 levy on arrival, a $20 departure tax by ferry and a stay of up to one month without a visa, as of October 2026. 4. 4 · Car Rent one at the airport or in Road Town. Driving is on the left, a home license covers the first 30 days, and for longer stays the Department of Motor Vehicles issues a $10 temporary BVI license, by National's terms as of October 2026. On Jost Van Dyke, taxis run by arrangement. ## When to go to the British Virgin Islands 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. - Jan: dry and busy - Feb: dry and busy - Mar: dry and busy - Apr: dry and busy - May: quieter, warmer sea - Jun: quieter, warmer sea - Jul: quieter, warmer sea - Aug: quieter, warmer sea - Sep: the most rain - Oct: the most rain - Nov: the most rain - Dec: dry and busy - **High season** · dry and busy - **Shoulder** · quieter, warmer sea - **Wet season** · the most rain ### Seasons #### High season Dec – Apr 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. #### Shoulder May – Aug 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. #### Wet season Sep – Nov 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 month](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/weather) Rain, sea temperature, the hurricane record and the rate index, month by month. ## More about the British Virgin Islands - [Things to do in Tortola and the British Virgin Islands](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/things-to-do) Most of the things to do in Tortola are beaches over the ridge from Road Town, and the trail up Sage Mountain. - [BVI snorkeling, by boat and from the beach](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/things-to-do/snorkeling) BVI snorkeling is mostly a boat day. - [Scuba diving in the British Virgin Islands](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/things-to-do/diving) Diving in the British Virgin Islands is a boat day, and most dive weeks here start in the same place: the wreck of the RMS Rhone off Salt Island, a mail steamer lost to a hurricane in 1867. - [Soggy Dollar Bar](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/things-to-do/soggy-dollar-bar) The Soggy Dollar Bar is the beach bar on White Bay, Jost Van Dyke, in the BVI, and it has no dock. - [British Virgin Islands events](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/events) The Anegada Lobster Festival takes the last weekend of November, the 27th to the 29th in 2026, and the island's few rooms go early. - [BVI catamaran charters from Tortola's harbors](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/experiences/boat-charters) A BVI catamaran charter is chosen by where you sleep and how many of you there are, more than by the boat. - [British Virgin Islands map](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/map) This British Virgin Islands map is a map of water: the islands run east from The Narrows off St. John, no road joins one main island to the next, and the dock you sleep nearest decides the week. - [British Virgin Islands weather, month by month](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/weather) The best time to visit the British Virgin Islands is February or March, when the islands are at their driest, the nights at their coolest and the storm record is empty. - [Ferries between the British Virgin Islands](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/ferry) Almost every ferry between the British Virgin Islands starts on Tortola. - [Getting to the British Virgin Islands](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/getting-there) Most visitors from the US reach the British Virgin Islands by ferry: a flight to St. Thomas, then a boat across to Road Town or West End on Tortola. - [A seven-day British Virgin Islands sailing itinerary](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/guides/bvi-sailing-itinerary) On a British Virgin Islands sailing itinerary the distances are easy and the rules are strict. - [Best time of year to sail the BVI](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/guides/best-time-to-sail-bvi) The best time of year to sail in the BVI is March to June. - [British Virgin Islands family vacation](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/guides/bvi-family-vacation) A British Virgin Islands family vacation works best on one island. - [Norman Island and the pirates of the BVI](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/guides/bvi-pirate-history) Norman Island in the BVI is where the pirate stories have paperwork behind them. - [All British Virgin Islands guides](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/guides) Every beach, activity and planning page on the island, in one list ### Across the Virgin Islands - [The Virgin Islands: every planning guide](https://virginislandvilla.com/virgin-islands) Where the islands lie, whose they are, and the guides for each - [The Painkiller drink: the Virgin Islands recipe, two ways](https://virginislandvilla.com/virgin-islands/painkiller-recipe) The Painkiller drink is the Virgin Islands cocktail: dark rum, pineapple juice, orange juice and cream of coconut over ice, nutmeg grated on top. - [US Virgin Islands vs Puerto Rico: which suits your week](https://virginislandvilla.com/virgin-islands/usvi-vs-puerto-rico) Choosing between the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico is choosing how big a week you want. - [Virgin Islands wildlife and where to see it](https://virginislandvilla.com/virgin-islands/wildlife) The Virgin Islands wildlife you meet first is the kind that does not hide: an iguana the length of your arm on a stone wall in Charlotte Amalie, a donkey standing in the road over Coral Bay, a pelican folding into the water beside your towel. - [Planning a Virgin Islands wedding](https://virginislandvilla.com/virgin-islands/weddings) Two decisions make a Virgin Islands wedding: which side of the border, and how big. - [What to wear in St. Thomas, and what to pack for the Virgin Islands](https://virginislandvilla.com/virgin-islands/what-to-pack) Light, loose clothes, a swimsuit and a hat are what to wear in St. Thomas in any month, with a thin long-sleeved shirt for the noon sun and the mosquitoes at dusk. - [USVI ferries and the last boat on every route](https://virginislandvilla.com/virgin-islands/ferries) The USVI ferry most visitors take is the short hop from Red Hook on St. Thomas to Cruz Bay on St. John, hourly and inexpensive until late at night. - [Ferry from St. Thomas to Tortola](https://virginislandvilla.com/virgin-islands/st-thomas-to-tortola-ferry) The ferry from St. Thomas to Tortola leaves from two docks, and the house you are going to picks one. - [The US and British Virgin Islands map](https://virginislandvilla.com/virgin-islands/map) On a US Virgin Islands map, St. Thomas and St. John sit at the western end of a chain that runs east from Puerto Rico, and most of what lies beyond them flies another flag. - [The best Virgin Island to visit, by the week you want](https://virginislandvilla.com/virgin-islands/which-island) The best Virgin Island to visit on a first trip is St. John or St. Thomas, and the real difference is a ferry. - [Virgin Islands webcams](https://virginislandvilla.com/virgin-islands/webcams) The beaches and harbors live, on the cameras their owners run - [British Virgin Islands restaurants and bars](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/eat-and-drink) Eating out in the British Virgin Islands happens across four islands, and the boat decides which kitchens you can reach for dinner. - [Anegada restaurants and bars](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/eat-and-drink/anegada) On Anegada, dinner is spiny lobster grilled to order, and the order goes in by afternoon or not at all. - [Jost Van Dyke restaurants and bars](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/eat-and-drink/jost-van-dyke) Every Jost Van Dyke bar worth the crossing is a beach bar, and the two best known sit in neighboring bays a hill apart. - [Cane Garden Bay restaurants and the rest of Tortola](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/eat-and-drink/tortola) On Tortola the beach dinner is in Cane Garden Bay, whose restaurants sit on the north-shore sand, reason enough to stay there. - [Virgin Gorda restaurants and bars](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/eat-and-drink/virgin-gorda) On Virgin Gorda the restaurants gather at the two ends of the island, and the end you stay at sets the evening. - [Car rental in the British Virgin Islands](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/services/car-rentals) In the British Virgin Islands you rent a car on the island you sleep on, because the ferries carry passengers, not cars. ### Where are the British Virgin Islands? 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. ### Is the BVI part of the US? 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. ### What is the difference between the USVI and the BVI? 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. ### Do you need a passport for the BVI? 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. ### What currency is used in the British Virgin Islands? 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. ### What language is spoken in the British Virgin Islands? 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. ### What are the British Virgin Islands known for? 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. ## Onward from the BVI [The main island Tortola, the ferries and most of the houses Road Town, the airport on Beef Island, and the north-shore bays at the foot of one ridge road.](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/areas/tortola) [The second island Virgin Gorda, The Baths and North Sound Granite boulders at the south end, a lagoon of boat-reached resorts at the top, one more ferry from Tortola.](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/areas/virgin-gorda) Own a house in the British Virgin Islands? 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. [Start your listing](https://virginislandvilla.com/list-your-villa)