--- title: "Cow Wreck Beach, Anegada: A Beach Bar on Calm, Shallow Water" url: https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/cow-wreck-beach description: "Cow Wreck Beach on Anegada is free, with one bar on the sand and calm, shallow water inside the reef, 15 minutes by car from the Setting Point ferry dock." updated: 2026-10-22 source: https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/cow-wreck-beach --- [British Virgin Islands](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi) · [Beaches](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches) · Anegada · North shore, west # Cow Wreck Beach on Anegada Cow Wreck Beach is the Anegada beach with the bar, at the western end of the north shore: a painted wooden shack on the sand, loungers under the palms and shallow water held calm by the reef. It suits a long lunch and an afternoon float more than a snorkel. The catch is the bar's hours: it posts none, so call before you go. **Conditions:** Shallow and calm inside the reef on most days. It faces north-northwest, so a winter north swell reaches the reef offshore, and a strong wind chops the water, by our read of the map. No lifeguard. ## Cow Wreck Beach at a glance | | | | --- | --- | | Entry | Free; no authority posts a fee or manages the beach, as of October 2026 | | Hours | None posted; the Cow Wreck Beach Bar's own site gives no hours, so call before you go, as of October 2026 | | Parking | At the end of the sand road behind the beach, a 2-minute walk to the sand; no lot is mapped, so park along the road end | | Restrooms | Seasonal or limited | | Shade | Some | | Snorkeling | 2 of 5, Limited | | Crowds | Quiet | | Drive from The Settlement | about 28 minutes by car | | Lifeguard | No | Facts checked Oct 18, 2026. ## Conditions today at Cow Wreck Beach As of 7:00 AM on Oct 22, 2026, island time. Read each morning from Open-Meteo at the pin, the one feed that covers the British Virgin Islands; the bay opens north, by our read from the map. **Sea state** **Exposed.** The swell is from the north at 1.2 m, period 9 seconds; Cow Wreck Beach opens north, straight into it, so expect surf on the sand and stirred-up water. Open-Meteo wave model at the nearest ocean cell; the bay's opening is our read from the map. **Surf and water test** No forecast office writes a surf zone forecast for these beaches and the British Virgin Islands publish no weekly water test we can read, so the sea state above is our read from the wave model at the pin, and this page carries no water-quality line. Open-Meteo wave model at the pin; no BVI agency publishes a beach advisory. **Rain** Dry through the day; the chance of rain peaks at 6%. Open-Meteo hourly forecast at the pin. **The day** UV index up to 8; sunset 5:49 pm; sea 30 °C, 86 °F. Open-Meteo. ## Routes to Cow Wreck Beach About 28 minutes by car from The Settlement. How to reach the British Virgin Islands: [British Virgin Islands map](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/map), [British Virgin Islands weather, month by month](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/weather), [Ferries between the British Virgin Islands](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/ferry), [Getting to the British Virgin Islands](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/getting-there), [Things to do in Tortola and the British Virgin Islands](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/things-to-do). ## Getting to Cow Wreck Beach from Setting Point Smith's Ferry sails from Road Town to Setting Point on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in alternate fortnights on its 2026 calendar, leaving at 7 am, and the boat back leaves Anegada at 5 pm; check the calendar before you book. From the dock, Cow Wreck is the nearer of Anegada's two best-known beaches: 15 minutes by car, the road turning to sand past the salt ponds and ending just behind the beach, a short walk from the bar. A taxi from Setting Point is the simple way for a day trip; no fare is posted, so agree the price and the time to collect you before the driver leaves, since there is no one at the beach to phone. Staying longer, [take a jeep](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/services/car-rentals) from Out & About Rentals, through the Anegada Reef Hotel, or DW Jeep Rental, through D&H Sunshine Villas; neither posts a rate. Drive on the left. ## The Cow Wreck Beach Bar, and where the name comes from It is a bar beach. The Cow Wreck Beach Bar is a low, brightly painted wooden building a few steps from the water, with a sand floor, signs and license plates hung from the beams, and a counter where you order: conch fritters, grilled fish, burgers and lobster in season, by a February 2026 account, and a Painkiller finished with nutmeg. Loungers face the water, and the roof and the palms are the shade. One account counts about a dozen people in a whole day. The name comes from a ship that ran aground on the reef with cattle in its cargo; their bones washed up on this sand, as the story is told on the island. Horseshoe Reef, which rings Anegada, is known for its wrecks, and today it is a protected area where anchoring is illegal. The tradeoff: the bar is the plan, and its hours are nobody's to check. It posts no hours as of October 2026. The bar runs its own site, shared with Ann's Guest House, with a number to call, so ring the morning you go to ask whether the kitchen is serving, and carry water and something to eat in case. ## A swimming beach first, a snorkel second Cow Wreck is a swimming beach first. The reef offshore takes the Atlantic swell, and inside it the water stays shallow a long way out over a sand bottom, so you can wade far before it reaches your shoulders. We rate the snorkeling 2 of 5: sand and a few fish near shore, and the reef itself too far out for a casual swim. For a reef from the sand, drive east to Loblolly Bay. The beach faces north-northwest, at the corner where the north shore begins to bend south. A winter north swell reaches the reef here, and a strong wind chops the shallows, by our read of the map. No authority lists a lifeguard. Cow Wreck suits a family with small children who want water they can stand in, a couple after a long lunch, and anyone who came to Anegada to do very little, near the dock and the boat home. ## Questions people ask about Cow Wreck Beach ### Where is Cow Wreck Beach on Anegada? 15 minutes by car from the Setting Point ferry dock, by our measurement, at the western end of Anegada's north shore. The road ends behind the beach, a 2-minute walk from the sand and the Cow Wreck Beach Bar. Loblolly Bay, the island's other beach day, lies east across the middle of the island. ### Why is it called Cow Wreck Beach? For a ship that ran aground on the reef offshore with cattle in its cargo: their bones washed up on the sand, as the story is told on the island. Horseshoe Reef, which rings Anegada, is known for its wrecks, and today it is a protected area where anchoring is illegal. ### Is Cow Wreck Beach free? Yes. No authority charges for or manages the beach as of October 2026, and the BVI Tourist Board lists it among Anegada's quiet shores. What costs money is the ferry, quoted when you book with Smith's Ferry, the taxi or jeep from Setting Point, and lunch at the Cow Wreck Beach Bar. Written by Virgin Islands Villas. Facts checked Oct 18, 2026. Updated Oct 22, 2026. Facts checked against [the BVI Tourist Board](https://bvitourism.com/the-islands/anegada), [Smith's Ferry](https://www.smithsferry.com/ferry-schedule/), [the Anegada Reef Hotel](https://www.anegadareef.com/things-to-do.html) and [the Cow Wreck Beach Bar](https://www.cowwreckbeachbvi.com/). Checked October 2026. No villa listed with us is within ten minutes of Cow Wreck Beach yet. [See every villa in the BVI](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/villas), with its rates and dates. ## Other beaches near Cow Wreck Beach - [Loblolly Bay Anegada · 9.2 km away · free entry](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/loblolly) - [Mahoe Bay Virgin Gorda · 30.0 km away · free entry](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/mahoe-bay) - [Savannah Bay Virgin Gorda · 31.3 km away · free entry](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/savannah-bay) [Every beach in the BVI, compared](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches)