tortola beach day

[travelgalNYC]

can you share information on a beach day in tortola, not though disney? how would we get to either long bay or cane garden, how long is the drive, how do we arrange to get back, is there seating, shade, places to eat near by? i like the disney adventure options but don't think they allow enough time to swim. also i've seen some mentions of day rates, can you tell me where you've stayed?

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I'm curious too

 

[Katykins14]

I'd like to know too - this is our plan for Tortola as well!

 

[crafty91]

We took a boat over to Jost Van Dyke and hung on the beach at Soggy Dollar. just another option, sorry I can't help you on Tortola beaches since we didn't go this trip.

 

[Lv2trvl2]

We were on the Fantasy week before last and did a beach day at Cane Garden in Tortola. First off, the port is all fresh and new with a few nice little shops. After getting off the ship, we were approached by a very nice, uniformed lady who asked if we needed help with transportation or directions. She was in no way aggressive or pushy, just offering her assistance. We wanted a little tour of island and to be dropped off at beach. We had a nice drive, stopping at lookout points, that lasted a little more than an hour. We were dropped off at the beach and the driver came back to get us at the time we requested. It cost $10 per person. The driver was very informative, returned on time and his van was very nice and air conditioned. He didn't asked to be paid till after we arrived back at the port. If you don't make arrangements to have your driver come back to pick you up, there were plenty of taxis waiting around in beach parking lot.
Cane Garden has several places to get something to eat or drink. Beach chairs and umbrellas are available for rental for just $5 each, a deal compared to Trunk Bay. It is very crowded at the entrance to the beach, but just walk further down the beach and it thins out.
The day was relaxing and perfect. Tortola is a beautiful island and Cane Garden was beautiful as well. We did a beach day at Trunk Bay in St John, also. To me, St John and Trunk Bay are amazingly beautiful and my pick between these two islands.

 

[Lv2trvl2]

Oh, if you do not want an island tour, drive to Cane is about 15 minutes.

 

[Lv2trvl2]

Correction, my husband just told me it was $20 per person.

 

[JJsmama]

Oh, if you do not want an island tour, drive to Cane is about 15 minutes.

Thanks for the info! This is what we are planning to do in Tortola. I had two different excursions booked (including the famous Baths) and cancelled them both because we really just wanted a beach day without a schedule or group tour. Any experience with restrooms on CGB? Where are they, etc?

 

[lolainkent]

My family went to Cane Garden back in February on our own. There were signs at the port directing you to the taxis, once there one man asked where we wanted to go, we said Cane Garden and we were directed to a driver and his open-air taxi. They wait to full them (5 people per row, 5 rows) but that took maybe an extra 5 minutes. Our driver came over the PA and told us about the island and stopped for a couple photo ops en route. Taxis come and go all day so you won't have a problem getting back to the ship, they were very on the ball in terms of knowing what time our ship (and the other ship in port (MSC?) was leaving and how much time we'd want to make sure we got back in time.

Those taxis cost $8 per person per way.

We paid $15USD for 2 sun chairs and an umbrella. The washrooms are a bit gross but they're free. Lots of food options, we had hot dogs, smoothies and fries from the place right behind our chairs. Cocktails ranged from $5-7. We brought sand toys on the cruise (well, my sister in law did!) and the kids around all us all grouped together to make a big wall and sand castle, it was really sweet. Very fun day, not too expensive and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

 

[kddlm]

My family and I went to Brewer's Bay on our own via taxi. The taxi fees are set prices...I believe it was $8 pp each way. The ride to the beach was "interesting". The beach was very peaceful and beautiful and not crowded at all....that is why we chose that beach upon the recommendation of one of the taxi drivers. He said the others were quite crowded with 2 ships in port. He was right on. Did not not have to use the bathrooms, but DH said they were pretty bad (not allowed to put toilet paper in toilet....gross)! There were canned soda and water for purchase and chairs for rent. We got 3 loungers for $10. Made arrangements with driver to come back and get us at a set time. She gave us her card and said that if she could not come another driver would have her card to show us. Worked out great...would highly recommend.

 

[PirateFrank]

We just got off the fantasy on the 2nd. We had no itinerary planned - we got in a cab ($8/pp) to cane garden bay. Another group in the cab went to Brewers bay. The cab driver stopped at Brewers bay first and we decided to get out there instead. While we never saw cane garden, we were completely enamored with Brewers bay.

Plenty of beach chairs for rent, a bunch of roosters running around and a shack with drinks for sale. The shack had a grill, but the grill man didn't show up...so the beach was emptying out because people wanted to buy food but couldn't. As a result, by 11am, we were sharing the beach with no more than 3-4 other families. The beach water was crystal clear, no algae, small lapping 6" waves - like out of a corona commercial. It was magical.

I've since learned that cane garden bay is the busier of the two beaches and Brewers bay is the quieter. It was perfect for us.

We ended up trying to recreate the magic by going to sapphire beach in st Thomas, the following day. Was not the same..it took forever to get there....was rockier, not as calm, then sapphire filled up with a cruise excursion by 11:30 and it was too crowded and noisy - so we bailed and it took 90 minutes to get back to the ship because of the crazy traffic in port due to 4 ships that were docked.

Tortola was amazing. Did not expect it, but it really was!

 

[kddlm]

We just got off the fantasy on the 2nd. We had no itinerary planned - we got in a cab ($8/pp) to cane garden bay. Another group in the cab went to Brewers bay. The cab driver stopped at Brewers bay first and we decided to get out there instead. While we never saw cane garden, we were completely enamored with Brewers bay.

Plenty of beach chairs for rent, a bunch of roosters running around and a shack with drinks for sale. The shack had a grill, but the grill man didn't show up...so the beach was emptying out because people wanted to buy food but couldn't. As a result, by 11am, we were sharing the beach with no more than 3-4 other families. The beach water was crystal clear, no algae, small lapping 6" waves - like out of a corona commercial. It was magical.

I've since learned that cane garden bay is the busier of the two beaches and Brewers bay is the quieter. It was perfect for us.

We ended up trying to recreate the magic by going to sapphire beach in st Thomas, the following day. Was not the same..it took forever to get there....was rockier, not as calm, then sapphire filled up with a cruise excursion by 11:30 and it was too crowded and noisy - so we bailed and it took 90 minutes to get back to the ship because of the crazy traffic in port due to 4 ships that were docked.

Tortola was amazing. Did not expect it, but it really was!

You may have been the family in the taxi with us. They too were originally going to Cane. Was your daughter nervous and wife hit her head getting in taxi??

 

[PirateFrank]

You may have been the family in the taxi with us. They too were originally going to Cane. Was your daughter nervous and wife hit her head getting in taxi??

Yes! and Yes!! Fancy meeting you here! Hope you had a great cruise!

 

[kddlm]

Yes! and Yes!! Fancy meeting you here! Hope you had a great cruise!

WOW....small Dis world! We did have a great time and were so beached out from Brewer's Bay that we did not even get off the ship in St. Thomas.