Top 5 places not to miss: 1) Savana Bay, Virgin Gorda (greatest beach - enter carefully, see chart,) 2) The Indians, off Norman Island, (wonderful deep water snorkel,) 3) The Caves, Norman Island, (touristy but lotsa fish,) 4) Brewers Bay, Tortola, Beautiful and good snorkeling, 5) AHH -Little Harbor, Peter Island, the neatest anchorage in the world, (drop bow anchor and ties stern to rocks just north of the old boathouse.) Drinks: 1) Marina Cay, S of Scrub and E of Great Camanoe, 2) The Last Resort, Trellis Bay, Tortola, 3) Sopers Hole, W end of Tortola, 4) Foxy's, Great Harbor, Jost Van Dyke, 5) The Willie T, The Bight on Norman Island. NB There's a 6 PM meeting of AA on St. Thomas at the Old Dutch Reform Church :) Woe is me - - only 5 choices.

Top 5 places not to miss: 1) Savana Bay, Virgin Gorda (greatest beach - enter carefully, see chart,) 2) The Indians, off Norman Island, (wonderful deep water snorkel,) 3) The Caves, Norman Island, (touristy but lotsa fish,) 4) Brewers Bay, Tortola, Beautiful and good snorkeling, 5) AHH -Little Harbor, Peter Island, the neatest anchorage in the world, (drop bow anchor and ties stern to rocks just north of the old boathouse.) Drinks: 1) Marina Cay, S of Scrub and E of Great Camanoe, 2) The Last Resort, Trellis Bay, Tortola, 3) Sopers Hole, W end of Tortola, 4) Foxy's, Great Harbor, Jost Van Dyke, 5) The Willie T, The Bight on Norman Island. NB There's a 6 PM meeting of AA on St. Thomas at the Old Dutch Reform Church :) Woe is me - - only 5 choices.

For your provisioning needs try this web site www.bobbysmarketplace.com my husband and I are planning a month on Jost Van Dyke and the woman who is helping us to book at White Bay Villas recommended this site! It's awesome! Good luck!

My top 5:

Get to the baths (Devil's Bay) EARLY b4 the moorings are filled up. Snorkel around for a while, hang on the beach, then traverse the boulders heading north. Then, once you've emerged on the other side of them at the little snack bar and restrooms, follow the path up the hill to the restaurant named, appropriately, The Top of the Baths for lunch. Their gazpacho is to die for, and they have a freshwater pool that is awesome for getting the salt off! The restaurant has a website.

We always enjoy a night at the bight of Norman Island, too. Floating Willy T restaurant for lunch followed by dinner at Pirates. Try to moor away from the Willy T as it can get loud in the evenings. Great snorkeling at the caves as well as the Indians. Indians are my personal favorite! Both restaurants have a website.

We also like to spend one night at Leverick Bay. They have laundry facilities, several shops, a nice restaurant and a pool. We enjoy swimming in the pool and drinking while we do our laundry. Usually do this around mid-trip which allows us to pack as lightly as possible. I think they have a website, too.

The Bitter End is also another favorite. Nice facility there, and a nice bar on Saba Rock. My personal favorite, in the north sound is Prickly Pear Island and the sandbox restaurant/bar. All three of these are within dinghy distance of each other. While in the North Sound, check out the site of the former "Last Resort". We dinghied up there when we last visited, and it was totally weird. The resort closed down and apparently the caretakers just took off. Rooms unlocked, beds made, minibars still full. Totally erie. BUT, a walk along the path lands you at a small but beautiful, secluded beach with some great snorkeling.

We avoid Cane Garden Bay on Tortola for the simple reason the we can never get a good night of sleep there as the music goes on FOREVER. Others would disagree with me here. It IS beautiful.

One place rarely mentioned is Little Harbor on Jost Van Dyke. There are 2 places there to eat and drink. Try Harris' Place for the AWESOME lobster. Next door is Sydneys Love and Peace Bar. The anchorage does not have an excellent beach, but if you have 10 days, you might just enjoy the feel of it.

More than anything else, please order the Cruising Guide to the Virgin Islands. It's a MUST HAVE!!! It describles almost eevery anchorage around as well as things to do ashore at each anchorage. Also, the guide to Virgin Anchorages is excellent as it offers arial photographs of all the anchorages with markings as to hazards, etc.

We'll be bareboating ourselves the last week of July. Hope to see you. For provisioning, we always use the Ample Hamper. 3 locations on Tortola, AND you can order ahead on their website and they'll have it to your boat when you arrive. www.amplehamper.com Have a blast!

I mis-typed...the deserted resort on the North Sound of Virgin Gorda is actually named Drakes Anchorage....the Last Resort is in Trellis Bay on Tortola/Beef Island near the airport. Sorry.

For what is't worth, The Last Resort is also worthy of a dinner. The cusine is better that we expected, and the show had us in stitches.

Also, I've been following the posts on the St. John USVI forum. Be aware that the Willy T apparently rewards people with a t-shirt if they will jump off naked. I've only been there for lunch and have heard stories about the crazy things that happen there, BUT I've never witnessed anything that would be considered anything other than G rated. Just an FYI.

Thank you very much for the detail information. Regarding snorkeling where is the best area in the BVI to snorkel?

Where is the best place to buy liquor?

How much liquor are we allowed to bring back to the US? I think it is 3 liters for each person, but not sure.

Thanks again for the help

As for liquor to bring back home, if you're flying thru San Juan, PR, there is NO limit to the amount of liquor you can bring back. There's at least two duty-free stores in the airport - rather than have to carry around heavy boxes of liquor bottles from BVI, I'd recommend just waiting and picking up the liquor in San Juan. Caribbean liquor prices are low and depending on what you're buying, a great deal compared to prices (at least Iowa prices) back home. I believe that the limit for liquor from other islands is one liter per person. My advice - if you're going thru SJU anyway, check the prices on the way TO the BVI and comparison shop once in BVI.

Others have mentioned Bobby's Market - just so you know, they opened up a new store in Cane Garden Bay, too. As for places to stock up: Road Town - Bobby's or Rite Way, Cane Garden Bay - Bobby's; West End/Soper's Hole - Harbour Market (new gourmet grocery store just opened in December occupying the former Ample Hamper location) or Ample Hamper II (now at the opposite end of the shops in Soper's Hole area) - all of these are modern, American-style grocery stores. At Great Harbour in Jost Van Dyke (home of Foxy's), there are a couple of places to provision - Rudy's Superette and another very small "market" behind the ice cream stand, I believe. There's also a modern grocery store at Spanish Town in Virgin Gorda - this is pretty close to the Baths. The Bitter End Yacht Club at North Sound, Virgin Gorda also has a small market for provisioning.

There are ample places to pick up stuff along the way - I guess we're always paranoid about perishable goods and the sometimes unreliable refrigerator units, so we tend to buy lunch meats as backups and try and stop for meat every couple of days.

Sorry this got so long! Enjoy your trip and be sure to come back and let us know how it went and if you have any tips to provide!

My personal snorkeling favorites are the Indians (On the east side, it is only 6-12 or so feet deep and feels as if you're snorkeling in a garden.) The south side of the Dog Islands, as well as Monkey Point on Guana Island are also a lot of fun. (Must get to Indians early to get yourself a mooring ball. They go fast. We usually just stay in the Bight at Norman, then motor over to the Indians before we've had our morning coffee.)