Caribbean (Fodor's, 2011) - Fodor's Travel Publications [3]
BVI Wedding Planners & Consultants
(284/494–5306 | www.bviweddings.com).
ESSENTIALS
Mail. There’s a post office in Road Town on Tortola and Spanish Town on Virgin Gorda. For a small fee, Rush It (Road Town, Tortola VG1110 | 284/494–4421 | Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda VG1150 | 284/495–5521), in Road Town and Virgin Gorda, offers most U.S. mail and UPS services (via St. Thomas the next day). If you want to write to an establishment in the BVI, be sure to include the specific island in the address.
Taxes. The departure tax is $5 per person by boat and $20 per person by plane. There are separate booths at the airport and ferry terminals to collect this tax, which must be paid in cash in U.S. currency. Most hotels add a service charge ranging from 5% to 18% to the bill. A few restaurants and some shops tack on an additional 10% charge if you use a credit card. There’s no sales tax in the BVI. However, there’s a 7% government tax on hotel rooms.
Telephones. The area code for the BVI is 284; when you make calls from North America, you need only dial the area code and the number. To call anywhere in the BVI once you’ve arrived, dial all seven digits. A local call from a pay phone costs 25¢, but such phones are sometimes on the blink. An alternative is a Caribbean phone card, available in $5, $10, and $20 denominations. They’re sold at most major hotels and many stores and can be used to call within the BVI, as well as all over the Caribbean, and to access USADirect (800/872–2881, 111 from a pay phone) from special phone-card phones. For credit card or collect long-distance calls to the United States, use a phone-card telephone or look for special USADirect phones, which are linked directly to an AT&T operator. USADirect and pay phones can be found at most hotels and in towns.
Visitor Information. BVI Tourist Board (212/563–3117, 800/835–8530 in New York | www.bvitourism.com).
WHERE TO STAY
Pick your island carefully, because each is different, as are the logistics of getting there. Tortola gives you a wider choice of restaurants, shopping, and resorts. Virgin Gorda has fewer off-resort places to eat and shop, but the resorts themselves are often better, and the beaches are exquisite. Anegada is remote and better suited for divers. Jost Van Dyke has some classic Caribbean beach bars, along with fairly basic accommodations.
When you want to be pampered and pampered some more, select a remote, private-island resort reached only by ferry, or even one of the appealing outer-island resorts that are still somewhat affordable for mere mortals.
If you want to enjoy everything the BVI have to offer, charter a sailboat so you can drop anchor where and when you want.
The largest resort in the British Virgin Islands has 120-some rooms, and most have considerably fewer. Luxury here is more about personal service than over-the-top amenities. The best places are certainly comfortable, but they aren’t showy. You’ll find villas and condos in abundance, and they are a good option for families.
HOTEL AND RESTAURANT PRICES
Restaurant prices are for a main course at dinner and include any taxes or service charges. Hotel prices are per night for a double room in high season, excluding taxes, service charges, and meal plans (except at all-inclusives).
WHEN TO GO
High season doesn’t really get into full swing until Christmas and ends sooner (usually by April 1) than on most Caribbean islands. In the off-season, rates can be a third less. Locals and yachties gather at Foxy’s bar on Jost Van Dyke for the annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration in March.
Glimpse the colorful