The B.V.I. Tourist Board Office (tel. 284/494-3134) is in the center of Road Town near the ferry dock, south of Wickham's Cay I. Here you'll find information about hotels, restaurants, tours, and more. Pick up a copy of the Welcome Tourist Guide, which has a useful map of the island.

Island Layout

Tortola is the largest of the British Virgin Islands. Road Town is the capital, and Main Street in Road Town has many shops and restaurants. Wickham's Cay (sometimes called Wickham's Cay I) and Wickham's Cay II together form a small Inner Harbor in Road Town. This harbor takes in the Moorings complex area with Fort Burt and Prospect Reef standing near the port entrance. The cruise ship pier juts out at the far right of the cay, and passengers can stretch their "shopping legs" on land here at a number of gift shops.

Down Among the Sheltering Palms

If you decide to navigate the roller coaster hills of the British Virgin Islands, head to Cane Garden Bay, one of the choicest pieces of real estate on the island, discovered long ago by the sailing crowd. Its white-sand beach with sheltering palms is the epitome of Caribbean charm.

Rhymer's, Cane Garden Bay (tel. 284/495-4639), is the place to go for food and entertainment. Skippers of any kind of craft like to stock up on supplies here, and you can order cold beer and refreshing rum drinks. If you're hungry, try the conch, lobster, black-bean gazpacho, or barbecued spareribs. The beach bar and restaurant are open daily from 8am to 9pm. Main courses cost $10 to $30. On Thursday night, a steel-drum band plays. Ice and freshwater showers are available for $3 per person (and you can rent towels). You can also rent a room here.


Fast Facts

ATMs/Banks -- The major B.V.I. banks are Scotiabank (www.scotiabank.com); FirstBank (www.firstbankvi.com), First Caribbean (www.cibcfcib.com); and Banco Popular (www.bancopopular.com/vi). ATMs are less prevalent in the British Virgin Islands than in the U.S. Virgin Islands; all of the aforementioned banks have ATMs in Wickham Cay I, Road Town, Tortola. A First Caribbean ATM is located at Myett’s beach bar in Cane Garden Bay, and Nanny Cay Marina has a FirstBank ATM. Most other small islands do not have ATMs, so if you’re planning a visit, be sure to visit an ATM on Tortola to cash up first. Each machine charges around $2 to $3 for a transaction fee.

Bookstores -- The best bookstore is the National Educational Services Bookstore, Wickham’s Cay I, in Road Town (tel 284/494-3921).

Business Hours -- Most offices are open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm. Government offices are open Monday to Friday 8:30am to 4:30pm. Shops are generally open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm and Saturday 9am to 1pm.

Dentists -- For dental emergencies, contact Crown Dental (tel 284/494-2770), or Premier Dental (tel 284/494-8062).

Drugstores -- Medicure Pharmacy is located in the Hodge Building, near Road Town Roundabout, Road Town (tel 284/494-6189).

Emergencies -- Call tel 999. If you have a medical emergency, call Peebles Hospital, Porter Road, Road Town, Tortola (tel 284/494-3497). Your hotel can also put you in touch with the local medical staff.

Hospitals/Clinics -- Peebles Hospital, Porter Road, Road Town (tel 284/494-3497), has X-ray and laboratory facilities. The B&F Medical Complex, Mill Mall, Wickham’s Cay I, Road Town (http://bfmedicalcomplex.com) is a public day clinic that accepts walk-ins. The Eureka Medical Centre (www.eurekamedicalclinic.com), Geneva Place, Road Town, Tortola, is a private-run urgent-care facility with both inhouse doctors and visiting specialists on call; call for an appointment.

Internet Access -- Internet and free Wi-Fi access is available all over the islands, including Nanny Cay Marina, Tortola, and Village Cay Marina, Road Town, as well as in many bars and restaurants. If you’re in transit or your hotel’s Internet access is weak or nonexistent, try Serendipity Bookshop & Internet Cafe, Main St., Road Town (tel 284/494-5865); the Pub, Waterfront Dr., Road Town (tel 284/494-2608); or Trellis Bay Cybercafe, Trellis Bay (tel 284/495-2447).

Newspapers -- [“]The BVI Beacon” (www.bvibeacon.com) is a weekly newspaper published on Thursday. The weekly “Island Sun” (www.islandsun.com) is published every Friday. Both are good sources of information on local entertainment. You can find these in most supermarkets and shops.

Police -- The main police headquarters is on Waterfront Drive near the ferry dock on Sir Olva Georges Plaza (tel 284/494-2945).

Post Office -- The main post office on Tortola is in Road Town (tel 284/468-3701, ext. 5160), and is open Monday to Friday 8:30am to 4:30pm. The beautiful and collectible B.V.I. stamps are sold here here.

Safety -- The British Virgin Islands in general are quite safe, with a very low crime rate that many attribute to the illegality of owning guns. Minor robberies and muggings occur late at night outside bars in Road Town, especially in poorly lit areas around Wickham’s Cay I and along Waterfront Drive. But outside of Road Town, Tortola is a very safe place to be.

Taxes -- The British Virgin Islands has no sales tax. It charges a departure tax of $15 per person for those leaving by boat or $20 if by airplane. Most hotels add a service charge of around 10 percent; there’s also a 7 percent government room tax. Most restaurants tack on an automatic 15 percent service charge.

Telephone -- All island phone numbers have seven digits. You can call the British Virgins from the United States by just dialing 1, the area code 284, and the number; from the U.K. dial 011-44, then the number. To call the U.S. from the B.V.I., just dial 1 plus the area code and the number; to call the U.K. from the B.V.I., dial 011-44, then the number.

Toilets -- You’ll find public toilets in restaurants, beach bars, at the ferry terminals, and at the airport.

Getting Around

The roads in Tortola are steep and twisting—not for the faint of heart. The island is fairly small, so driving distances aren’t long. Plan your Road Town travel around rush hours and cruise-ship embarkations: You can easily become ensnared in Road Town traffic during arrival and departure times (around 8am and 4pm), when scores of taxi drivers pick up or drop off cruise-ship passengers around the pier at Wickhams Cay 1.

By Taxi -- We highly recommend Wayne Robinson as both taxi driver and tour guide (tel 284/494-4097 or 284/499-2251 [cell]). For other taxi options in Road Town, dial the BVI Taxi Association at tel 284/494-3942; on Beef Island, call tel 284/495-1982. Your hotel can also call a taxi for you; there is a taxi stand in Road Town, near the ferry dock. A typical fare from Road Town to Cane Garden Bay is $24; from Road Town to Josiah’s Bay on the north coast, it's $25.

By Bus -- Scato’s Bus & Taxi Services (tel 284/494-2365; www.scatosbusntaxi.com) offers airport pickup and dropoff, lodging and ferry transfers, private and group tours, events transportation, and shopping expeditions in modern, air-conditioned buses.

By Rental Car -- Ask your hotel concierge to recommend a local rental-car agency; many resorts have relationships with rental franchises that will deliver cars right to your hotel. Itgo (tel 284/494-2639; www.itgobvi.com) is located at the Mill Mall, Wickham’s Cay I, Road Town. Denzil Clyne (tel 284/495-4900) offers rentals (Jeeps) on Tortola’s West End near the ferry terminal. Avis (tel 800/331-1212 in the U.S., or 284/494-2193 on Tortola; www.avis.com) maintains offices opposite the J.R. Neal Botanical Gardens in Road Town; and Hertz (tel 800/654-3131 in the U.S., or 284/495-4405 on Tortola; www.hertz.com) has locations in Road Town, near the airport, and on the island’s West End, near the ferryboat landing dock. National (tel 284/494-3197; www.nationalcar.com) has locations on Long Bay, West End, Road Town, and near the airport.

Rental companies will usually offer free hotel pickup. All require a valid driver’s license and a temporary B.V.I. driver’s license, which the car-rental agency will issue to you for $10; it’s valid for 1 month. Because of the volume of tourism to Tortola, you should reserve a car in advance, especially in winter.

Remember: Drive on the left! Roads are pretty well paved, but they’re often narrow, winding, and poorly lit, and they have few, if any, lines but plenty of speed bumps. Driving at night can be tricky. It’s a good idea to take a taxi to that difficult-to-find beach, restaurant, or bar. If you’re queasy about maneuvering mountainous corkscrew roads, day or night, take the Sir Francis Drake Highway, which for the most part is flat and runs the length of the island. The other main road, Ridge Road, follows the mountainous spine of the island; this was the old roadway linking the island’s many plantations.

Getting There

By plane -- On Tortola’s eastern end is Beef Island, the site of the Terrence B. Lettsome International Airport, the main airport for all of the British Virgin Islands. This tiny island is connected to Tortola by the one-lane Queen Elizabeth Bridge.

Both Hertz (tel 800/654-3131 in the U.S., or 284/495-4405 on Tortola; www.hertz.com) and National (tel 284/494-3197; www.nationalcar.com) have locations at the airport.

Taxis, taxi vans, and multi-passenger safari buses meet every arriving flight. The fare from the Beef Island airport to Road Town is $15 for one to three passengers.

By ferry -- Many people arrive by air into St. Thomas and ferry over on one of the many public (and private) ferries traveling between the U.S. and British Virgin Islands.

By cruise ship -- Tortola recorded nearly 400,000 cruise passengers arriving in Road Harbour in 2012. Its pier in Road Town has the capacity to host two large cruise ships at a time; other cruise ships anchor just outside the harbor and tender in.

As we went to press, cruise ships scheduling stops in Road Harbour included Regent Seven Seas (Windstar); Costa Cruise Lines (Costa Magica); Crystal; Celebrity; Royal Caribbean (Jewel of the Seas); Cunard; Holland America; Silver Seas (Silver Spirit); and P&O Cruises (Arcadia).

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