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British Virgin Islands / Island Hopping

The British Virgin Islands are ready made for island hopping, particularly by sailboat. The islands are a short distance from one another, the winds reliable and the anchorages good. And there is a beach bar in just about every cove. For more information see our Special Interests - Sailing & Regattas section.

If you are not sailing, it is also possible to island hop by ferry. There is really good variety in the Virgin Islands, with lively beaches lined with bars on the one hand, and on the other, tiny deserted strips of sand - desert island perfection.

But the term “island hopping” generally implies visiting islands with different character and culture, and this is possible too from the BVI. The United States Virgin Islands can be reached by ferry. St John is delightfully quiet (relatively it is more similar to the BVIs). Much of it has been reserved as a National Park, so there is very little development. St Thomas is completely the opposite. It is highly developed, lively and has extremely good facilities, from busy beaches to restaurants and, of course, shopping (it is this that makes it a very popular stop with cruise ships). The third, and most different, of the three US Virgin Islands is really St Croix and this takes a little more effort to reach, via St Thomas. It is the most reminiscent of the Danish days (the USVI were the Danish Virgin Islands until 1917) and there are some visibly different buildings, even a few faces with Scandinavian looks.

You have to make a connection anyway to get to the BVIs, and so the opportunity is right there to build in a bit of island hopping.

Not much farther afield is Puerto Rico, which has a captivating combination of the Latin world and the USA. It has all the beauty of the larger Caribbean islands, but also an American and Latin duality, of salsa and rock music, of Spanish and English, an overlay of American infrastructure on wonderful Latin exuberance. It also has one of the gems of the Caribbean in Old San Juan, its fortified town. Puerto Rico makes an excellent foil to the BVI. Flying time from San Juan to Tortola is around one hour.

As it is from St Maarten, so you can think of building in a stop from Europe. There are many smaller islands around St Maarten, including Anguilla, a scrub-covered outcrop with superb beaches and excellent restaurants, St Barths, a sort of tropical St Tropez, with inimitable style and fashion to go with excellent beaches and restaurants, and even Saba, a huge volcanic protrusion just a couple of miles across which harks back to old Caribbean life. It has excellent scuba diving.

British travellers are much more likely to fly into Antigua, but there are other islands en route between there and the BVIs, including Nevis and St Kitts, where there are some classic plantation houses and classic Caribbean life. A 3-night stopover in Antigua on the way back home from the BVIs is popular to avoid the tedious period of time between flights, which can be at least 4 or 5 hours. Consider staying at Blue Waters Hotel, which is only a short drive from the airport. 

Island hopping by air

Inter-island airlines can get you anywhere within a day, but there are often quite a few stops along the way. Another alternative, particularly if there is a group of you (because it becomes more economic), is to charter a plane.

Regional scheduled airlines serving the BVI include:

Air Sunshine from Puerto Rico to Beef Island or Virgin Gorda. 

American Eagle, from Puerto Rico many times a day, also to St Maarten.

Cape Air, from Puerto Rico to Beef Island.

LIAT to St Maarten and Antigua and on to Barbados.

Local scheduled and charter airlines that are based in the BVI or fly there regularly include:

Island Birds - Based in the BVI and licensed for almost every airstrip between San Juan and Grenada, including St Barths.

St Barth Commuter - scheduled flights from St Barths to St Martin/St Maarten and private aircraft charters to islands all over the Eastern Caribbean.

BVI Airways - scheduled services from Tortola to Antigua, St Maarten and Dominica. Private charters to other Caribbean destinations.

Air Sunshine - Available for charter flights within the BVI and other Caribbean destinations.

Caribbean Wings - Charter available for flights to and from Virgin Gorda, Anegada, Tortola, Puerto Rico, St Maarten, Antigua & other Caribbean destinations.

Fly BVI - Available for flights within the BVI and other Caribbean destinations.

Other charter airline companies include:
Bohlke International Airways and VI Airlink

Island hopping by ferry

Ferries criss-cross the waters of the Virgin Islands. They link many of the islands within the BVIs, enabling you to visit an island for the day, briefly joining the islanders themselves as they make the trip for shopping and for general business or for pleasure. Schedules are published and although you will sometimes find that ferries from different companies will make the same run within a few minutes of one another (giving you another option if you miss yours), the schedules are generally adhered to.

Ferries also link a number of points in the BVIs with the USVIs, to St John and several points in the major island of St Thomas. You can make the transfer to St Thomas (it can be the best way to make air connections, but there’s also shopping, and golf (which the BVIs don’t have) from Tortola (West End and Road Town), but you can also make the crossing direct from Virgin Gorda to St Thomas. The same boats are sometimes used for more “pleasure” runs, for instance, between Tortola and St John, and even Jost van Dyke and St John.

Remember that if you do travel to the USVI as a non-American citizen, then all US Immigration laws will apply, including visa requirements etc.

For the latest schedules, check the companies concerned. The schedule stays the same year-round, but when things are slow (in the summer) then they may cut a sailing or two, so it is advisable to check the week before going.

If the ferries don’t work out then Dohm’s Water Taxi is based in the USVI

Ferry services within the BVI:

Tortola – Virgin Gorda
Road Town – Spanish Town

Eight or nine daily sailings (up to 10pm in the week); Sundays, five or six sailings on Speedy’s and Smith’s Ferry. 

Beef Island - North Sound

North Sound Express, Bitter End - From the main BVI airport, via Spanish Town and Leverick Bay to the Bitter End on North Sound in the north of the island of Virgin Gorda. About six sailings a day, for Spanish Town and Leverick Bay, reservations required.

Tortola - Jost van Dyke

New Horizon Ferry Service,  M/V Paradise Express - From the West End in Tortola to Great Harbour and Little Harbour. About five daily round trips.

Beef Island – Marina Cay

Marina Cay Ferry - If you would like to spend the day on Marina Cay, an islet with a beach bar and watersports off Beef Island at the east end of Tortola, then the ferry runs seven or eight times a day, including evening runs for restaurant guests.  

Tortola – Peter Island

Peter Island Ferry - You can spend the day on Peter Island by taking their ferry from the Peter Island dock in Road Town, about 10 crossings a day mainly for the staff.

North Sound, Virgin Gorda
Several resorts on North Sound have their own ferries that run regular services around the North Sound. The Bitter End ferry takes staff and guests to and from Bitter End from Gun Creek. Biras Creek does the same and, Saba Rock has its own water taxi service to collect people and, take them to and from Saba Rock.

Ferry services between the BVIs and USVIs:

Tortola – St Thomas
From Road Town, touching the West End on Tortola and then direct to the waterfront in Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas. There are about six sailings each day except on Sundays when there are around four. A catamaran has recently started the route. Native Son and Speedy’s sometimes share the schedule on some sailings.

Native Son Ferry Service, Tortola and St Thomas
Smith’s Ferry Services (Tortola Fast Ferry), Tortola
Caribbean Maritime Excursion, (Road Town Fast Ferry), Tortola

Tortola - St John - St Thomas
Nubian Princess - This company sometimes also makes a stop in Cruz Bay in St John on its three or four daily sailings.

Tortola – St John (Jost van Dyke – St John, Virgin Gorda – St John)
Inter-Island Boat Services - Three times each day Tortola – St John, three times a week to Virgin Gorda and Jost van Dyke. 

Virgin Gorda – St Thomas (via Road Town)
Speedy's - Five sailings a week, currently Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Browse Island Hopping on other islands

Anguilla | Antigua and Barbuda | Barbados | British Virgin Islands | Cayman Islands | Dominica | Dominican Republic | Grenada & Carriacou | Jamaica | Nevis | Saba | St Barthélemy | St Eustatius | St Kitts | St Lucia | St Martin/St Maarten | St Vincent and the Grenadines | Tobago | Trinidad

Or read our other island guides

Anguilla | Antigua | Aruba | Bahamas | Barbados | Bermuda | Bonaire | British Virgin Islands | Cayman Islands | Cuba | Curacao | Dominica | Dominican Republic | Grenada and Carriacou | Guadeloupe | Haiti | Jamaica | Martinique | Montserrat | Nevis | Puerto Rico | Saba | St Barthélemy | St Eustatius | St Kitts | St Lucia | St Martin/St Maarten | St Vincent and the Grenadines | Tobago | Trinidad | Turks & Caicos Islands | US Virgin Islands

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British Virgin Islands’s weather

British Virgin Islands weather chart

When to go and weather

Looking for inspiration?

  1. Charter a yacht and sail by day, bar hop at night
  2. Marvel at the massive boulders at The Baths, Virgin Gorda
  3. Chill out at the Fireball Full Moon Party, Trellis Bay
  4. Enjoy a beach villa holiday with the family
  5. Scuba Dive Sir Francis Drake Channel

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