We took our own taxi to Magen's Bay - if you plan on booking a cruise excursion (with any line) that just takes you to the beach, I would recommend don't because that's like ~40$ pperson and all they do is call one of the same safari taxis that everyone else takes for you, and makes sure you get back on the boat on time (at least they're supposed to). Taxi was $8 each way. Magen's Bay is very pretty, not too crowded and not humid at all in the winter - the sand didn't burn to walk on as it does in the summer. Water is very calm, and the waves are very small and gentle. There's not too many watersports besides the usual paddleboards and kayaks, so it's not an adventure beach - just a lie back, relax and look at the pretty ocean beach. It did get windy though, and sometimes chilly if the wind is blowing and you're wet.

We went to Virgin Gordas on our own, which is the crown jewel of adventures on Tortola. The main (and only) attraction there is the national park called The Baths, where inside is the famous beach (Devil's Bay) with boulders and grottoes and The Caves (a sort of cavetrekking, hiking, climbing adventure amongst more boulders and grottoes. HOWEVER. The caveat is that the island requires a 30min ferry ride to get to. Needless to say, if you're planning on going allot A LOT of time (think several hours) because the ferry runs on a scheduled timetable, and if you miss the last ferry back to Tortola before your ship departs....well have fun swimming back, I hear it's good preparation for the triathalon.

After you get off the ferry, you need to take a 10 min taxi to theThe Baths. There's a nominal fee (I think 3$) for entrance. Then the final hurdle is a 15 min hike along a pretty easy trail to get to the beach, but once you're there, all your struggles and blisters will be forgotten as the beach is a complete beauty. It's not as gentle as Magen's Bay, but the waves are adventurous and fun. Swim out just a couple feet, and look down and you'll see fish swimming by the rocks. Swim around the area, and you'll find yourself swimming between boulders, entering "hidden caves", walking amongst crabs then majestic chickens! back along the beach - the beach alone is very engaging and entertaining. Then head over to the "caves", where a bunch of boulders had formed little pools and you can climb around and over them and splash around. Also makes for some really gorgeous views and photoshoots. Once you're done with that area, you can start heading for the actual caves, which is really you just hiking between narrow crevices and boulders. Don't worry, there's a defined path that takes you all the way through and there's always a line of people so you'll never slip, crack your head on something and die without someone saving you. VERY IMPORTANT - this path leads back to the exit of the park, where the taxis and the parking lot is. So bring all your friends and all your stuff with you, even if it is a bit cumbersome.

We didn't do an excursion but we visited Atlantis and did the aquarium, which is basically one of the excursions NCL offers but for the low low price of 80-90$ when admission to the aquarium is only 42$. Honestly...not worth it. Atlantis itself is beautiful and awe-inspiring in terms of its decor and design, but the aquarium is really just bait. It's split into two sides - The Dig, which is really just a bunch of fish, and Predator's Tunnel, which is...really just a tunnel....with some bigger fish....Initially it was really exciting because I hadn't gone to an aquarium in years, but my enthusiasm died...pretty quickly. I had no idea what kinds of fish I was looking at - they don't have any infographics along the exhibits. They do have these "info cards" that you're supposed to carry along with you, then put back at the end of the aquarium but honestly who wants to carry extra stuff when they're on vacation? So it got boring real fast, and it was really short to boot. I didn't get the feeling there was enough diversity of fish to keep me intrigued. The Predator's Tunnel sounds cool, and for a moment it was when I saw a sawfish and a shark as I walked in. But then, basically they were the only stars of that show. There were some big manta and sting rays, and a barracuda, but....when you hear shark, you wanna see something vicious right? Like a great white or something. Yeah no, these sharks were kinda small and tame. The worst part was that the exhibit really was just a tunnel - I could've ran through the whole course in 30 seconds or less. $42 was not ok to pay for what we got - just walking through Atlantis gets you lots of sights, and it's free. Pretty sure there are better aquariums, and this one was disappointing.