We only had a half day here so walked to Carlisle Bay - easy 30 mins walk. Swam out to the area just off shore where the catamarans were anchored and people were snorkelling. We snorkelled around and saw some interesting fish and turtles. Lovely beach considering is a town beach - nice atmosphere with locals.
We walked around the corner to the ferry terminal - got the ferry to Virgin Gorda with Speedys and went down to the Baths. Spent the day snorkelling and exploring the caves and rocks. A great place, great snorkelliing - well worth going. Devils Bay was the best area for snorkelling and is also very picturesque.
Docked at Philipsburg. Port area a noisy mix of luxury shops and thousands of people. Easy to walk to town where there is a nice beach (not sure about quality of sea water due to amount of cruise ships they get there). Town is full of bars/shops but there is a more authentic area behind all this. We went on the bike ride excursion which took us across the island to Galion Beach - which was a lovely quiet beach with a nice laid back atmosphere. Well worth the hills to get there!
Docked at Basseterre - a proper town where you will find a cricket stadium (no match there at the time unfortunately), a museum (we didn't go in) and a prison! Nice enough but not a lot of interest here. We got a local bus to Brimstone Fort - we got out at the bottom of the road that leads up to the fort and it is a pleasant 20-30mins walk up a quiet lane uphill from there. The fort itself is well preserved with lots of information available on various displays. On the day we were there a re-enactment day was on - the TV cameras and the Director General (with his daughter and wife) arrived. There were various speeches going on which we found all an interesting experience!
Docked at St Johns - an authentic and fairly ramshackle town with a lively atmosphere. We walked through the market area and there were enormous speakers out in the street pumping music out! We got the bus to Valley Church Beach - what a lovely beach - white sand and turquoise postcard type beach - with no-one much about unless you went to the end where there were some sunbeds and a little bar. A bit wavy when we were there so no good for snorkelling - but we had a lovely time bobbing about in the waves and even stayed in there when a heavy downpour arrived. We walked to Darkwood Beach from here along the road - nowhere near as nice and we were glad we didn't go there first!
What a lovely place to arrive! We docked in Portsmouth - nothing at the port at all except for the wooden pier! The island is lush and wild and we had a great time - we went horse riding with Valerie of Rainforest Riding - she is based the otherside of Portsmouth town - you can easily walk to her place from the dock - about 45 mins walk. After this we hiked along a section of the Waitukubuli National Trail and came to a lovely little beach where we went snorkelling. We had the tiny beach to ourselves and I would guess there lots more like this. Yes the sand is grey but so what - the setting was amazing and the snorkelling was good too.
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