Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Getting There & Away
The West End has a busy little passenger ferry terminal. You'll need to pay a $5 departure
tax if you're going to St John or St Thomas.
ToJostVanDyke/TortolaNewHorizonFerry( 284-495-9278;roundtrip$25)
sails
the 25 minute trip five times daily (twice in the morning, three times in the afternoon); cash
only.
To St John Inter-Island ( 340-776-6597;
www.interislandboatservices.vi
;
round
trip $45)
sails three times daily at 9:15am, 12:15pm and 4:15pm (later on Friday and
Sunday). It takes about 30 minutes.
To St Thomas
A couple of companies alternate departures to Red Hook four or five times
per day. The trip takes 35 minutes:
»Native Son( 284-495-4617;
www.nativesonferry.com
;
one way $25)
»Smith's Ferry( 284-494-4454;
www.smithsferry.com
; one way $28)
East Island
Tortola's eastern end is a mix of steep mountains, remote bays and thickly settled West In-
dian communities. Surfers and windsurfers find their hot spots out this way. Many visitors
also land at
BeefIsland
- literally - which is the site of the BVI's main airport, as well as a
fiery arts collective that ramps up during the full moon. Beef Island floats off Tortola's tip,
connected to the mainland by a two-lane bridge.
Sights
Ruins of St Philips Church
HISTORICAL BUILDING
(Blackburn Hwy)
The walls of this church on the north side of Blackburn Hwy in King-
stown, east of Road Town, are all that remain of a community of freed slaves established
in 1833 as the 'Kingstown Experiment.' Most of the worshippers here were survivors from
the wreck of a slave ship in about 1815. They were given this reservation and place of wor-
ship after working for some years as plantation laborers. The building is quite dilapidated
and as it's not an official historical site, there are no amenities here.
Aragorn's Studio
ARTS CENTER
