Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
6
ORIENTATION
Getting There
BY PLANE
Your gateway to the B.V.I. will most likely be either Tortola or Virgin Gorda.
Beef
Island,
the site of the major airport serving the British Virgins, the Terrence B. Lett-
some Terminal, is connected to Tortola by the one-lane
Queen Elizabeth Bridge.
Supplies and services on the other islands are extremely limited.
There are no direct flights from North America or Europe to Tortola or any of the
British Virgin Islands, but you can make easy connections from St. Thomas, St. Croix,
or San Juan in Puerto Rico. Beef Island, the site of the major airport serving the Brit-
ish Virgin Islands, is connected to Tortola by the one-lane Queen Elizabeth Bridge.
American Eagle
(
&
800/433-7300
in the U.S.; www.aa.com) has at least four
daily flights from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to the airport at Beef Island. San Juan is
serviced by dozens of daily nonstop
flights from cities in North America,
including Boston, Toronto, New York,
Chicago, Miami, and Raleigh-Dur-
ham. You can also fly
American Air-
lines
(
&
800/433-7300;
www.aa.
com) to St. Thomas, then hop on an
American Eagle flight to Tortola.
Air
Sunshine
(
&
800/327-8900
or
284/495-8900; www.airsunshine.com) flies from San Juan or St. Thomas to Beef
Island (connected to Tortola) and on to Virgin Gorda.
Another choice, if you're on one of Tortola's neighboring islands, is the much less
reliable
LIAT
(
&
888/844-5428
within the Caribbean, or 284/495-1187; www.
liatairline.com). This Caribbean carrier makes short hops to Tortola from Antigua and
St. Maarten in small planes not known for their careful scheduling.
Flying time to Tortola from San Juan is 30 minutes; from St. Thomas, 15 minutes;
and from the most distant of the LIAT hubs (Antigua), 60 minutes.
BY BOAT
You can travel from Charlotte Amalie (St. Thomas) by public ferry to Road Town on
Tortola, a 45-minute voyage. Boats making this run include
Native Son
(
&
284/494-
5674;
www.nativesonferry.com),
Smith's Ferry Services
(
&
284/495-4495;
www.smithsferry.com), and
Inter-Island Boat Services
(
&
284/495-4166
). The
latter specializes in a somewhat obscure routing—that is, from St. John to the West
End on Tortola. One-way and round-trip fares range from $25 to $49.
Visitor Information
Before you go, contact the
British Virgin Islands Tourist Board,
1270 Broadway,
Ste. 705, New York, NY 10017 (
&
800/835-8530
or 212/563-3117). Other
branches of the
British Virgin Islands Information Office
are located at 3450
Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 1202, Los Angeles, CA 90010 (
&
213/736-8931
), and at 1275
Shiloh Rd., Ste. 2930, Kennesaw, GA 30144 (
&
770/874-5951
). In the United
Kingdom, contact the
B.V.I. Information Office,
15 Upper Grosvenor St., London
W1K 7PJ (
&
207/355-9585
). The tourist board's official website is
www.bvi
tourism.com
.
Currency Note
The British Virgin Islands use the U.S.
dollar as their form of currency. British
pounds are not accepted.
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