Sailing in beautiful Caribbean waters, kitesurfing and scuba diving, BVI is absolute heaven.
My family and I wanted to go somewhere on vacation where you can sail, kitesurf and scuba dive. We researched and settled upon the perfect place, the British Virgin Islands.
We began the trip by flying to Miami. I was expecting sunny skies but it was more like hurricane weather. Grey, dark clouds to the end of sight and freakishly strong winds that were blowing palm trees and everything in its path. But it was cool to experience that crazy side of Miami. We spent a night in Miami and then flew to Puerto Rico. From Puerto Rico we flew to Beef island and then from Beef Island we took a ferry ride to Scrub Island where we stayed the next three nights. When we finally arrived at Scrub Island Resort the weather was similar to Miami's dark clouds and crazy winds. Our first day at Scrub had a huge down pour of tropical rain. My brother Eli and I played on a floating trampoline with two other friends and had a great time.
The next day the weather was much nicer. Blue skies and with a slight breeze. One thing about the weather in the BVI's is that there is almost always a slight breeze which is one of the reasons the sailing is so good there. There is also not that much humidity.
I had gotten my scuba diver certification in the Channel Islands off of Southern California, but we were going to do two more dives in the BVI to get open water certified which is a higher rank of certification. On the first day we did a fun dive [not part of the certification] and saw lion fish, stingrays and lobsters. It was my brother's first dive in a coral reef and in warm water and he absolutely loved it. He kept on saying to us, "I was actually in a coral reef!" He couldn't believe he had just seen a completely different hidden world. He was hooked. The next day Eli and I did two dives and got open water certified. We even got to see a shark up close! If you want to know more about my scuba certification experience click here.
The next day we took a ferry to Beef Island and then took a taxi to Road Town where we picked up our boat.
My dad had booked a catamaran for seven nights through a company called The Moorings. The sailing trip was about to begin. We then got a briefing about everything you need to know in order to said the catamaran. My family and I were overwhelmed and decided to call Moorings and ask for a captain. Moorings said they would look for a skipper. I had a gut feeling since it was near Christmas time there wouldn't be too many people who would want to lose family time to help us. We ended up staying a night at the marina.
After waiting for what seemed like forever we finally got a skipper and we sailed to Cooper Island. It was so nice to finally sail. Eli and I got soaked, we were having a blast. We stayed for one night at Cooper island. The next day our captains left but we sailed to Norman Island. At Norman Island there was a pirate ship restaurant with a place where you could jump off the ship. While we were waiting for our food we jumped off the boat.
The next day we sailed to Jost Van Dyke. We then ate at a restaurant called Foxy's which is famous for having tons of people on December 31. After eating we took a taxi to another beach. The beach was beautiful but it had a crazy amount of people.
We went back to our boat, the clouds were really cool and I took some amazing photos.
We woke up and sailed to Little Jost Van Dyke. It was one of my favorite islands on the whole trip. My favorite part about Little Jost was the Bubbly Pool. The bubbly pool is this spot where you can swim in a very big natural pool, there are ginormous rocks that protect you from the waves. When the waves splash against the rocks it make a huge spray which makes the pool bubbly. We happened to go there when there was a big swell so the pool was especially bubbly.
The next day we sailed to Sooper's Hole on Tortola Island. We were having dinner when I saw my aunt Meredith, I was so surprised! I was not expecting to see me my Aunt's face! The next day we sailed back to road town and our sailing trip was officially over. It had been an amazing experience and the next part of our journey was just beginning.
From Roadtown we took a ferry to Anegada where we were going to learn how to kitesurf! We arrived on Anegada Island and took a taxi to Anegada Beach Club where we would be spending the next 5 nights. It was super beautiful. It was so nice finally being able to sleep on land again. The next day was the day Eli, my dad and I were going to learn to kitesurfing but unfortunately the wind was around 4-5 knots when it need to be around 12-13 knots. The forecast for the wind didn't look good. It looked like Friday would be our best chance but we were leaving on Saturday. Eli and I spent the day wrestling on the beach with a friend we had made and playing lots of smash ball. The next day I woke up in our palaypa to sound of rain pitter-pattering on the roof and I could see palm trees swaying from the wind! It was time to kitesurf! We headed to the kitesurfing shack and met Tommy Gaunt our (world famous) instructor. We began by practicing on a trainer kite on the beach. Once we learned how to control our kite we went into the water and did some body drags. Basically you use the kite to drag your body through the water.
After a couple of hours our lesson was up. I had learned a lot and was excited to continue to improve my kitesurfing skills. If your interested in kitesurfing just know that you have to be 10 years and up to kitesurf. The next day the wind was good and after some breakfast we headed out towards the beach for another lesson. After some more body drags Tommy got out the board. After a couple of attempts to get up I finally managed to stand up for around five seconds. It was amazing! The lesson ended and we went back to our palaypa. It was an amazing experience and I definitely want to try kitesurfing some more. The next day we took a ferry back to Scrub Island, we spent the night there and then the next day we went to the airport. It had been one of the most exhilarating trips of my life. I definitely recommend going there.
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