Vacationing in the BVI? Bring the Kids! By Julian Putley
It's hard to imagine a more fantastically fun and environmentally friendly location for family holidays than the islands, waters and beaches of the BVI. There are water sports galore, natural playgrounds and pirate history - enough to arouse the excitement in even the most bored or lack luster children, often jaded by leisure hours spent at the controls of Playstations, Gameboys and computer toys.
© dta Photography by Dougal Thornton
A charter yacht captain often finds it difficult to gain the confidence of kids, or even parents for that matter, in a timely manner, and of course time is of the essence since most Caribbean holidays run for only a week. That's why my first destination as captain on a sailing vacation is often the Baths. This is such a magical spot that visitors come back to the yacht after a day of exploring positively bubbling with enthusiasm.
It was a calm and clear summer's day when I pumped up my 14-ft inflatable, loaded it with my children, Amanda and Jason and a cooler of drinks, and headed to the Baths to shoot some pictures for my new booklet and guide entitled "The Baths." For visitors anywhere in the BVI the Baths is easily accessible by fast boat and there are many available for rent. For my kids rock climbing is only superseded by rock jumping. into crystal clear water, that is. On one of the trails Jason discovered 'Skull Rock,' a hollowed boulder eerily depicting its namesake. "Look dad, we can walk inside someone's head," he said.
Snorkeling is a pleasure too. The Baths is a unique spot in that coral formations attach themselves to the underwater boulders and these form underwater grottoes vastly different to other reef systems. Not only that but all the snorkeling areas can be accessed from the beach, perfect for kids who may not be happy in deeper water.
Gorda Sound or more specifically North Sound, Virgin Gorda is a veritable fun park for children of all ages. At Leverick Bay you can rent an hour of water ski-ing or float high above the turquoise in a paraglider. Robin and Charlie with parents Mollie and Joe were entranced with the idea of parasailing and when I mentioned that they could go up in tandem they jumped at the idea. We made sure our charter boat, Lively Lady, was securely tied to a mooring and dinghied over to the dock. The Flying Bear was all ready and Captain Mike motored us out of the harbour into a clear spot in the middle of the Sound, "Right," he said, " Stand at the back on the launching deck and hang on. Then he strapped Joe and Mollie in and as we motored forward slowly Mike eased out the hydraulic cable. The big purple chute opened and it was up, up up and away, the children screaming with delight as the parents captured it on video. They ascended to about 300-feet and we cruised around the perimeter of the Sound for almost 15 minutes.an incredible bird's eye view.
There was a nervous moment when it looked like they were going to be dunked in the water but Mike expertly lowered them back to the deck and the chattering began, "We saw a turtle dad," said Mollie.
"I saw a shark and a stingray," said Joe in typical, juvenile one-upmanship.
"Did you see that huge fish by the channel?" and so it went on.
Mike gave us another tour of the Sound with the Flying Bear planing at 20 knots and Charlie got some great footage. It was a memorable trip for all and one the children would never forget.
© dta Photography by Dougal Thornton
Next day we visited the Bitter End Yacht Club, a water sports Mecca, with over a hundred water toys for kids of all ages. Gunkholing with kayaks is popular with the small children or those feeling less energetic, while extreme sports such as kite boarding can be a thrilling experience for teenagers. For those wanting something in between there are Hobies, windsurfers, motorized dinghies.the list goes on. The Bitter End also extends open arms to yachtsmen in the evenings to come ashore and enjoy movies in the open-air theatre. At times of school vacations kid-friendly films are shown on their big screen TV.
The North Sound is also a place where you can get a taste of pirate history. At Saba Rock a small aquarium contains a couple of cannons, one from the wreck of the Rhone and another believed to be from a Spanish galleon. Inside their museum/gift shop are artifacts from the Rhone, coins and bars of silver and gold from shipwrecks such as the famous Atocha, salvaged by Mel Fisher in 1985. You can actually snorkel right over historical cannons nearby at Statia Reef.
If you're lucky enough to be in the BVI at full moon then the party at Trellis Bay is designed for family fun. When Doug and Joan and their three children, all under 12 years, joined the catamaran "Cat o' Nines," one of the first things I mentioned was the Trellis Bay full moon party, "It's got mocko jumbies, burning fireballs, a fungi band, jugglers," I explained. They were wide eyed and baffled; they'd never heard of such things.
We went ashore early to get a bight to eat. The food, displayed on a large buffet table, is always local and sometimes spicy. Mum was careful to remove the bones from the pot fish and make sure each child had ample macaroni pie and Cole slaw. As the sun went down the fireballs were lit providing a spectacular scene at the water's edge. Sometime later, Sylvia, a diminutive blonde five year old, was absolutely mesmerized by the giant stilt walkers in their colorful costumes doing impossible stunts like jumping around on one leg. Suddenly, the tallest mocko jumbi bent right down and picked up the little girl and held her high while performing a gyrating dance to the music. Then he cradled her in his arms and showed her off to the crowd who started clapping and cheering. It was definitely a highlight. Before we left Mum purchased two dancing turtles and a T-shirt from the craft shop, open late on full moon evenings.
© dta Photography by Dougal Thornton
Sailing on a catamaran, especially off the wind, is a thrill. And children get a special charge when riding on the trampoline; waves spray up, through and onto the netting and, as you look down, the sparkling water rushes by. The bow seats are fun too as the boat rises and dips to the swell. On this day there was a slight north swell, ideal for the aptly named "bubbly pool," which was our destination. If there's one natural attraction in the BVI that's perfect for fun times for the kids it's the bubbly pool - a natural Jacuzzi caused by seawater being forced through a narrow aperture - but there has to be a swell running.
We tied the dinghy up to the dock at "Taboo," Foxy's new restaurant close by Diamond Cay. Manageress Justine pointed the way and a friendly little dog took it upon himself to be our guide. The walk is delightful, skirting a beach that provides a vista of rolling breakers, and then continues on next to a salt pond. We saw a long-legged wading bird here and some egrets roosting in the mangroves.
The two little boys, Jack and Trevor screamed with glee when the pool came into view and tore their clothes off discarding garments one by one as they jumped into the cool, frothy maelstrom. Soon the whole family was cooling off as wave after wave provided the bubbly pool with its magical effervescence.
We stayed the night in the lee of Sandy Spit and in the morning the children enjoyed a game of Robinson Crusoe on the tiny island. Unfortunately the normally excellent snorkeling was disturbed by the swell so we departed for White Bay on Jost van Dyke. Jack and Trevor had heard about the giant trampoline over the water.
White Bay is one of those quintessential Caribbean beaches. It has fine white sand, palm trees, an off-shore but easily reachable reef for snorkeling and several beach bars for tropical cocktails. It also has a water sports operation that caters to kids and the most popular attraction is the All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs). These vehicles, with 350 cc motors are popular Dune Buggies great for an island tour and although children are not allowed to drive they are permitted to ride pillion.
After the boys had worked off their breakfast on the tramp mum and dad just had to try a famous Pusser's Painkiller at the Soggy Dollar bar.
© dta Photography by Dougal Thornton
One of the greatest children's stories of all time is Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. I'd been recounting bits of the story on and off during the trip and now it was time to visit the BVI's "Treasure Island." It was an exciting two hour windward sail with spray flying until we finally caught a mooring ball just off the Treasure Caves. The cave where a treasure chest was discovered in 1910 was eagerly explored by the whole family with little Sylvia in the lead splashing ahead conspicuous in brightly colored water wings.
The conversation for the rest of the trip was all about pirates, Long John Silver, Black Dog, Ben Gunn and buried treasure.
There was no doubt in my mind, when it was time for goodbyes, that here was a group of visitors who had had a fantastic time and would definitely be back again.
Copyright Julian Putley.