Jack had told me months back that come November he'd be in need of a vacation and I wasn't about to let that subtle hint go unnoticed so of course I'd have something planned. Taking advantage of the Thanksgiving break seemed like the perfect time to go. We usually try to get away in early November or early December but with his busy schedule we wanted to take advantage of as many weekends and holidays as we could so a departure date of the day after Thanksgiving was established. Mind you Jack and I had gotten in our fair share of vacation time this year and Sage even got in a girls trip with me but it was time for a family trip. The boys had been to Utah a couple times but we wanted to get them somewhere special too. As usual I was looking for a nice warm place with good snorkeling since Sage had gotten a new snorkel set for her birthday that was ready for some use! I've always had a desire to see Tortola and as I was looking for places to stay I came across a new Marriott property on it's own private island called Scrub Island which is off of Tortola. It sounded perfect and being that the resort is only a couple years old, sealed the deal as we tend to prefer newer properties. We also found that arriving the day after Thanksgiving made us feel like we had the resort to ourselves as most people were leaving as we were arriving!
So after an early morning trip that included a couple plane rides, a cab ride, an hour ferry, a wait to get through customs, another cab ride and a final water taxi to our resort, we finally made it. I have to applaud the kids for being such awesome travelers but thankfully when we travel with Jack the travel isn't too bad. There are never any lines to wait in and we get club lounge access at the airports.
This was what the kids awoke to on their first morning. Thankfully they said after breakfast it was "totally worth all that travel"...
Sage getting her first snorkeling lesson. She turned into quite the fish diving down for shells and blowing out her snorkel as she came up for air. She has indeed just outdone her mom when it comes to snorkeling!!!
Lazy nights...
So after spending our first full day exploring Scrub we spent the next day catching a water taxi over to Tortola and renting a car to explore the island. Although the weather was fine there had been a swell so the snorkeling spots I had researched turned into body surfing spots instead. The kids were just as excited about that though and we found ourselves spending several hours here at Brewers Bay watching them attempt the waves...
Tortola is actually very mountainous to the point you'd be traveling up a steep hill and have to stop at the top and strain to look over the hood of the car to figure out which way the road was going to turn as it proceeded back down. There was even a sign that I wish I had captured a photo of that was of a steep incline and a seat belt. I guess they were worried you could fall out of your seat as you traveled up or down the hills. In the end our final thought on Tortola was it was a bit too quaint and rustic for our taste with certain areas almost feeling a bit third world. It became a joke as to which farm animal you wouldn't find roaming the streets. We came across wild horses, cows, goats, and chickens to name a few just slowly wandering down the roads. We had lunch in Cane Garden Bay which had a lovely beach area but we determined we were happy to have seen it but it wasn't a place we'd rush back to see again!
Here is a photo we took from the top of one of the winding roads we were on.
Back at Scrub the kids enjoyed kayaking to the island across the way to snorkel, jumping on the water tramp, chasing hermit crabs at the north shore beach and swimming in the pool! My favorite comment from Sage was "mom, I feel really sorry for the worker at the bar. He has no customers. Maybe we could go be his customers." Although it may sound so sweet, her motives were purely selfish... :)
Another day trip we did was over to Virgin Gorda. This was by far one of our favorite days of the whole trip. We took a water taxi to Tortola and then jumped on a ferry over to Virgin Gorda. Our hotel had arranged for a rental car to be waiting for us at the ferry terminal which was very convenient. I had read the Baths were not to be missed and actually is the number one thing to see in all the British/US Virgin Islands. Basically there all these boulders that lie along the beach and in the ocean. It looks like someone just dropped them there as they are no where else on the island. There is a path you take that leads you around, on top of, and through all the boulders. Most of the time you are walking through knee deep water and holding on to rope or climbing up stairs that have been placed amongst the boulders to help you get through difficult parts. It's cool because you know the ocean is just on the other side but you are protected. We all had a blast and decided we'd go back to Virgin Gorda in the future!
Connor thinking, "Hurry mom and take the photo, water is on the way!"
At the end of the path you come to a nice beach area!
After we were done we ate lunch at the restaurant at the top of the Baths where they had shops and a nice pool to swim in if you ate there!
Next we headed to Spring Bay which was right next to the Baths. We took the kids out snorkeling around some of the big boulders which was fun and tiring...
The beach was beautiful at Savannah Bay:
As we headed back to Scrub we decided that we'd definitely return to Virgin Gorda. Bitter End Yacht Club seemed like a great place on the north east sound and a place we'd like to test out. Overall Virgin Gorda was more in line with our taste!
So our time at Scrub had ended and it was now time to head back to Tortola to catch a ferry to our new location, St. John! I knew ten days on one island would be way too long so after researching I decided to spend the balance of the trip on St. John as it was supposed to have the best snorkeling between the US and British Virgin Islands. We stayed at the Westin which was perfect as it is huge and very kid friendly. We rented a jeep for the whole time there which gave us the flexibility to go off and do stuff whenever we wanted.
Sadly we determined on this trip that we have become snorkel snobs. After traveling to the Maldives and Moorea, even Turks and Caicos, we have been spoiled and unfortunately St. John didn't live up to the hype. As a local diver told me once you've done the Pacific and Indian, the Atlantic and Caribbean don't have much to offer. We did enjoy the beaches at Hawknest and Trunk Bay and for being a tourist hot spot Trunk Bay had better snorkeling than many of the off the beaten paths we had been told about with the exception of Waterlemon which after a mile walk did offer the best snorkeling on the island. The current was pretty strong there though at points which is always a little scary when the kids are with you but we did see a decent variety but not the schools and amounts of fish that we have seen at other places. Driving around St. John though is beautiful as it is mountainous also and there are many awesome look out points that you can pull over at. We had a great time exploring and enjoying their beaches.
When we weren't exploring we were taking advantage of the resort to keep us occupied. As you can see the kids were just as happy doing this.
Roddy style of Wipe Out! All three boys had a blast doing this...
The life of a six year old...
Connor and a beautiful sunset...
With the exception of all the mosquito bites we came home with and the boys tennis shoes which we did not come home with we had a fantastic time but what's not to like about spending time with the ones you love in a beautiful location!!!
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