A long, straight run of sand on the north shore of Tortola's West End, from Belmont Point and Belmont Pond in the west to Long Bay Beach Resort at the east end, with a road along the back of much of it. It faces north into the open sea, Jost Van Dyke off to the north-west: calm on most trade-wind days, surf when a winter swell runs. Ten minutes by taxi from the West End ferry, the resort says. Looking for the Long Bay by the airport? That is Long Bay on Beef Island, at the other end of Tortola.
Think twice Rough — 3.1 ft SW swell, shore break · Thunderstorms in the forecast. The best stretch left today is 9 am–12 pm.
| Day | The call | Why | Best time | Cruise guests here | Sea at the beach | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Today | Think twice | Rough — 3.1 ft SW swell, shore break · Thunderstorms in the forecast | 9 am–12 pm | None | Rough · 3.2 ft | Thunder |
| Tomorrow | Skip today | Rough — 3.5 ft SW swell, shore break · Thunderstorms in the forecast | 10 am–1 pm | None | Rough · 3.7 ft | Thunder |
| Sun, Nov 8 | Think twice | Rough — 3.1 ft SW swell, shore break · No cruise crowd today | 3 pm–6 pm | None | Rough · 3 ft | 59% |
| Mon, Nov 9 | Go | Calm, glassy water · No cruise crowd today | 8 am–11 am | None | Calm · 0.2 ft | 36% |
| Tue, Nov 10 | Go | Calm, glassy water · No cruise crowd today | 11 am–2 pm | None | Calm · 0.2 ft | 43% |
The call is the same one our beach report makes, refreshed every half hour: the swell reaching the bay (Open-Meteo's marine forecast off the West End), the cruise passengers our crowd model puts on the sand, NOAA's sargassum satellite and the rain forecast. It is a model, not a lifeguard's report — we found no published lifeguard service at Long Bay, so look at the water before you swim, above all on a winter swell day. The bars under each call are the hours from 8 am to 5 pm. Today's beach report
Taxi fares from the West End ferry, Road Town, the cruise pier and the airport, the ferry over from St. Thomas, today's beach and weather reads, the swell, and the island around it — each one opens the full page.
Long Bay from OpenStreetMap: the sand, Long Bay Road along the back of it, the houses of Belmont and Long Bay on the hill, and each place where OpenStreetMap's mappers put it. Palm Road leaves the west end for Smuggler's Cove; Zion Hill Road at the east end climbs over to the south coast and the West End ferry. Tap a pin for its section.
Long Bay is on the north side of Tortola's West End. From the West End ferry dock at Soper's Hole the road climbs over the hill — up Zion Hill Road from the Sir Francis Drake Highway — and comes down to the north shore at Little Apple Bay; Long Bay Road then runs west behind the sand to Belmont, where Palm Road carries on to Smuggler's Cove. The resort's fact sheet puts the West End ferry ten minutes away by taxi. There is no bus: visitors come by taxi, in a rental car, or on foot from the villas of Belmont and Long Bay.
Taxis charge the official BVI fares in the table, per person and cheaper each as the party grows. From Road Town or the cruise pier it is the length of the island's south coast to the West End, then over the hill. Driving, you keep left.
| From | 1 passenger | 2 (each) | 3+ (each) | Drive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West End Ferry | $12 | — | $8 | 10 min · 2.3 km |
| Road Town | $20 | — | $12 | 27 min · 12.8 km |
| Cruise Ship Dock | $27 | — | $12 | 26 min · 12.3 km |
| Nanny Cay | $24 | $12 | $8 | — |
| Beef Island Airport | $50 | $25 | $20 | 45 min · 23.2 km |
One way, per person by the size of the party: fares set by the BVI Road Traffic (Passenger Fares) Regulations (rates revised December 2022). Drive times are Google's for an ordinary day. Fare calculator for any two stops
Ferry from St. Thomas · Taxi from the West End ferry · BVI customs & entry fees · The Tortola guide
The sand at Long Bay has no gate and no entry fee. Long Bay Beach Resort, at the east end, describes the beach as its own on its fact sheet; the BVI Minister for Natural Resources told the House of Assembly in March 2023 that all BVI beaches are public. What the resort sells is its facilities — pool, loungers, towels, its bars — through a day pass. A visitor coming over from St. Thomas or St. John also pays the BVI's charges at the border, on the West End ferry dock.
| The beach | Free |
| Resort day pass (includes $75 food & drink credit) | $100 a person |
| Towel deposit with the day pass, refundable | $25 a towel |
| BVI environmental and tourism levy, arriving from the USVI | $10 |
| BVI departure tax, leaving by ferry | $20 |
| The same, for BVI residents | $15 |
The day pass is the resort's own price on its website: $75 of food and drink credit plus a $25 access fee, limited daily, best booked ahead, and not available to cruise ship guests. The levy and the departure tax are the UK government's figures for the BVI; from anywhere else in the BVI they do not apply.
Checked October 20, 2026 against Long Bay Beach Resort's day pass page, Long Bay Beach Resort's fact sheet, Virgin Islands News Online on the Minister's statement, March 10, 2023 and the UK government's BVI entry requirements. The resort sets its own day-pass terms and can change them; the officers at the West End dock and the ferry operator have the last word on border charges.
A long beach with one resort on it and a road behind it. Everything for sale — food, drinks, the pool, loungers — is the resort's; beyond it we found no public facilities, so come with water and shade.
Long Bay Road runs along the back of the beach from the resort west to the corner where it meets Palm Road and Belmont Drive; OpenStreetMap maps that stretch of road a few metres from the sand. West of the corner the beach runs on for about 400 m under Belmont Point, with Belmont Pond behind it and no road — the stretch furthest from the resort. OpenStreetMap maps no public car park, and we found none on any official page.
The resort at the east end of the beach runs the food and drink on it. Its website lists the 1748 Restaurant, in stone and coral walls it says were once a rum distillery on the beach (breakfast 8–10, lunch 12–3, dinner 6–9, Sunday brunch 10–2; reservations by phone); Johnny's Beach Bar on the sand, with live music and an upstairs rum lounge, hours not listed; the 1748 Coffee Shop; a swim-up pool bar; and a 1748 Sushi Bar. Non-guests use the pool and loungers with the day pass ($100, $75 of it food and drink credit), which the resort does not sell to cruise ship guests.
Photo: giggel, CC BY 3.0Long Bay looks north into the open sea, with Jost Van Dyke off to the north-west and nothing but ocean to the north. On a trade-wind day the water off the sand is often calm; when a winter north swell runs, it breaks along the beach as surf, and the resort's fact sheet lists surfboards and paddleboards among its amenities. Our /beach model scores the bay as open sand with no snorkelling reef — for reef, Smuggler's Cove round Belmont Point is the nearer bet.
We found no published lifeguard service and no public restroom at Long Bay. On a day of north swell, watch the waves for a while before you go in, swim where you can stand, and keep away from the rocks under Belmont Point. Bring water, sunscreen and shade; the resort's facilities are for its guests and day-pass holders.
Photo: giggel, CC BY 3.0The length of the sand, from the rocks under Belmont Point to the resort and back, is the thing to do here — most of it with no buildings on the sand. The beach faces north across open water, Jost Van Dyke off to the north-west; the card at the top of the page has tonight's sunset time.
Photo: Gdebsoc, CC BY-SA 4.0Tortola's north shore is where its winter surf breaks — Apple Bay, a few bays east, is the best known — when swells from storms far out in the North Atlantic arrive. Long Bay takes the same swells. Our north-swell film shows where they come from and this week's forecast; the call at the top of this page reads the swell every half hour.
Photo: giggel, CC BY 3.0Round Belmont Point to the south-west, along the last, unpaved stretch of Palm Road from Long Bay's west end: a sheltered cove with reef along its edges for snorkelling and two small beach bars. On a swell day at Long Bay it is usually the calmer water.
Photo: Bgabel, CC BY-SA 3.0The West End's harbour, over the hill to the south: the ferry dock and customs for the boats to St. Thomas and Jost Van Dyke, a marina, and painted waterfront buildings with shops and restaurants.
Tortola has two Long Bays at opposite ends of the island. The other is on Beef Island, by the airport at the east end: a long crescent with salt ponds behind it. The resort here puts the airport 45 minutes away by taxi. Its guide has its own fares, map and rules.
On the beach it is Long Bay Beach Resort or nothing: the 1748 Restaurant (its website gives breakfast 8–10, lunch 12–3, dinner 6–9 and Sunday brunch 10–2), Johnny's Beach Bar on the sand, the 1748 Coffee Shop, a swim-up pool bar and a sushi bar. Book the restaurant ahead; hours move with the season.
Further along the north shore, Little Apple Bay and Apple Bay have beach bars and hotel restaurants on the sand, and Soper's Hole at the West End has waterfront restaurants by the ferry dock. Several West End places close for part of the August–October off-season.
Warm all year: highs in the mid-80s °F, a steady easterly trade wind and short showers rather than all-day rain. December to April is the dry season; June to November is hurricane season, when some West End restaurants and the resort's outlets may keep shorter hours or close for part of August to October.
Long Bay faces north, so the easterly trade wind blows along the shore and many days the water by the sand is calm. Winter is the exception: swells from storms far out in the North Atlantic reach Tortola's north shore for a day or two at a time and break along the beach. The call at the top of this page reads the swell every half hour.
| Day | Sky | High / low | Rain | Wind | Seas offshore |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Today | Thunderstorms | 81° / 76°F | 89% | SW 18 mph, gusts 25 | 3.1 ft |
| Tomorrow | Thunderstorms | 80° / 77°F | 90% | WSW 20 mph, gusts 26 | 3.5 ft |
| Sun, Nov 8 | Drizzle | 81° / 79°F | 58% | W 12 mph | 3.1 ft |
| Mon, Nov 9 | Drizzle | 80° / 78°F | 18% | NNW 8 mph | 2.4 ft |
| Tue, Nov 10 | Drizzle | 80° / 78°F | 32% | NE 14 mph | 2 ft |
| Wed, Nov 11 | Overcast | 81° / 79°F | 25% | E 14 mph | 2.2 ft |
| Thu, Nov 12 | Drizzle | 81° / 79°F | 18% | ESE 12 mph | 2.1 ft |
Open-Meteo forecast for Tortola, refreshed every half hour. The seas are offshore; how much of it reaches the sand is the call above. BVI weather & sailing week · North swell season
Daily-mean sea-surface temperature off Tortola, averaged 2021–2024 (Open-Meteo marine reanalysis): warmest in Sep (86.3°F), coolest in Feb (79.3°F).
Long Bay is far from Road Town's cruise pier — the length of the island — and the resort does not sell its day pass to cruise ship guests. The small ships that call at Soper's Hole are nearer: the beach is over the hill from them. Even then, a beach this long spreads a crowd out.
1 of the next 31 days have a ship in Soper's Hole.
Our crowd model, not a head count: it puts about 20% of the passengers of a ship at Soper's Hole on the sand at Long Bay, starting about 75 minutes after the ship is in and gone 90 minutes before it sails; past 500 on the sand we call it packed. Ships in Road Town are not counted here. The same model makes the call at the top of the page and on our beach report.
No. There is no public live camera on Tortola that we can show — not at Long Bay, not at the resort, not at Soper's Hole — and we would rather say so than pass off a photo as live. The nearest live views in the BVI are at Scrub Island, off Tortola's north-east tip, and Cooper Island across the channel.
Long Bay Beach Resort dates itself to the 1960s on its own website — "since the late 1960s" in its story, "established in 1960" in a post on the same page — round a building it says reuses the stone, coral and limestone walls of an old rum distillery on the beach, now the 1748 Restaurant.
The category 5 hurricane crosses the British Virgin Islands. The resort's own account says the storm "flattened the entire coast into ruins"; afterwards the Strange family bought the property and began a multi-year rebuild.
The 42-room resort, rebranded and reopened during the pandemic, closes for September 1–30 for renovations, the Caribbean Journal reports.
Sources: Long Bay Beach Resort, About · Hurricane Irma, Wikipedia · Soper's Hole after Irma (Commons) · Caribbean Journal, August 23, 2023
Tortola has two. To a taxi driver this one is Long Bay, West End; the other is Long Bay on Beef Island by the airport, and the fares are different.
We found no public restroom, shower or shop on the beach. Bring water, sunscreen and a hat, or buy a day pass and use the resort's.
The beach is open to the north. On a north-swell day the waves break along the sand; swim where you can stand, or go round to Smuggler's Cove.
The resort's $100 day pass ($75 of it food and drink credit) is limited daily and not sold to cruise ship guests. Book ahead.
The 1748 Restaurant takes reservations by phone; the hours on its website are breakfast 8–10, lunch 12–3, dinner 6–9.
The BVI is British, not American: U.S. citizens need a passport for the ferry from Red Hook, an ED card filled in online, and U.S. customs on the way back.
Skip today todayTortolaCane Garden BayRough — 3.8 ft NNW swell, shore break · Thunderstorms in the forecast
Skip today todayTortolaBrewers BayRough — 3.8 ft NNW swell, shore break · Thunderstorms in the forecast
Skip today todayTortolaSmuggler's CoveRough — 3.8 ft NNW swell, shore break · Thunderstorms in the forecast
Skip today todayTortolaLong Bay (Beef Island)Rough — 3.8 ft NNW swell, shore break · Thunderstorms in the forecast
The island guideTortolaFerries, taxis, beaches and a true map of Tortola — the BVI's capital island and charter base — with today's weather and the next boat from St. Thomas.On the north shore of the West End, between Belmont Point and Little Apple Bay, over the hill from the West End ferry at Soper's Hole. Long Bay Beach Resort is at its east end and Belmont Pond behind its west end. It is not Long Bay on Beef Island, by the airport at the other end of Tortola.
By taxi or rental car: from the West End ferry dock over the hill by Zion Hill Road, then west along Long Bay Road behind the sand. From the West End ferry it is about 10 minutes (2.3 km) by road, and the official taxi fare is $12 for one rider, $8 each for three or more. There is no bus.
BVI taxi fares are set by regulation and charged per person, cheaper each as the party grows. From the West End ferry it is $12 for one rider, $8 each for three or more; from Road Town $20 for one rider, $12 each for three or more; from the cruise pier $27 for one rider, $12 each for three or more; from Beef Island airport $50 for one rider, $25 each for two, $20 each for three or more. Ask for Long Bay, West End, confirm the total for your group before you set off, and agree a pick-up time.
Yes. There is no gate and no fee to the sand, and the BVI Minister for Natural Resources told the House of Assembly in March 2023 that all BVI beaches are public, with access to be provided even where a beach is linked to private property. Long Bay Beach Resort's pool, loungers and other facilities are for its guests and day-pass holders.
Yes, on its website: $100 a person, made up of $75 of food and drink credit and a $25 access fee, for the beachfront, pool and resort spaces, with a $25 refundable deposit per towel. Numbers are limited daily, the resort recommends booking ahead, and the day pass is not available to cruise ship guests.
Often, on a trade-wind day, when the water off the sand is calm. It is open to the north, so on a winter north swell the waves break along the beach. We found no lifeguard service: look first, swim where you can stand, and on a rough day go round to Smuggler's Cove.
It is a sand beach, not a reef beach: our beach model does not score it for snorkelling. For reef close to the sand, Smuggler's Cove is round Belmont Point to the south-west, along Palm Road.
Long Bay Beach Resort's: the 1748 Restaurant (its website gives breakfast 8–10, lunch 12–3, dinner 6–9 and Sunday brunch 10–2), Johnny's Beach Bar on the sand, the 1748 Coffee Shop, a swim-up pool bar and a sushi bar. We found nothing else on the beach.
We found no public restroom and no published lifeguard service on the beach. The resort's facilities are for its guests and day-pass holders. Bring water and shade.
No. Tortola has two Long Bays at opposite ends of the island: this one on the north shore of the West End, by Long Bay Beach Resort and Smuggler's Cove; the other on Beef Island at the east end, by the airport. Taxi fares list them separately as Long Bay (West End) and Long Bay (Beef Island), and each has its own guide on this site.
Yes. The ferry from Red Hook lands at West End, the nearest dock, and a taxi at the official fare of $12 for one rider, $8 each for three or more takes you over the hill. You need a passport and the BVI's online ED card, pay the BVI's $10 arrival levy and $20 ferry departure tax, and clear U.S. customs on the way back.
No public live camera we can embed. There is no live webcam on Tortola at all; the nearest live views in the BVI are at Scrub Island, off Tortola's north-east tip, and Cooper Island across the channel.