A short, curving beach on Virgin Gorda's north-west coast, below the road to North Sound and the villas on the hill, with Mango Bay Resort at its south end. It faces west-north-west, away from the trade wind, and is calm on most days. All BVI beaches are public. Looking for Maho Bay, the turtle beach on St. John? That is a different beach, in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Skip today Rough — 3.8 ft NNW swell, shore break · Thunderstorms in the forecast. If you go, the least bad stretch left is 9 am–12 pm.
| Day | The call | Why | Best time | Cruise guests here | Sea at the beach | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Today | Skip today | Rough — 3.8 ft NNW swell, shore break · Thunderstorms in the forecast | 9 am–12 pm | — | Rough · 3 ft | Thunder |
| Tomorrow | Skip today | Rough — 4.3 ft WNW swell, shore break · Thunderstorms in the forecast | 10 am–1 pm | — | Rough · 3.5 ft | Thunder |
| Sun, Nov 8 | Skip today | Rough — 4.0 ft NNW swell, shore break | 2 pm–5 pm | — | Rough · 2.9 ft | 59% |
| Mon, Nov 9 | Good | Choppy — NNE swell into the bay | 10 am–1 pm | — | Gentle · 1.8 ft | 36% |
| Tue, Nov 10 | Good | Gentle water | 1 pm–4 pm | — | Gentle · 1.3 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 island) and the rain forecast. Our model has no cruise crowd or sargassum reading for Mahoe Bay. It is a model, not a lifeguard's report — we found no lifeguard service here, so the sea in front of you has the last word. The bars under each call are the hours from 8 am to 5 pm. Today's beach report
The posted taxi fares nearest Mahoe Bay, the ferries to Virgin Gorda, today's beach and weather reads, the beaches next door and the island around it — each one opens the full page.
Mahoe Bay from OpenStreetMap: the sand (drawn from the line our beach report traced, as OpenStreetMap has no outline of it), Mango Bay Resort at the south end, Nail Bay Road behind the bay and the houses on the hill — each pin where OpenStreetMap's mappers put it. The resort's dock and moorings are not on OpenStreetMap, so they have no pin. Tap a pin for its section.
Mahoe Bay is on the north-west coast of Virgin Gorda, a few minutes past Savannah Bay on the way to North Sound. From the ferry dock in Spanish Town the North Sound Road runs north-east along the island's narrow middle; Nail Bay Road turns off it toward the sea and runs north behind the bay, with Mango Bay Road down to the resort at the south end of the sand. Mango Bay Resort says it is 10 to 15 minutes from anywhere on the island, the Virgin Gorda airport included.
The BVI's posted taxi fares do not list Mahoe Bay. The nearest posted fares from the Spanish Town ferry dock are to Savannah Bay, the next beach, and to Gun Creek and Leverick Bay on North Sound, further along the same road; agree your fare with the driver before you set off. Ferries cross to Spanish Town from Road Town and from Trellis Bay by Tortola's airport, and from St. Thomas on some days. By sea, the resort keeps mooring balls off the beach.
Taxi to Savannah Bay · Every ferry today · Do you need a passport? · The Virgin Gorda guide
Mahoe Bay has no gate, no posted hours and no entry fee, and it is not a national park. Mango Bay Resort's villas line the beach and its land runs to the sand, but 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. The resort's pool, kayaks and paddleboards are for its guests; its new restaurant, it says, is for everyone. A visitor coming over from St. Thomas or St. John also pays the BVI's charges at the border, on the Spanish Town ferry dock.
| The beach | Free |
| A taxi, in the resort's guide for its guests | Around $10 a person, plus about $1 a bag |
| BVI environmental and tourism levy, arriving by air or sea | $10 |
| BVI departure tax, leaving by ferry | $20 |
| The same, for BVI residents | $15 |
The taxi figure is the resort's own, on its getting-here page, which adds that fares are set per route and should be confirmed with the driver; the BVI's posted fare list has no route to Mahoe Bay. The levy and the departure tax are the UK government's figures for the BVI; from Tortola or anywhere else in the BVI they do not apply.
Checked October 28, 2026 against Mango Bay Resort: The Drop Off, Mango Bay Resort: Getting here, Mango Bay Resort: home page, Virgin Islands News Online on the Minister's statement, March 10, 2023, the National Parks Trust's Virgin Gorda parks and the UK government's BVI entry requirements. The resort sets its own terms and opening hours and can change them; the officers at the Spanish Town dock and the ferry operator have the last word on border charges.
A short beach with a resort at one end and villas on the hill behind. Below is what OpenStreetMap maps and what the resort itself publishes; we found no public facilities, so come with water and shade.
Nail Bay Road leaves the North Sound Road just past Savannah Bay and runs north behind Mahoe Bay toward Nail Bay; Mango Bay Road and the villa lanes drop off it toward the sea. OpenStreetMap maps no public path to the sand and no public car park, and we found none on any official page. Ask your driver for Mango Bay Resort: it is the landmark at the south end of the beach.
A short curve of sand along the head of the bay, about 250 m on the line our beach model traced, with Mango Bay Resort's villas and gardens behind its south end and houses on the hill above. It faces west-north-west, so the island's hills block the easterly trade wind and the water is calm on most days; the resort calls it "a calm, clear bay". We found no restrooms, showers, chairs or lifeguards for the public.
Mango Bay Resort has 19 beachfront villas, suites and studios in gardens along the sand, on its own website, and says it was built in the mid-1980s by the late Aldo Moretti and belongs today to Keith Newton and his family. Its café, bar and restaurant, The Drop Off, at the resort's rebuilt dock, opens in December 2026, "open to everyone": 11 am until late, seven days a week from December 1 to April 30, closed Mondays from May 1 to December 1. Reservations by phone, (284) 346-7556, or OpenTable. No menu or prices are published yet.
"Pick up one of our mooring balls or anchor in Pond Bay or Savannah Bay, then tie up your dinghy at the dinghy dock," the resort tells sailors, and day boats may tie up at the dock while their guests have lunch, space permitting. It does not say how many balls there are or what they cost; ask at the resort. In a winter north swell the bay is open to it — a settled-weather stop.
The resort calls itself "one of the few true beach and reef front resorts on Virgin Gorda", and our beach model scores Mahoe as a snorkelling beach, sheltered inside the same reef line as Savannah Bay. The resort lends snorkel gear to its own guests only: bring your own mask and fins. Swim with a buddy, stay off the coral and keep clear of the moorings and the dock, where boats come and go.
South-west of the resort, round the rocks, OpenStreetMap maps another beach of about 350 m with a wetland behind it, unnamed on its map — the bay sailors know as Pond Bay, where the resort suggests anchoring. Beyond it is Savannah Bay, the long beach inside the reef. To the north, past the point, is Nail Bay.
Searches for Mahoe Bay often mean Maho Bay, without the e: the turtle beach on St. John's north shore, in the U.S. Virgin Islands and its national park. That is a different beach in a different country; it has its own guide on this site.
The reason to come: a short, sheltered beach facing away from the trade wind, quiet on most days. There are no lifeguards — keep children within reach, and check the call at the top of the page on a winter swell day.
From December 2026, Mango Bay Resort's new café, bar and restaurant at its dock, open to the public from 11 am, it says. Arrive by car, or by boat on a mooring ball and the dinghy dock. Book by phone or OpenTable.
Photo: Gruepig, CC BY-SA 4.0A few minutes back toward Spanish Town: a long, empty curve of white sand with a reef across the bay and nothing built on it. Bring everything you need.
Photo: Alejandro Sánchez, CC BY-SA 4.0The Virgin Islands dwarf gecko, about 18 mm from snout to vent and one of the smallest reptiles known, lives in the dry scrub on the rocky hillsides here; it was first collected on the hill above Pond Bay, next door, in 1964. It is listed as Endangered and lives under rocks and leaf litter, not on the beach — look, but leave the rocks where they are.
Photo: Gruepig, CC BY-SA 4.0The North Sound Road climbs on from Mahoe Bay past Gorda Peak to the overlook above North Sound and down to Gun Creek and Leverick Bay, where boats run to Saba Rock and the Bitter End.
Photo: Daniel Lobo, CC BY 2.0The granite boulders and grottos of The Baths are at the island's south-west tip, the other side of Spanish Town: a National Parks Trust park with an entry fee, opening hours and the Caves trail to Devil's Bay. Go early, then come north for a quiet swim.
Until December 2026 there is nothing to buy at Mahoe Bay: bring water, food and shade. From December, Mango Bay Resort's The Drop Off, at its dock on the beach, says it is open to everyone from 11 am until late (closed Mondays from May to November).
Otherwise Spanish Town is the nearest place to eat that we can source — the restaurants and bars round the Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour by the ferry dock — and Leverick Bay and Gun Creek are over the hill on North Sound. Several Virgin Gorda 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 tropical showers rather than all-day rain. December to April is the dry season and the busy one; June to November is hurricane season.
Mahoe Bay faces west-north-west, so the island shelters it from the easterly trade-wind sea and the water is calm on most days. Its trouble is the winter north swell, from storms far out in the North Atlantic, which can wrap into the bay for a day or two. The call at the top of the page reads the swell every half hour.
| Day | Sky | High / low | Rain | Wind | Seas offshore |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Today | Thunderstorms | 85° / 80°F | 90% | SW 18 mph, gusts 24 | 2.8 ft |
| Tomorrow | Thunderstorms | 83° / 80°F | 92% | WSW 20 mph, gusts 27 | 3.3 ft |
| Sun, Nov 8 | Drizzle | 85° / 81°F | 67% | W 13 mph | 2.9 ft |
| Mon, Nov 9 | Drizzle | 84° / 82°F | 18% | NW 8 mph | 2.1 ft |
| Tue, Nov 10 | Drizzle | 83° / 81°F | 24% | NE 13 mph | 2 ft |
| Wed, Nov 11 | Overcast | 84° / 83°F | 21% | ENE 13 mph | 2 ft |
| Thu, Nov 12 | Drizzle | 84° / 82°F | 20% | ESE 11 mph | 2 ft |
Open-Meteo forecast for Virgin Gorda, 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 Virgin Gorda, averaged 2021–2024 (Open-Meteo marine reanalysis): warmest in Sep (86.3°F), coolest in Feb (79.5°F).
No — there is no public live webcam at Mahoe Bay. Virgin Gorda's one live camera is at Saba Rock in North Sound, over the hill at the island's north-east end: it shows the boats in the sound. We would rather say so than show a still photo dressed up as live.
On a hillside above Pond Bay, next door to Mahoe Bay, an adult female is collected that becomes the type specimen of the Virgin Islands dwarf gecko, found that summer by the biologist Richard Thomas and described by him in 1965. Found only in the British Virgin Islands, it averages 18 mm from snout to vent.
Aldo Moretti builds Mango Bay Resort on the beach, the resort's own history says, and his family runs it for many years.
The category 5 hurricane crosses the British Virgin Islands. The resort's dock is destroyed, it says; it has since been rebuilt for the new restaurant.
After complaints that an estate on Virgin Gorda was blocking the way to the sand, the Minister for Natural Resources tells the House of Assembly that every beach in the territory is public.
Under the Newton family, the resort's owners today, Mango Bay opens its café, bar and restaurant at the dock to the public, it says.
Sources: Virgin Islands dwarf gecko, Wikipedia (Thomas 1965; Hedges & Thomas 2001) · Mango Bay Resort, About · Mango Bay Resort, The Drop Off · Hurricane Irma, Wikipedia · Virgin Islands News Online, March 2023
The BVI's fare list has no Mahoe Bay. Ask for Mango Bay Resort, agree the fare for your party before you set off, and agree a pick-up time.
Until The Drop Off opens in December 2026, nothing is sold to the public at the beach and we found no public restrooms. Bring water, food, shade and a bag for your rubbish.
Maho Bay, without the e, is the turtle beach on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. If that is where you are going, you want the ferry to Cruz Bay, not Spanish Town.
We found none. Stay where you can stand unless you are a strong swimmer, and snorkel with someone.
The resort keeps moorings and a dock off the beach, and day boats come in for lunch. Swim and snorkel clear of them.
The BVI is British, not American: bring a passport, fill in the online ED card before you arrive, and clear U.S. customs on the way back.
Skip today todayVirgin GordaThe BathsRough — 3.1 ft SW swell, shore break · Thunderstorms in the forecast
Think twice todayVirgin GordaSpring BayRough — 3.1 ft SW swell, shore break · Thunderstorms in the forecastSkip today todayVirgin GordaSavannah BayRough — 3.8 ft NNW swell, shore break · Thunderstorms in the forecast
The island guideVirgin GordaThe Baths, Spring Bay, Savannah Bay and North Sound on a true map, with the next ferry from Road Town, the official taxi fares and today's weather.On the north-west coast of Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands, between Savannah Bay and Nail Bay, below the North Sound Road. Mango Bay Resort is at its south end. It is not Maho Bay on St. John, in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
No. Mahoe Bay is on Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands; Maho Bay, without the e, is the turtle beach on St. John's north shore in the U.S. Virgin Islands, inside its national park. They are in different countries, reached by different ferries, and each has its own guide on this site.
Yes, in practice. The bay is Mahoe Bay on the map; Mango Bay Resort, on its sand, calls its beach Mango Bay and gives its address as Plum Bay Road, Mango Bay. Ask a taxi driver for Mango Bay Resort.
Yes. There is no gate and no fee, 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. Mango Bay Resort's pool, kayaks, paddleboards and snorkel gear are for its guests.
By taxi or rental car from the ferry dock in Spanish Town: up the North Sound Road past Savannah Bay, then Nail Bay Road down behind the bay. Mango Bay Resort says it is 10 to 15 minutes from anywhere on the island. Ferries reach Spanish Town from Road Town and Trellis Bay on Tortola, and direct from St. Thomas on some days. By boat, the resort has mooring balls and a dinghy dock.
The BVI's posted fare list has no route to Mahoe Bay. Mango Bay Resort tells its guests to expect around US$10 per person plus about $1 a bag, and to confirm the fare with the driver before setting off. The nearest posted fares from Spanish Town are to Savannah Bay, next door, and to Gun Creek and Leverick Bay on North Sound.
From December 2026: The Drop Off, Mango Bay Resort's café, bar and restaurant at its dock, open to guests and the public from 11 am until late, daily December 1 to April 30 and closed Mondays May 1 to December 1, the resort says. Reservations by phone or OpenTable. Until then, bring your own.
Mango Bay Resort says sailors can pick up one of its mooring balls, or anchor in Pond Bay or Savannah Bay next door, and tie up a dinghy at its dinghy dock; day boats may tie up at the dock for lunch, space permitting. It publishes no count or fee — ask at the resort. Keep out in a north swell.
On a calm day, yes: our beach model scores it as a snorkelling beach, sheltered inside the same reef line as Savannah Bay, and the resort describes itself as beach and reef front. Bring your own gear — the resort lends it to guests only — stay off the coral and keep clear of the moorings.
We found no public restroom and no lifeguard service. Bring water and shade, and keep children within reach.
No. The National Parks Trust's Virgin Gorda parks are The Baths, Devil's Bay, Spring Bay, Copper Mine Point, Little Fort and Gorda Peak.
No public live camera. Virgin Gorda's only live webcam is at Saba Rock in North Sound, at the island's north-east end, and it shows the boats in the sound.