The largest of the British Virgin Islands and home to most of its people: about 21 square miles of steep green ridges, with Road Town — the capital, the ferry terminal and the cruise pier — on the south shore and the beaches on the north. It is where the BVI's charter fleets set sail, and where most visitors arrive, by ferry from St. Thomas or by air to Beef Island.
Live schedules, official fares, today's beach and weather reads, cameras and maps — each one opens the full page.
Tortola and Beef Island drawn from the OpenStreetMap shoreline, with the roads the taxis drive and the sand of the main beaches. Tap a pin for its page.
Most visitors come by sea from St. Thomas. Ferries run from downtown Charlotte Amalie to Road Town, and from Red Hook on St. Thomas's east end to West End (Soper's Hole), the shorter crossing. Both are international: you clear BVI immigration and customs at the dock and pay the BVI entry fees.
Tortola's airport, Terrance B. Lettsome International (EIS), is on Beef Island at the east end, across a short bridge. American Eagle flies nonstop from Miami; otherwise you connect through San Juan or another Caribbean hub on Cape Air, interCaribbean and others. From Tortola, ferries go on to Virgin Gorda from Road Town and Trellis Bay, to Jost Van Dyke from West End, and to Anegada from Road Town on set days.
From the airport: a taxi from Beef Island Airport to Road Town is $27 for one rider, $14 each for two, $12 each for three or more, about 20–30 minutes — see the fare.
| Route | Crossing | Adult one way | Resident / senior | Boats a day now | Operators |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Harbour, Jost Van Dyke ↔ West End | 10–15 min | $30 | — | 5 | New Horizon Ferry |
| Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda ↔ Trellis Bay | 20 min | $25 | — | 6 | Speedy's Ferry |
| Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda ↔ Road Town | 30 min | $25 | — | 13 | Speedy's Ferry, Road Town Fast Ferry |
| Setting Point, Anegada ↔ Road Town | 90 min | $55 | — | 2 | Smith's Ferry |
Fastest: Great Harbour, Jost Van Dyke ↔ West End, 10–15 min. Children and bag fees vary by route — each timetable page has the full fare table and booking links.
These crossings are international: bring a passport — U.S. citizens too — clear BVI immigration and customs when you land and pay the entry fees, and clear U.S. customs on the way back.
Every ferry today · EIS flights today · BVI customs & entry fees · Do you need a passport? · Flying to the Virgin Islands
Taxis are the easy way round. Open-air safari taxis and vans wait at the ferry terminals, the cruise pier and the airport, and fares are set by the BVI's passenger-fare regulations: per person, and cheaper each as the group grows. The table below has the official fare from Road Town to the beaches, West End and the airport.
To explore on your own, rent a car or jeep in Road Town, at West End or at the airport. You drive on the left, the roads over the island's spine are very steep and winding — low gear on the way down — and the rental desk issues the temporary BVI licence you need.
| To | 1 passenger | 2 (each) | 3+ (each) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nanny Cay | $12 | — | $8 |
| Brewers Bay | $18 | — | $10 |
| Cane Garden Bay | $18 | — | $10 |
| Long Bay (West End) | $20 | — | $12 |
| West End Ferry | $20 | — | $12 |
| Beef Island Airport | $27 | $14 | $12 |
| Long Bay (Beef Island) | $27 | $14 | $12 |
| Smuggler's Cove | $32 | $16 | $14 |
Fares set by the BVI Road Traffic (Passenger Fares) Regulations (rates revised December 2022). Per person, with one rate for a single rider, one for two and one for three or more — confirm the total before you set off. Fare calculator for any two stops · Road Town → Cane Garden Bay · Road Town → the airport
Tortola's best beaches are on the north shore, over the ridge from Road Town, with the quietest at the West End and on Beef Island. Numbers match the map. For which one is calm and uncrowded today, open the beach report.
Photo: Jean-Marc Astesana, CC BY-SA 2.0Tortola's best-known beach: a long curve of sand under steep green hills, lined with beach bars, chairs and water-sport rentals, with the Callwood distillery just behind. Flat most of the year; a winter north swell can bring real surf. Busy on ship days, when the tours come over the hill from Road Town.
Taxi from Road Town: $18 for one rider, $10 each for three or more
The next bay north-east of Cane Garden Bay, down a steep, winding road: a quiet beach with reef to snorkel along its edges and a beach bar or two. Leave it alone in a big north swell.
Taxi from Road Town: $18 for one rider, $10 each for three or more
About half a mile of pale sand on the north side of the West End, with a resort at one end. Gentle on most mornings; some shore break on bigger days.
Taxi from Road Town: $20 for one rider, $12 each for three or more
At the far west end, down a rough road past Long Bay: a small, sheltered cove with reef close to shore — one of the calmest swims on the island. Little in the way of facilities: bring water and shade.
Taxi from Road Town: $32 for one rider, $16 each for two, $14 each for three or more
On Beef Island a few minutes from the airport: a long, quiet north-facing beach, good for a last swim before a flight. Open to a north swell.
Taxi from Road Town: $27 for one rider, $14 each for two, $12 each for three or more
The highest point in all the Virgin Islands, 1,716 ft, and the BVI's first national park: a patch of moist forest with mahogany, tree ferns and big boulders on marked trails from a car park off Ridge Road. On a clear morning the view runs from Jost Van Dyke to Virgin Gorda; cloud often settles on the top by afternoon.
Behind Cane Garden Bay, the Callwood family still makes rum in an old stone distillery, from cane juice in a pot still, much as it has been done there for well over a century. Look round, taste, and buy a bottle of their Arundel rum — bring cash.
Photo: Bgabel, CC BY-SA 3.0A beach shack on the north shore at Apple Bay built from driftwood, signs and whatever visitors leave behind, famous for its full-moon parties. Apple Bay in front is Tortola's surf break when the winter swell arrives.
Photo: Bgabel, CC BY-SA 3.0Where the St. Thomas and Jost Van Dyke ferries land: a sheltered harbour full of moored yachts, with painted wharf-side shops and Pusser's Landing on Frenchman's Cay. Worth an hour before or after a boat.
Photo: Colin Riegels, Public domainMain Street, a block back from the waterfront, keeps the old wooden and stone buildings — the Dove, Pusser's, the former prison wall — and the market square. Old Government House, now a museum, is on the hill above the ferry dock, and the J.R. O'Neal Botanic Gardens are a short walk north.
Photo: giggel, CC BY 3.0Tortola is the base of the BVI charter fleets: bareboats and crewed yachts sail from Road Town, Nanny Cay and the West End for a week round Norman Island, Cooper, Virgin Gorda's North Sound, Anegada and Jost Van Dyke. Mooring balls are first-come or booked through BoatyBall.
The ferry from Road Town or Trellis Bay to Spanish Town, then a short taxi, puts you among Virgin Gorda's giant granite boulders and pools by mid-morning. Go on a day with no cruise ship in Road Town if you can.
From West End the ferry to Great Harbour is a short hop; White Bay and the Soggy Dollar, home of the Painkiller, are a taxi ride or a walk over the hill from there.
Road Town has the most choice — waterfront places round Village Cay and the old restaurants of Main Street a block back. The north shore does beach bars, with Cane Garden Bay's strip the liveliest; the West End has Soper's Hole. Many places close for part of August to October — the list below says who, from our seasonal-closures tracker.
From our tracker of 16 Tortola spots. Every island's off-season closures
Shopping: Road Town Market Square — Outdoor market in the heart of Road Town. Local produce, spices, handmade crafts, hot sauce and souvenir t-shirts. Soper's Hole Wharf & Market — Colourful marina-side market with boutique shops, art galleries, dive operators and the Pusser's chandlery. Great place to stock a charter boat.
Warm all year: highs in the mid-80s °F, a steady easterly trade wind that the sailors count on, and short tropical showers rather than all-day rain — often a cap of cloud on Sage Mountain while the coast stays sunny. December to April is the dry, busy season. June to November is hurricane season, peaking from mid-August to mid-October, when many restaurants and some resorts close for a few weeks.
| Day | Sky | High / low | Rain | Wind | Seas |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Today | Drizzle | 82° / 80°F | 45% | ESE 19 mph, gusts 25 | 3.4 ft |
| Tomorrow | Showers | 81° / 76°F | 72% | ESE 19 mph, gusts 28 | 3.8 ft |
| Wed, Oct 7 | Thunderstorms | 80° / 76°F | 75% | ESE 18 mph, gusts 26 | 3.3 ft |
| Thu, Oct 8 | Thunderstorms | 81° / 77°F | 64% | ESE 17 mph | 3.1 ft |
| Fri, Oct 9 | Drizzle | 82° / 80°F | 43% | E 18 mph, gusts 24 | 3.3 ft |
| Sat, Oct 10 | Drizzle | 81° / 77°F | 70% | ENE 14 mph, gusts 23 | 2.8 ft |
| Sun, Oct 11 | Drizzle | 79° / 76°F | 72% | ESE 15 mph, gusts 24 | 2.2 ft |
Open-Meteo forecast for Tortola, refreshed every half hour. Live weather map · BVI sailing weather & marine zones
Daily-mean sea-surface temperature, averaged 2021–2024 (Open-Meteo marine reanalysis): warmest in Sep (86.3°F), coolest in Feb (79.3°F). Hurricane history map
Cruise ships berth at the Tortola Pier Park in Road Town, a short walk from Main Street, the ferry terminal and the charter docks; a few small ships call at Soper's Hole instead. On a big-ship day the taxis and tour buses carry thousands of passengers over the hill to Cane Garden Bay, and the ferries to Virgin Gorda for The Baths fill up — check the ships before you plan a beach.
22 calls at Road Town and Soper's Hole in the next 30 days. Next:
Seventeen Spanish ships anchor at Salt River, St. Croix. A landing party fights the Kalinago there — the first recorded battle between Europeans and Native Americans. Columbus names the chain Las Once Mil Vírgenes and claims it all for Spain; Spain never settles any of it.
Sir Francis Drake leads 27 English ships through the passage between Tortola and St. John on his way to attack Spanish San Juan. The channel has carried his name ever since.
Dutch West India Company settlers build a fort above Road Harbour. Jost Van Dyke already carries the name of a Dutch privateer who used its harbour a generation earlier.
In the Third Anglo-Dutch War, Colonel William Stapleton's force from the Leeward Islands takes Tortola. Virgin Gorda and Anegada follow by 1680 — the British Virgin Islands begin here.
Slavery ends across the British Empire. Tortola's plantations were already failing; most estates are abandoned within a generation and the land passes to the people who worked it.
Separated from the Leeward Islands, the BVI becomes its own colony, and on November 15, 1960 raises the flag it flies today — the Blue Ensign with the badge of St. Ursula and her lamps. A 1967 constitution brings elected government; today it is a British Overseas Territory.
St. Thomas, St. John, St. Croix and Water Island are the U.S. Virgin Islands. Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Jost Van Dyke and Anegada are the British Virgin Islands. Cruise ships and ferries cross the line every day.
The BVI is British, not American: U.S. citizens need a passport too, for the ferry from St. Thomas as much as for a flight. Keep it handy for the trip back, when you clear U.S. customs.
Keep left — on blind hairpins most of all. The hills between Road Town and the north shore are steep enough to need low gear going down.
Fares are set per person by regulation, cheaper each for two and for three or more. Ask the total for your group before you set off.
When a big ship is at the pier, Road Town's streets, Cane Garden Bay and the Virgin Gorda ferries are at their busiest. The cruise page shows which days.
The U.S. dollar is the currency. Road Town has banks and ATMs; beach bars, taxis and the distillery like cash.
In winter a big north swell can make the north-shore beaches rough for a day or two; Smuggler's Cove and the south side stay calmer. Our beach report reads it daily.
U.S. Virgin IslandsSt. ThomasThe airport, the cruise docks, the Red Hook ferries, taxi fares and the best beaches on a true map of St. Thomas — with today's weather and the next boat to St. John.
U.S. Virgin IslandsSt. JohnFerries, taxis, beaches, hikes and a true map of St. John — two-thirds national park — with today's weather and the next boat from Red Hook.
U.S. Virgin IslandsWater IslandThe ferry from Crown Bay, Honeymoon Beach, Fort Segarra and a true map of the smallest U.S. Virgin Island, with today's weather and the next boat.
U.S. Virgin IslandsSt. CroixGetting from St. Thomas to St. Croix by seaplane or ferry, the airport, taxi fares, Buck Island, Christiansted, Frederiksted and every main beach on a true map.
British Virgin IslandsVirgin 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.
British Virgin IslandsJost Van DykeHow to get to Jost Van Dyke, what the taxis cost, White Bay and the Soggy Dollar, Foxy's in Great Harbour, the Bubbly Pool and Sandy Spit — with today's weather and the next boat.
British Virgin IslandsNorman IslandThe boat-only island: day sails and charters from St. Thomas, St. John and Tortola, the Caves at Treasure Point, the Indians, the Bight and its floating bar.Most visitors fly into St. Thomas (STT) and take a ferry — from Charlotte Amalie to Road Town, or from Red Hook to West End — with a passport, since the crossing is international. You can also fly to Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport (EIS) on Beef Island, joined to Tortola by a bridge: American Eagle flies nonstop from Miami, and regional airlines connect through San Juan and other islands.
Yes. Tortola is in the British Virgin Islands, a British Overseas Territory, so everyone needs a passport — U.S. citizens included, even on a day trip by ferry from St. Thomas or St. John. You clear BVI immigration and customs and pay entry fees on arrival, and clear U.S. customs on the way back.
By taxi: they wait outside arrivals, and the drive over the bridge and along the south shore takes about 20–30 minutes. The official fare is $27 for one rider, $14 each for two, $12 each for three or more. Car rental desks are at the airport too.
Cane Garden Bay for a long beach with bars and water sports; Brewers Bay for a quieter swim and snorkeling; Smuggler's Cove at the far west end for calm, clear water and reef close in; Long Bay on the West End for a long walk; Apple Bay for surf in winter; and Long Bay on Beef Island for a last swim near the airport.
Not necessarily. Taxis meet the ferries, the cruise pier and the airport and charge government-set fares per person — Road Town to Cane Garden Bay is $18 for one rider, $10 each for three or more. A rental makes it easier to reach several beaches and the West End in a day; you drive on the left, on steep roads, and need a temporary BVI licence from the rental desk.
Mount Sage on Tortola, at 1,716 feet (523 m). Its summit forest is Sage Mountain National Park, the first national park in the British Virgin Islands, with marked trails from a car park off Ridge Road.
Yes. Cruise ships berth at the Tortola Pier Park in Road Town, a short walk from Main Street and the ferry terminal; a few small ships call at Soper's Hole on the West End. On a big-ship day expect Cane Garden Bay and the ferries to Virgin Gorda to be busy.
By ferry. Boats run from Road Town and from Trellis Bay on Beef Island to Spanish Town on Virgin Gorda, and from West End to Great Harbour on Jost Van Dyke. These are BVI-to-BVI crossings, so there is no customs; the timetables are on our ferry pages.