Tranquility - A Day Trip from Virgin Gorda to Anegada

On a recent trip to Virgin Gorda, an island in the British Virgin Islands, we decided to day trip to Anegada. Nicknamed the Drowned Land, Anegada is the only coral island in the Virgin Islands' volcanic chain. Surrounded by coral reefs, Anegada is home to the Horse Shoe Reef, the fourth largest barrier reef in the world, which has been known to cause ship wrecks and makes sailing to Anegada difficult.

Anegada is the ultimate tranquil paradise. Only 200 people live on this 15-square mile island, and with the exception of some wandering cattle, donkeys, sheep and goats, and Caribbean flamingos, you will pretty much feel like you're away - far away!

I hemmed and hawed for weeks prior to the vacation about whether to take the public ferry to Anegada or cruise over on an organized catamaran trip with DiveBVI or Double D Charters. Because we wanted to leave early and spend as much time as possible on Anegada, we chose the ferry.  Waking up before 7am on vacation was difficult, but we took the 7:10am ferry on Wednesday.  To view the inter-island ferry schedule, click here.

Less than an hour later, we arrived on Anegada.  We had rented a jeep in advance from Dean Wheatley with D.W. Jeep Rentals (call 284-495-9677 or email dwjeep@hotmail.com to book).  Dean, who is very friendly, met us at the ferry dock and got us in our Jeep very quickly. 

First stop, the Anegada Reef Hotel for breakfast!  Located near the ferry dock, we sat at a picnic table by the water and enjoyed friendly service and coconut rum pancakes (yum!) and bacon.  As you can see below, the view from our table was not too shabby!

After breakfast, we drove toward Cow Wreck Beach, stopping along the way to check out the long stretches of white-sand beaches.  The beaches are great for walking, and we pretty much had the beach all to ourselves, the water such a beautiful color!

At Cow Wreck Beach, we grabbed a few chairs near the beach bar and hopped in the water to snorkel.  We saw a variety of fish, conch shells and coral, not spectacular snorkeling but still a lot of fun.  After our snorkel, we grabbed a hammock and drank a Red Stripe, what a great place to relax!

Around 11:30am, we drove to the northern side of the island, to Loblolly Beach, home of the Big Bamboo restaurant and some excellent snorkeling.  The ride there was long and bumpy (dirt roads!) but we detoured here and there, trying to sight some of Caribbean flamingos that inhabit the salt ponds - no luck, but we did see some from afar while on the paved dirt road earlier. 

As soon as we arrived at Loblolly, the skies darkened and the rain started!  Boooo!  

We took shelter at the beach bar, chatting with the friendly bartenders and enjoying some painkillers and Red Stripes, and later tasted the fabulous grilled Anedaga lobster - absolutely delicious!  Spoiled by Maine lobsters, we were skeptical of this lobster but enjoyed every bite, as well as some delicious sides from Big Bamboo.  I only wish I had photos of the meal.  

Finally the rain stopped.  The skies were still dark, but after a long walk on the beach where I found several sand dollars, we jumped in for a snorkel and were very happy we did!  Even without the sun, the visibility was great, water was very clear.  We saw loads of fish, some interesting coral formations and three large turtles - just beautiful! 

After our swim, we realized we needed to head back to the dock to catch the 5:10pm ferry back to Virgin Gorda.  Dropping our jeep off at the dock was easy. A great day, even with the rain!  If you've been to Anegada, I'd love to hear about it in the comments section below.

To read my trip report on Virgin Gorda, click here.  If you enjoy my blog, don't forget to follow me on Twitter or Facebook, or scroll up to sign up for my emails.  Thanks for reading and I'll leave you with one more picture...ahhhhh.