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British Virgin Islands Views, Insights and Travel Tips
Current Date: 25 October , 2026
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Eight Fun BVI Day Trips by Ferry
Inside the boulders at The Baths, Virgin Gorda. (photo: Brandon Smith)
If you want to enjoy eight of the BVI’s best day trips without your own boat, take a ferry!
When people think about the British Virgin Islands, sailing often comes to mind. But not everyone charters a boat while here. Fortunately, this doesn’t mean you can’t explore some of the BVI’s beautiful and exceptional outer islands. BVI ferries are a great alternative to chartering a boat and I take them often for a day trip to get off my home island of Tortola. Most of these itineraries leave from Tortola, but not all. With a little ingenuity and ferry juggling you can reach them from other of the BVI’s main islands. Join me for eight fun trips to some of the BVI’s best outer island locations.
Festive sign welcomes visitors to Virgin Gorda (photo: Brandon Smith)
1. Virgin Gorda
Spanish for the Fat Virgin, Virgin Gorda is a day trip with a roster of things to do. Several ferries a day leave for Virgin Gorda from the Road Town ferry dock. There is also a car ferry run by Global Ocean Transport that leaves from Beef Island near the airport. More like a barge than a ferry, I have taken it on several occasions, my car sandwiched in between other day trippers and construction trucks.
If not taking the barge, I rent a car in Spanish Town, my starting point for a driving tour of the island’s most popular sites. This will definitely include one of my favorite BVI beaches, Spring Bay, a lovely stretch of white sand sprinkled with the boulders that have made this part of Virgin Gorda famous. Spring Bay is one of three spectacular beaches that make up one unique national park. The other two are The Baths (famed for its labyrinth of giant granite boulders that form a series of intriguing sea grottoes), and neighboring Devil’s Bay, another too perfect to be believed, powdery sand beach.
After a dip, I leave Spring Bay and follow the road out of Spanish Town following the north shore road until I get to Nail Bay, a resort sprinkled with gardens, ocean views, plantation ruins and a restaurant that provides for an opportune lunch break.
A must stop is Hogs Heaven, an open-air barbecue joint perched on a cliff. It has a sweeping view of the North Sound that is perfect for selfies and panoramas. A quick trip and a drink at Leverick Bay, a resort and marina on the northern most part of Virgin Gorda will round off my day. There is much more to see, but by then I have pretty much covered the Fat Virgin from top to bottom and head back for the last ferry.
For more about Virgin Gorda go to https://thebviinsider.com/virgin-gorda-glamor-and-a-down-to-earth-vibe/（https://thebviinsider.com/virgin-gorda-glamor-and-a-down-to-earth-vibe/） Speedy’s Ferry Service https://www.bviferries.com Sensation Ferry https://www.sensationferries.com
Chilling at White Bay, Jost Van Dyke
2. White Bay, Jost Van Dyke
Everyone loves Jost Van Dyke. With only a few hundred year-round residents, beautiful white sand beaches and an admirable number of beach bars and restaurants, this is a great day trip. Happily, for us who don’t own a boat, Jost Van Dyke can be reached from West End, Tortola by ferry. The New Horizon Ferry leaves the West End Ferry Dock several times a day, and if you take either the 8am or 10am ferry from West End and return at 5 you will have plenty of time to explore the island. For the full ferry schedule go to https://newhorizonferry.com/ferry-schedules/
I like sitting on the open back of the ferry for a scenic and windswept 20-minute ride. Once I disembark, I usually head for White Bay (here I have a choice of walking over the hill with a spectacular view of White Bay from the brow of the hill – or taking one of the island’s several taxis (same views, less energy). T
here are many places to eat and drink on White Bay, including Soggy Dollar, one of the Bay’s earliest bars, and the reputed home of the Painkiller. With its games and party going patrons, it is the more boisterous option. Hendo’s, next door, offers a quieter lunch in a tropical and breezy hardwood post and beam structure. Along the beach, are several homey local bars, as well as Ivan’s, a campsite with a bar and tents behind the beach.
3. Great Harbour, Jost Van Dyke
When on Jost Van Dyke, I always leave time to visit Great Harbour before returning to the ferry.