My family visited Nail Bay the summer of 2008.It was just the type of Caribbean vacation we were looking for with beautiful beaches, clear blue water, and all the rest and relaxation you could ask for.The staff at Nail Bay is truly amazing and was there at every turn to make sure that our time in Virgin Gorda and Nail Bay was fun filled and that all of our needs were met. One thing we really loved about Virgin Gorda is the variety of the beaches.Usually when you go on vacation you go to THE beach. This place has lots of beaches, each with its own character and most of them deserted. There’s always something to explore. We would highly recommend Nail Bay to anyone who wants to get away from the busy crowded beaches of the US and find a paradise where you feel safe and welcome and just the right amount of solitude.

June 12, 2008

Waiting for the ferry to take us to Nail Bay

We arrive in Tortola about 5:00pm after traveling all day.There’s a very short line to go through customs but it seems to take forever.Unlike the cold efficiency of the airport, everyone seems to be friendly but not in much of a hurry.Outside, the kids are fascinated by the free roaming chickens.After the short drive to the ferry dock and a seriously needed rum drink at the bar, I realize that the little harbor is beautiful and it is ok if the ferry is 15 minutes late.We are on vacation.The stress of the long trip thaws and starts to melt.The kids are already wading in the water and chasing the bar owner’s indeterminate number of half-grown kittens.The ferry, basically a big boat, shows up and takes us the 20 minute trip to Virgin Gorda.The pre-arranged rental car, a small SUV, is waiting.We load up and make a quick trip to the grocery store nearby because the restaurant at Nail Bay doesn’t serve breakfast.The prices at the store are at least double what we’re used to because it has to be ferried in, ouch.The sun is starting to set and we’re struck by the beauty of the water and the colorful ramshackle buildings.People are walking everywhere along the two-lane road as we drive on the wrong side avoiding chickens and the occasional goat.The island is mountainous and semi-arid.The road dips and turns revealing beautiful sandy beaches with the clearest blue green water I have ever seen.We take the steep rocky turn-off to Nail Bay and pull up the small parking area near the office.The flagstone path is bordered by exquisite tropical flowers and plants, softly lit as the lights come on.We are taken to our rooms by Benny.The kids are settled in a little complex, Island Time Village, near the office and restaurant.Their unit is a beautiful, split level with Spanish tile, a two person bathtub, and a huge patio with an unbelievable view of the ocean, distant islands, and the beautifully landscaped property.

My husband and I take another one bedroom villa, part of Mystic Waters, on the adjacent hill.Like most of the villas, it is nestled on a hill overlooking the ocean.It is a perfect honeymoon get-away.Basically one room with a tiny kitchen, a living area downstairs, and a king sized bed upstairs all open to an amazing view of the Caribbean.It also has its own secluded plunge pool.Nice.I can’t wait to see it in the daylight.

June 13, 2008

Out on the beach.

We meet the kids at their place early the next morning, eat a quick breakfast and head down to the beach.This place is even more gorgeous in daylight.Mountain trunk beach is a short walk down the hill on a beautiful little flagstone path.There is close parking available if you don’t want to hike.It’s a gorgeous white sandy beach bordered by black granite boulders on one side and coral on the other.The water is perfectly clear and perfect for swimming.The nearby rocks and coral provide shelter for myriads of brightly colored fish, sea fans, sponges, and crustaceans.I’m dazzled by the variety.It’s like swimming in a giant aquarium.I can’t believe we have snorkeling this amazing right off Nail Bay’s beach, and this morning we have it all to ourselves.

My boys love exploring the boulders.My husband and daughter have discovered perfect sand castle building sand and begin to create one of many masterpieces.I don’t think I can ever get enough of this underwater world.The fish look like something an over-imaginative child with an enormous box of markers would create.There are bright yellow and purple fish, black ones with neon blue outlines, orange finned ones with scales that look like they have been drawn, zebra striped ones, parrot fish with every color of the rainbow, angel fish, more than I could ever count or name, innocently nibbling on coral.I love that we don‘t have to charter a boat to get to the coral.It’s just right here off the beach.

Sunburn and starvation finally pulled us from the beach.We quickly learned two lessons.One:use the strongest sunscreen you can find.That Caribbean sun ate our 30 SPF for breakfast.Two:be flexible at mealtimes.After lunch we hung out on the patio of the kids’ place, Island Time Village.The hillside location gives it an amazing view that I could stare at all day.You can see the beautiful grounds, little tucked away restaurant, a tennis court, and of course the Caribbean.The water is broken by the islands of Great Camanoe and Tortola, which heave from the ocean like gentle sea monsters.Words cannot describe the vivid blue of the water offset by the bright colors of the tropical flowers.I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything more lovely.

June 14, 2008

As badly as we wanted to go back to the beach, we are pretty sunburned, so we played bocce ball under a yellow flowering sausage tree here at Nail Bay.Later we had a wonderful dinner in the intimate little restaurant called the SugarCane, a stone’s throw from the kids’ place.It’s a shady open-air little place built down into the rocks connected to the pool and hot tub.It’s nice to order a mango daiquiri at the swim up bar.It also happens to have wonderful food.I had the excellent Mahi Mahi with some spicy tomato sauce.

Later we decided to drive around.I don’t think there is an ugly view anywhere on this island.Even by the water desalination plant it’s beautiful.It is a charming place with dark skinned children in school uniforms, people walking everywhere or just enjoying each other’s company in the many pubs, and brightly colored very lived in homes.Devil’s Bay is part of the world famous Baths so we parked and hiked the trail just to check it out.The trail is less than a mile and pretty cool in its own right.It‘s strewn with huge boulders and turk’s cap cacti.The beach is unbelievable with white sand and enormous black granite boulders.The surf pounds in creating interesting hollows and caves in the rock.You can literally swim inside these caves.

Michael, Ryan, and Madeline at the Baths

Sunburned or not we went to the Baths.We paid the entry fee, about $3 a person, and took the trail to the Baths.You can easily avoid the fee by taking the trail to Devils Bay and hiking down to the Baths.Anyway, if you take the Baths trail look for a rock formation that looks like a skull.It‘s near the beach on the right.The Baths is a very popular place and a little crowded which is shocking after having most of the island to ourselves.There are several boats parked just offshore in the turquoise water letting people onto the beach. We’ll have to try it again on a weekday.The snorkeling is amazing.My husband spotted a good sized sting ray that did his best to hide from us.

We ate lunch right on the beach at a cute, reasonable place right on the beach that serves hamburgers and drinks.Then, wounds and all, we took the amazing trail from the first sandy beach to Devil’s Bay.It is a labyrinth of black granite boulders carved into amazing shapes by the surf which splashes in creating indoor pools.There are wooden ladders and rope to make it easier to climb over the boulders.I would recommend water shoes instead of flip flops.This is what Virgin Gorda is known for and you can NOT miss this.

The trail through the rocks took us to even more amazing snorkeling.My fifteen year old and I saw a school of bright blue tangs and the most amazing tiny jet black fish with neon blue polka dots.I have got to look in the fish book back at Nail Bay and figure out what some of these amazing fish are.There are black crabs climbing along the rocks just above the surf.

Back at Nail Bay, my husband grills lamb chops and we watch a movie we have borrowed from Nail Bay’s library.This is the only TV we have watched since we left Dallas.

June 16, 2008

Beach Day! We walked down to Mountain Trunk beach again and just hung out for the day.There were only a handful of people on the beautiful beach, all honeymooners from Little Dix. This is definitely not Ft. Lauderdale.After swimming for an hour or two, we hang out on Tiki shaded lounges on the beach and read our neglected novels.When we had worn out the beach, we head up to the Nail Bay pool to cool off and order more Mango daiquiris from the swim up bar.I am deliciously bored and more relaxed than I can remember.We have finally gotten it through our heads that we have nothing to do but entertain ourselves.This is the ultimate vacation.Our kids, who are usually whiny and bored unless they are watching TV, are having the time of their lives.

I love this place.All the villas are full, but we rarely see another person.It seems like we have the place to ourselves.I feel like I could be Julia Roberts or somebody and still have a vacation.Island Time Village, the condo the kids are staying in, is part of a complex and has a resort feel to it.But most of the other vacation villas are stand alone houses that are tucked away on the sides of the hills and are very private.

We take the short walk across the road and checked out the ruins of the sugar mill on the property where slaves used to process sugar can for export.It makes me think of that movie Amazing Grace because this is one of the places those slaves were sent.You can still see the smoke from the hottest copper on the rock walls.It‘s definitely worth seeing.

June 17, 2008

We decided to take a day off from the beach and hike up to Mount Gorda.It’s a rocky trail through the jungle to the top of the mountain.The trail is a little challenging.Well, not really but I wouldn’t try it in flip flops.From the look out on the top there is a magnificent view of the entire island as well as the ones around it.

We ate lunch at the Top of the Baths, a beautiful restaurant overlooking the Baths of course, with brightly painted underwater scenes.It caters to tourists and was packed.The food was extremely good.Back at Nail Bay the kids played tennis and we swam in the pool and ordered more Mango daiquiris and smoothies.There is a beautiful little seating area next to the pool overlooking the ocean that is perfect for reading and relaxing.My oldest showed up with a creature keeper full of brittle starfish.We enjoyed looking at them for a while then we took them back to the rocks at the beach.Later the boys surprised us with a hermit crab they had found on the grounds.

Sunset from the kids balcony

That night we watched the sunset from the patio and went to dinner at the beautiful little restaurant at Nail Bay.We had conch fritters, coconut shrimp, and I had the snapper with spinach gnocchi.It was all delicious.The SugarCane is so cozy and intimate with the lights softly glowing in the evening.We struck up a conversation with a nice couple at the adjoining table who invited us to their place to swim the next day.

June 18, 2008

I cooked a breakfast of scrambled eggs and ham and we hung out in the villa.The kids are playing tennis again.I love it!I usually need to threaten murder to get them away from their Wii and cartoons.My daughter is begging me to play cards with her.Better go.

Later we met with the nice couple who live in a beautiful house called Full Circle right by the water.It is an unusual home with the living area in a completely different building than the bedrooms.It is exquisitely decorated with unusual eclectic art and furniture they have collected over many years.It has sugar mill ruins, a big shady pool, a separate guesthouse, and a large flagstone pavilion by the water.We sat on the pavilion and drank iced tea while the kids swam.What a lovely way to spend an afternoon.

Then we went to a beach near Mountain Trunk.We weren’t able to drive all the way to it because the road was too rough.So we parked and hiked about five minutes to a pristine, sugar sanded beach with more of the same crystal clear Caribbean water we are starting to take for granted.Our only company was a few sailboats offshore.Again, we had one of the most gorgeous beaches we’ve ever seen to ourselves.The boys found a huge hermit crab in a conch shell.You would think they‘d discovered a dinosaur from all the excitement it caused.

June 19-26, 2008

Copper Mine

Sorry to neglect my blog so long but I was having too much fun to even look at my laptop.This whole laid back attitude is definitely contagious.The rest of the trip was wonderful.We went to the Copper Mine ruins twice.They‘re really impressive when the seas are rough and crash into the rocks.Words to the wise, do not touch the yellow rope, it has splinters. Leslie at the Sugarcane told us about the “secret beach” which became one of our favorite beaches. Be sure to ask her if you visit.She will be sure to give you the secret directions.We spent at least two days just enjoying that place.It has more of the sugar white sand, gorgeous water, and granite boulders but it’s not as crowded as Devils Bay and the Baths.It’s a close second to Mountain Trunk.

We came home with lots of terrific stories included the up close and personal barracuda I never want to see again.I know they won’t hurt you unless you try to spear them or hand feed them (believe me I wasn’t tempted) but a fish as big as you are with really big teeth is SCARY.I was snorkeling in about 20 feet of water in all the big rocks near the Baths when I saw this monster.He was at least five feet long with lots of sharp teeth and huge terrifying eyes.I know those of you who snorkel or scuba dive often are laughing at me but I am getting the chills again just writing this.Anyway, it took all my willpower to turn around and calmly, no splashing, and swim away.I waited until I was almost to shore before starting to scream.Unfortunately, I was still wearing my snorkel so I made a sound like some sort of dying walrus.My kids are still laughing about it.Ha Ha, very funny.It took me a good 30 minutes to get my nerve up to get back in the water.

My oldest son‘s favorite story was the second enormous hermit crab he dove down about 20 feet to get.You should have seen him swimming with that thing coming out and trying to take his fingers off!It was the size of a lobster; so huge it couldn’t even get into its conch shell all the way.We filmed it slowly coming out of its shell and snapping back inside with a loud click.

During our time on Virgin Gorda we drove around almost everywhere our little SUV could take us.We checked out a few other resorts but didn‘t like any of them as well as Nail Bay.I guess it depends on your preference, but we really liked feeling like we had the island to ourselves.Even near Island Time Village, which is the most resort like part of the property, we rarely saw another person who isn’t staff.I know it’s off season, but the entire two weeks we were there we didn’t see another person in the pool.According to the staff, the property was completely full, too.It’s definitely not your standard cookie cutter resort.

Towel creations

The staff was extremely nice and helpful, too.We got to know our cleaning lady very well.Laverne is from Jamaica and my oldest is the world’s biggest Bob Marley fan.She would make the most amazing towel creations for us every day.My daughter loved them.Kasha at the front desk was very eager to help in any way.Benni and Clive were always attentive to make sure our trip was wonderful, and it was.

We also tried practically every restaurant on the Island and ended up at the SugarCane over and over again.Top of the Baths was a close second but the SugarCane was hands down our favorite.The SugarCane has a small basic menu as well as something more exotic featured for the day.I almost always got the special and I was never disappointed.

As for snorkeling, Nail Bay’s beaches have the best coral that I saw.Nail Bay beach actually has so much coral that it is almost impossible to swim until you get deep enough not to run into coral.I think there is a deep section that allows you past the shallow coral but we spent most of our time at Mountain Trunk because it is much easier to swim there and it has coral that is easier to get to.My middle son and I had a great time at Nail Bay beach one day just catching tiny hermit crabs.In a little very shallow place near the waters edge there were thousands of them.After every wave, the sand came to life as the little creatures started to crawl.It was pretty cool.There is an enormous amount of aquatic life there because there is so much coral.It was like vacationing in an underwater documentary.Every time I snorkeled I would see fish I had never seen before.It was easy to feel like Jacques Cousteau! It is really nice to have the coral right off the beach instead of having to take a boat to a reef like you have to in most places.

This was definitely the best vacation we have ever taken.It was like spending two weeks in a postcard.I felt like Robin Leach should be narrating everything we did!It was so hard to leave.I really hope we can come here again.