When preparing to go on our trip, we had done a little reading about the BVIs (British Virgin Islands) and thought we would splurged and take a day trip out there.  We were wisely advised to go on a smaller boat and one that emphasized snorkeling instead of the beach bars.   The boat only held 12 passengers and left at 8am from the Visitor's Center.  We were very fortunate in that the day of our trip, it was the best weather the Virgin Islands had seen for a week.  The first 2 - 2.5 hours of the trip took us around the north side of St. John and the island of Tortola before stopping in at Spanish Town on Virgin Gorda in the BVI.  We hopped off for a few minutes while the captain helped us clear customs and then reboarded and headed to the famous "Baths" of Virgin Gorda.

From where the boot moored, we dawned our snorkel gear and zoomed our way to the beach.  The water there was an incredible deep turquoise and awfully beautiful.  The paddle in was brief, and then we spent the next hour walking through and under the enormous boulders that line the coast.  We wished we could have stayed longer and just explored.  We decided that when we return to the Virgin Islands one day in the future, we'll figure out a way to get to Virgin Gorda and stay a night or two before returning to St. John.

From the "Baths" the boat took us to Cooper Island where we had a delicious lunch.  Lee was quite impressed with his fish and chips and I loved my mango virgin daiquiri (essentially a mango smoothy).  That little island didn't offer much else to do, but the views were stunning and felt oh-so-tropical.

With full bellies, we climbed back in the boat and made our way to "the Indians".  A rock formation in the British Island National Park that is surrounded by coral reefs.  We parked the boat at the nearby mooring and jumped in for an hour of snorkeling.  The water was much deeper here, so it didn't have the clarity of the shoreline snorkeling we had previously done, but the drop off from the backside was pretty cool.  We circled the rock formation and before we knew it our hour was up.  Time just flew by that day.

The route on the return home was via the south side of St. John, so we essentially circled the entire island.  The multi-million dollar homes made our mouths water.   By the time we pulled into St. John and cleared customs once again, it was 4pm.  A full and fabulous day in the sun.   We really enjoyed getting out on the water and seeing the surrounding area, mixing things up a bit,  seeing the world famous baths and of course getting a new stamp in the passport.