Beaches in the British Virgin Islands

Some sixty islands and cays, around fifteen of them inhabited, and the sailing capital of the Caribbean — most visitors here arrive on a chartered yacht rather than by air, and the beaches are organised around anchorages accordingly, which is why several of the best known have a bar on them and no road to them. The islands are volcanic, with granite outcrops that surface most spectacularly at The Baths on Virgin Gorda: boulders the size of houses forming flooded chambers and passages between small beaches, reached by a scramble rather than a path and busiest when the cruise tenders are in. Anegada is the exception to the geology, the only coral island in a volcanic group — flat, remote, ringed by the third largest barrier reef in the Caribbean, and reached by a ferry that does not run every day. Hurricane Irma struck directly in 2017 and destroyed a substantial part of the territory's infrastructure; rebuilding has been extensive, and some beaches do not look as older photographs show them. The dry season runs December to April and hurricane season June to November. Practically: Tortola holds the ferry docks and the charter fleets, the airport on Beef Island takes small aircraft only and most visitors route through Saint Thomas or Antigua, and inter-island ferries are the local transport rather than an excursion. The trade wind blows from the east year-round, which is what makes the sailing reliable and the windward beaches rough.