One More Island Off the Bucket List

There’s a wonderful book called 50 Places to Sail Before You Die. Now I’m not to enamored by the “before you die” part, but I do like adventurous places to sail. When we had sailed in the British Virgin Islands in the 1980's, the holy grail of sailing destinations was a bleak, wind-swept island called Anegada, about 11 miles north of Virgin Gorda Sound.  The problem was the charter companies would not let you sail there, as the low slung island is surrounded by very nasty reefs (over a 100 wrecks on the northeast side alone). Anegada isn’t in the book, but it should be.

With accurate GPS-based navigation, all that has changed, but it still is a little intimidating to sail to an island you can’t see until you almost hit it.  On May 22 we sailed from Monkey Point, where we’d stopped to do some snorkeling, to Anegada. We had near perfect conditions with about 12 knots of wind on a close reach. The waves were only two to three feet so it was a very pleasant morning just enjoying the sailing.

The low slung island of Anegada doesn't show up until you just a few miles from the entrance.

 From reading other’s experiences sailing to Anegada and reviewing the charts, the entrance looks very intimidating. But under the benign conditions we were sailing in it was a piece of cake. The entrance is well marked, and as long as you resist cutting the final red buoy too soon, you’re suddenly in about 7 to 8 feet of water in the small anchoring area off Setting Point.  We were shocked to see over 36 (mostly charter cats) anchored in the small area that had sufficient depth for boats. With our six-foot draft we had only a 1 to 1 1/2 feet of water under our keel, but that was enough.

Charterers come to Anegada for the lobster, which is in abundance on the offshore reefs.

This is about how crowded the bars were at Happy Hour (during off season).

We took the dingy in to find a good bar for Happy Hour, but were amazed to find almost every bar completely empty. After a spirited discussion of where to go, we ended up walking down the beach to the Whispering Pines, which we were told had a Happy Hour, only to find ourselves the only people at the bar.  The bartender told us that “in season” they would be turning people away.  Turns out that big groups on the charter cats book a restaurant for their group, and then show up at about 7 to 8 pm for dinner, hence the empty Happy Hour bars.

Lots of scooters to rent for $40/day.

The next day I wanted to rent scooters, but Meryl was more inclined to rent a car (another spirited discussion). We ended up finding a “Rent-A-Wreck” Jeep for $50/day, which worked just fine. The island is only 11 miles long so there’s not too much trouble you can get into. 

Big crowds at Cow Wreck Beach Resort.

Beach at the Anegada Beach Club Resort.

We first headed along the western loop road, not seeing one other car for the first hour. We visited Cow Wreck Beach, where in the 1800s a ship full of cow bones when aground, and visited a near empty small resort with an open air bar and several out cabins. Next we headed around the north side to the new Anegada Beach Club, a newly built club with a nice pool and incredible beach, also empty. Doubling back on the road to avoid a section of rough road, we drove down through the Settlement, where many of the local people live, then headed out to a beach called Flash of Beauty that the bartender had recommended for snorkeling. It looked great but the 20-knot easterly wind would have made the swimming a little strenuous.

The Big Bambo under the shade of the Sea Grape trees.

Finally headed back a little northwest to a restaurant called The Big Bambo at Loblolly Beach.  As the Three Little Bears said, this one’s just right.  Loblolly Beach is a little more protected and looked like it would be OK for snorkeling.  We decided to first have lunch.  Everyone who goes to Anegada goes for the famous lobster, but at $45 to $70 a piece we figured we could hold off for a while. Had a nice traditional lunch with crab cakes and rice and beans, then retired to the hammocks strung nearby under large Sea Grape trees. The Big Bambo is obviously set up for tourists, but it had a nice feel and seemed like a good place to just hang out for the day. It also had a few patrons, so we didn’t feel as lonely as at the other restaurants.

After an hour siesta we suited up and went out into the azure blue water to try the snorkeling. Reading Trip Advisor, there is quite the debate as to whether Anegada has the world-class snorkeling some say it does.  Some people thought it was terrible. My take was with the persistent wind and current, it’s not an area for inexperienced snorkels to be cruising about, especially when you get out by the barrier reef. As someone mentions, if you get in trouble, there’s no one to come and get you. 

As for me, I have a hard enough time standing in the water on one foot (my complete lack of flexibility prevents me from siting in the water like everyone else) trying to get my tight-fitting fins over my feet. I need Meryl to help steady me, an activity she holds with great disdain for some reason. Once I get everything on, I’m hell on wheels in the water, it’s just the suit-up that’s problematic.

Meryl has been having problems with her mask fogging that we don’t seem to be able to resolve, so she didn’t last too long. Most of the inshore water was only about 4 feet deep, and only 2 ft deep when you snorkel over the actual reef, so I was interested in finding a break in the reef that allowed access to the ocean side. The problem was with the wind still ripping, the waves and current were a little intimidating.  I kept heading down current, trying little side channels through the reef until all of a sudden the bottom dropped out and I was in a wonderland of deep blue water grottos everywhere. It’s hard to describe, but it was like diving through huge pieces of Swiss Cheese with shafts of light coming every which way.  It was absolutely gorgeous.   I came around a blind corner and stopped dead in my tracks as I saw a surreal sight, almost like a hippie girl's hair in multiple colors streaming out from a rock at the surface. Turns out the over the years this little rock nubbin had collected strands of multi-color rope which streamed out in the current. An amazing sight as it undulated in the current. I was quickly brought back to reality when two 5-foot-long barracudas cruised by giving me the eye. Time to head in.

I could see Meryl pacing back and forth on the beach, obviously pissed. Apparently I had gotten so far out that she couldn’t see me in the waves. Nice to know you’re wanted.

 

We followed the bright blue sidewalks back to The Big Bambo and each got a cup of ice cream, always a treat after a strenuous snorkel.  The bar is covered with pieces of driftwood that people have engraved their names and boat names using a magnifying glass as a wood burner. 

We headed back into town and turned in the Jeep, basically just throwing her the keys. It was so banged up that there was no way you could have damaged it anymore. Anegada was very much unlike the other British Virgin Islands, or other Caribbean Islands for that matter, in that it is still like most of the islands were 20 to 30 years ago. Very laid back, uninhabited, and peaceful. A little hard to get used to after all the hustle and bustle of Virgin Gorda Sound.