When traveling to
the British Virgin Islands you have two options
in routes. You can fly first to San Juan,
Puerto Rico and then take a second (smaller)
plane to Tortola (Beef Island) or you can
fly directly to St. Thomas and then take a
ferry to Tortola (check tortolafastferry.com).
The San Juan route
is preferred but if you are using frequent
flyer miles on a carrier that only flys to
St Thomas then that’s the way to go.
The airport code
for Tortola is EIS. If you see the name "Beef
Island" (where the airport actually is)
you are looking at the correct destination.
Beef Island is relatively flatter so that’s
where they built the airport. There is a small
bridge between Beef Island and Tortola.
When scheduling
flights the preferred timing is to arrive
in Tortola as early as possible on arrival
day and leave paradise as late as possible
on departure day.
Please be advised
that the sailboats do not leave the dock on
arrival day (Saturday) so even if you are
scheduled to arrive in Tortola as late as
10 p.m. (if that’s the best flight you
can find) you will not miss the boat. The
boats leave the dock on Sunday morning.
On the final Sunday
(departure day) try and get a late flight
out but if that’s not possible we can
make arrangements for you to catch any flight
out on Sunday as long as it leaves from Tortola.
If you are flying
home out of St Thomas you must NOT schedule
a morning departure, as you must give yourself
time to get from Tortola to St Thomas by ferry
to make the flight.
If you would like
to arrive a day or two early or depart a day
or two late please let me know and we can
arrange hotel rooms for you for extended stays
in paradise.
