(USVI & BVI)
The Bitter End Yacht
Club
Sample
Itinerary
THE
US VIRGIN ISLANDS (USVI), in which the
legacies of Danish ownership are very apparent,
contain three main islands: St Thomas, St John
and St Croix, lying about 40 miles east of Puerto
Rico. There are 68 islands in all, although most of them
are uninhabited. They have long been
developed as holiday centers for US citizens and
because of that are distinct from the British Virgin
Islands, which have only
recently started to develop their tourist potential. The
population, mainly black,
has always been English-speaking, despite the long
period of Danish control, although some Spanish is in
use, particularly on St
Croix. The West Indian dialect is mostly English,
with inflections from Dutch, Danish, French, Spanish,
African languages and
Creole.
THE
BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS (BVI), grouped
around Sir Francis Drake Channel, are less
developed than the US group, and number some 60
islands, islets, rocks, and cays, of which only 16
or so are inhabited. They are all of volcanic origin
except one, Anegada, which is coral and
limestone. Most of the land was cleared years ago
for its timber or to grow crops, and it is now largely
covered by secondary
forest and scrub. In the areas with greatest
rainfall
there are mangoes and
palm trees, but generally the islands can look
brown and parched, or green and lush just after rain.
Mangrove and sea grape
can be found in some areas along the shore.
The
two major islands, Tortola and Virgin Gorda, along with the
groups of Anegada and Jost Van Dyke, contain most of the
total population of about
20,000, which is mainly of African descent. The
resident population was only 10,985 in 1980 and most of
the increase has come
from inward migration of workers for the construction and
tourist industries. About half the present population is
of foreign origin. There
has recently been a return flow of people from the
Dominican Republic, whose parents and grandparents were
originally from Tortola,
seeking a higher standard of living. Everyone speaks English.
While there are some large resorts in the BVI, there are no
high-rise hotels, casinos and very few night clubs, as
found in some of the
other islands which depend heavily on tourism. In fact, there is
very little to do at all on land and nearly everything
happens in the beautiful
water which surrounds the islands. If you are keen on
water sports and sailing and have adequate finance (the
Virgin Islands are not
cheap), you will enjoy island hopping.
