BVI Boat Tours--Secrets of the Virgin Islands

a BVI boat tour is the best way to explore the secrets of the Virgin Islands. Whether you are doing a St. Thomas boat rental, St. John boat rental, or a BVI boat tour, you will be amazed at the absolutely beautiful beaches, beach bars and undersea life.

The US and British Virgin Islands are arguably the most beautiful islands in the world, but they’re also the world’s best kept secret---many people aren’t even aware of their existence.  Their mystery--and their history--make them one of the most interesting places in the world to visit and explore.  If you have the opportunity to visit this group of more than 60 tropical islands, take it.  There’s so much to see and do, you may want to spend weeks--or the rest of your life--exploring these glorious islands.  The best way to meet the islands is on a BVI boat tour--a private charter boat that will take you to see the sights of your choice.  
A beautiful little island, Salt Island is most notable as the home of the RMS Rhone, the chain’s largest ship wreck.  The RMS Rhone sank in a hurricane in 1867 and most of her crew was lost at sea.  The Rhone is one of the best scuba diving sites in all the Caribbean. At her highest point, the stern of the ship is in about 30 feet of water and visible to snorkelers. The area surrounding the Rhone is now a national park known for its teeming marine life. If you snorkel or dive the wreck, rub the lucky porthole. You’ll know it when you see it, because it shines as a result of all the divers rubbing it for good luck!  Salt Island is about 5 miles south of Road Town, Tortola, the most populated of the British Virgin Islands.  The population of Salt Island has not exceeded three people since at least 1980, and they pay an annual rent to the Queen of England to reside on the island--a one pound bag of salt--delivered to the Governor each year.
The British Virgin Islands were home to the most treacherous of the real pirates of the Caribbean--most notably, Edward Teach, or Thatch--known as Blackbeard.  Blackbeard and his crew made their home in Soper’s Hole, on the west end of Tortola.  This location allowed Blackbeard and his men to keep watch along the Sir Frances Drake channel for passing ships ripe for attack.  Blackbeard would lay in wait for trade ships, then systematically kill the entire crew, steal the cargo and add the ship to their growing fleet.   The BVI’s are home to more than 300 documented shipwrecks and rumored to hold millions and millions of dollars in gold and Spanish Galleons; most of which was stolen and hidden or shipwrecked there by pirates.
Nearby, beautiful uninhabited Norman Island offers incredible snorkeling at “The Caves,” three distinctly different caves that sit at the base of the island’s cliffs.  Norman Island is said to be the inspiration for the novel ‘Treasure Island” by Robert Louis Stevenson, and comes with a colorful history of pirates and buried treasure.  Each of the caves is easily accessible by boat; one with a sandy bottom, one with a river rock bottom, and one with coral covered walls that are a rich red and orange - each cave more beautiful than the last.  
The islands are about 50 miles east of Puerto Rico, but remain sparsely populated.  Only about 20,000 people live among the 14 inhabited British Islands--one of which is Sir Richard Branson, who owns a small island called “Necker Island” on the northeast corner of the island group.  
The British Virgin Islands hold amazing secrets just waiting to be discovered. The only way to really see this incredible island chain is by BVI boat tour.

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