Getting home is basically just reversing the arrival process. We left the Airbnb some time before 10 AM and drove over the hill to Road Town, stopping to gas up the rental car on the way.
Our ferry to St. Thomas wasn't until 11:30 AM, so we took about half an hour to stroll around Tortola Pier Park before returning the Pilot to the rental counter (at the nearby hotel).
There was a DJ serenading a mostly empty green, while some cruise passengers milled around the mostly empty shops.
It was a beautiful day for a stroll along the water, although it was noticeably hotter, with barely a wisp of wind, on this side of the island.
We were surprised that almost nothing was open, considering there was a 3000+ passenger ship docked within shouting distance. Presumably everyone was enjoying some boat and/or wild taxi rides around the island, going to Cane Garden Bay, Jost Van Dyke, or Virgin Gorda.
We seized the opportunity for another group photo with a mural sign. Kina had mentioned that she thought the "Tortola" sign was at Pier Park, but this was the closest we could find.
Tourists are always happy to take group photos for other people, providing someone in the group reciprocates.
Having worked up an impressive sweat in merely 30 minutes, we returned the car and walked the short distance to the ferry terminal, where we once again had to pay per-bag fees and per-person "port fees" on top of the round-trip tickets we already had. (For future reference: It's all still much cheaper than flying in a prop plane from St. Thomas or San Juan.)
The ferry ride was smoother than the arrival one had been. It was the same vessel, with the same movie playing. I don't know if it only seemed faster, or if it actually was faster due to calmer conditions, but we all agreed that it was easier than the outbound journey.
I think it was also less crowded, and there wasn't as much (any?) cargo going in that direction, so unloading all of the luggage was faster. The US customs and immigration process went faster than the BVI side had, too.
It was around 1 PM, and our flight wasn't until 5:30. Conveniently, the taxi company operating out of the ferry terminal offers free luggage storage until 3 PM if you use their services, and there's a restaurant upstairs in the same building.
I love it when a plan comes together; we had a leisurely lunch, overlooking Hassel Island and the Charlotte Amalie Harbor Seaplane Base. Just as we were about to order food, a plane departed.
After lunch, we taxied back to the airport, had to do customs and immigration again (because it's a "port of entry"... it's a strange situation: you don't actually need a passport, but I think they asked us for 2 forms of ID when we didn't have them last time we were here?).
The St. Thomas airport is tiny, but decent. It only has 8 gates, all of which can be seen by turning your head a bit.
Flying on Christmas Eve turned out to be a brilliant plan. (Previous year's trips have been on Christmas Day, which have also been fairly easy, as I recall.)
The security line was almost nonexistent; we've had mixed luck with crowds at small, island airports before, but today was smooth. I think last time we were here, it was a bit crazy. (Admittedly, that was in January, further into peak season, and also during a government shutdown.)
The plane was also half empty, so everything was easier and faster. The flight was uneventful, and we landed in a nearly-deserted (and new) Terminal A at Newark. Having cleared customs in St. Thomas (twice) already, we strolled straight through to our waiting car service.
There was essentially zero traffic at that time of night on Christmas Eve (circa 10 PM), as we returned to Lauren's apartment. On our way home, we dropped off Jeanne and Rudy, then dropped off Steve, reaching the end of our odyssey just after midnight. I guess we technically got home on Christmas Day.
Closing thoughts, notes for my future self, and other ramblings:
Tortola was delightful. Much of the appeal for us was that it's low-key, slow-paced, and not very developed. It lived up to all of those promises. There were no high-rise hotels, mega-resorts, chain restaurants, big-box stores, or tacky tourist traps. Everything was genuine, and everyone was friendly.
Being somewhat-inconvenient to reach, what with the ferry (or expensive connecting flight on a tiny plane), it was not very crowded. The entire island has fewer than 24,000 residents, more than half of which live in Road Town. This means that a fully-loaded cruise ship can seriously crowd the area, and on some days there are two in port. We knew ahead of time there would be two ships on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, but only one on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Also they seem to leave fairly early, and some of them were smaller ships.
It's a bit tedious to take all of this into account for activity/destination planning, in addition to other logistics like drive times, meals, hours/days of operations, etc., but it's all worth the trouble when a plan comes together without any real traffic, crowds, or lines. Obviously this is a benefit of traveling the week before Christmas, instead of after. (That, and the prices for everything seem to double between Christmas and New Year's Eve.)
This trip involved the highest average boat-rides-per-day that I can recall, of any trip we've ever done. The ferry to Virgin Gorda was downright pleasant. The ride between St. Thomas and Tortola wasn't fantastic, but it was fine; it's possible that other days/times/vessels would've been a better experience.
Island-hopping with the charter boat was fantastic, and while it was sort of our one splurge of the trip, it wasn't shockingly expensive either. The round-trip ferry from West End to Jost Van Dyke, alone, would've been $40/person anyway. And renting our own boat would've been extremely expensive, even if the hypothetical rental company would be willing to overlook our combined, relative lack of boating qualifications or experience.
Getting to snorkel off Norman Island was great. The southern side of Tortola, or more properly the Sir Francis Drake Channel, is apparently the only calm area this time of year where, so we wouldn't have gotten to snorkel anywhere if not for the charter boat. It might have been possible to take a ferry to Normal Island, if we'd rented snorkel gear ourselves. It would be nice to come back in the spring or summer, at some point, to experience the snorkeling elsewhere on Tortola.
Driving around seems to be the only viable way to experience Tortola, and probably also Virgin Gorda. (A trip to Jost Van Dyke would not involve a rental car.) I didn't find the driving on Tortola to be especially challenging, but it's certainly not easy.
In addition to the usual British territory fun with driving on the wrong side, the island is very lumpy and some of the roads aren't well-maintained. It was very similar to driving in St. Thomas, with incredible views along the ridge road, ample blind corners, steep switchbacks, cars and trucks parked anywhere and everywhere, and local residents who want to drive much faster than visitors. Also there are speedbumps everywhere. Usually they're painted, partially. The roads were in good condition, for the most part. Some of them even have names. Gasoline wasn't extremely expensive, but that might be because the price of oil is relatively low at the moment.
The food was average, for the most part; it's not like we were seeking out fine-dining restaurants. It wasn't exorbitantly priced, given how far most of it has to travel, but it's certainly not cheap to eat there.
Cooking a few dinners in the spacious kitchen at the rental house wasn't difficult, and saved us some money, but mostly it was nice to minimize driving up and down that hill, especially at night. It's always difficult to work in someone else's kitchen, but this one was quite good. All of the cabinets and drawers were labeled, and the kitchen was well-equipped.
There's no fresh water supply on Tortola, so all of the water is either desalinated/treated seawater, or rainwater capture. I imagine the desalinated water is only available in Road Town, or at least at lower elevations. The villa had rainwater capture, which fills cisterns. This water is filtered/treated so it's safe for dishes, showering, laundry, etc., but it still has a musty odor. It wasn't subtle, either.
The house had chilled and heated reverse-osmosis water available on demand, which was nice. We had purchased several gallons of water at the RiteWay to bring to the beach, which helped. The RO process is very slow, and it would have taken... probably ten minutes? to fill a gallon jug.
There was a backup generator, in addition to the solar panels and utility power. The internet was extremely fast, and the house was covered by a mesh wifi network. It's amusing (and somewhat pathetic on our part) that the internet speed is better on a small island in the Caribbean than we can get in most of the US.
The villa was easily the nicest accommodation we've had for one of these family trips; it was also a bit of a splurge, compared with our usual choices, but splitting it six ways makes it affordable. We were lucky to find it, and that only happened because we booked it in early May. Currently, the house is almost 100% booked through the end of April. It did set a dangerous precedent, however.
I would be happy to go back to Tortola, Jost Van Dyke, or Virgin Gorda any time. There are ferries to all of them from St. Thomas, although some of them are very infrequent. It would be tricky to plan flights/ferries to Jost Van Dyke without staying on St. Thomas, I suspect.
Overall, given the complexity of some of the travel we pulled off without any problems, the trip was a resounding success. We continue to hone the process, planning, and packing, a little bit more every year. It's almost time to start planning the next one, already.
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