Day 7: The Bomba Shack
Juliet and I woke up on our seventh (and last) full day on Tortola with the same anticipation as the first one. Sometimes you go on vacation and start to tire of it after a few days but this wasn't one of those vacations. Everyday seemed to be better than the previous one. We had a couple of things planned for our final day, including a boat ride, snorkleing and a trip to the world famous Bomba Shack for the full moon party. The boat ride and snorkeling were courtesy of Fort Recovery. They have their own boat and include a free boat trip with every 7 day or longer stay. We headed out around 11:00AM on the 26 foot powerboat along with a captain and a couple from Britain who now reside in Houston, TX. The weather was a little windy and the surf choppy which definitely made for some interesting snorkeling.
Our first stop was an interesting rock formation on the south side of Sir Francis Drake Channel known as The Indians. The indians are a number of rocks that jut up from the ocean like "three little indians." Below the surface of the water, the rocks are home to a fantastic variety of sea life, which makes this a very popular spot for snorkeling and scuba diving. The choppy water made swimming around the rocks a challenge, but lots of practice during the week and good fins helped keep us on course. Choppiness notwithstanding we were rewarded with plenty of undersea activity as we swam through schools of fish hugging the rocks. There was plenty of other activity in the area as we got caught in the bubbles of a number of SCUBA divers exploring the rocks below us. We chickened out on swimming a full circle around the rocks and doubled back the way we came after about an hour. All that swimming had made us hungry so our captain took us over to a floating restaurant near Norman Island.
Situated in a bay, Willy T's is part pirate ship, part restaurant and evidently one of the wilder party spots in the islands. The afternoon crowd seemed pretty laid back, having drinks and lunch while listening to 80s rock music. Some folks decided to have a jump off the platform on top of the boat which is about forty feet above the water. The food was standard fast island fare with grilled fish, fish and chips and burgers on the menu. After a couple of drinks and some lunch I was ready to launch myself off the platform up top, which I did three times. Word is that if you do the leap naked you get a free t-shirt and folks have told me that this happens quite a bit after the sun goes down. The next stop on our boat excursion was an area known as The Caves. The caves offer magnificent snorkeling on the outer edge of Norman Island. The rocks at the edge of the island are teeming with sea life and you can swim inside a number of caves formed by these rocks. We were lucky to get there before the rush because the narrow caves are no place to be swimming with a large group of people. You have to watch out for sea urchins and fire coral, but it's worth swimming up into one of the caves, surrounded by thousands of minnows. The water gets so shallow that you can actually stand up.
A few hours of snorkeling and the drinks at Willy T's had tired us all out so we decided to head back to Fort Recovery in mid afternoon. I had planned a nap so we would be fully charged up for our final evening and the world famous full moon party at the Bomba Shack. The plan called for dinner at Sebastion's on the Beach and then a walk over to the Bomba Shack. I made sure to reserve us a seaside table for two at Sebastion's which is on the beach in Apple Bay on the northwest side of the island. It turns out that the night of the full moon in November was a stormy one, with the lights of Jost Van Dyke fading out as the storms rolled in. Luckily, the surfside deck at Sebastion's has metal shudders that we opened and closed as the weather passed. The food at Sebastion's was good and they have a varied menu and the prices we're average for the island, which seems to be on the pricier side for eating out. We took our time and finished our dinner on a high not with our server presenting us complimentary glasses of Sebastion's Rum, which was smooth and tasty.
After a satisfying dinner it was around 9:30 and we decided to head straight over to the Bomba Shack to catch the famous full moon party...
While back home in New York I mentioned Tortola to a few friends and more often than not they immediately declared, "You have to go to the full moon party at the Bomba Shack." Naturally, this universal response had me intrigued. Tbe Bomba Shack is well, a shack, made of discarded items and precariously assembled at the edge of the ocean in Apple Bay. Over the years the place has become wildly famous for the monthly full moon parties which feature a special mushroom tea that really gets things going. Festivities usually last all night. Having driven by the shack a few times in daylight, we were well prepared for the unconventional nature of a bar made of scrap, sitting in the sand. It's a very cool concept and evidently easy to rebuild when the odd storm blows it down.
You could spend the whole evening marveling at the mass of junk that makes up the shack along with all it's colorful signs, some of which indicate Bomba's fondness for blond haired women. Of course, if you did this you'd miss all the fun. On this wet full moon night, a steady stream of folks arrived to revel in the full moon hidden behind the clouds. A two piece (keyboards and bass) reggae band filled the air with a strong island vibe. Many drinks were served at predictably expensive prices. We danced in the sand, watched the ocean and the crowd but didn't make it to any of the mushroom tea festivities that start at midnight. I think the bad weather also kept the crowd down a little bit so this probably wasn't the standard Bomba full moon experience but it was a fun time.
The next day we woke up and mentally prepared ourselves for the return to reality. We packed, checked out of Fort Recovery and headed over to Soper's Hole Marina for some breakfast prior to our ferry ride back to St. Thomas where we would catch our flight home. It was a little rainy out and the weather certainly didn't help to brighten our spirits. Yes, we were bummed about having to leave. Before dropping our rental of Juliet and I took a ride over to an open area right at the edge of the channel, talked with a local fisherman and took many photos of the majestic pelicans fishing in the sea.
As I watched the pelicans I recalled the events of the last week with a bit of wonder. I've been on a few amazing vacations but I never dreamed that I would find such an ideal place, so close to home. Sure, Tortola and the BVI are a bit commercialized and a tad pricey if you're eating out regularly. Once you compare the scenery and islands with the overtouristed and overdeveloped islands of the U.S.V.I. chain, I think you'll find that the extra effort to get to Tortola is more than worth it.
