My Own BVI

Last week, I had the chance to vacation in the British Virgin Islands at the height of its transitional season – that ephemeral time of year when the Caribbean's low-season winds down, tourists make their mass exodus back home, and the islands take a moment to breathe and reboot before the surge of high-season travel begins. Stationed in my quiet corner of Virgin Gorda's North Sound all week, an area that all but hibernates for the full month of September, I found myself in the totally unfamiliar position of having more free time than places to go.

While I was in the BVI, I received a ton of emails and messages from friends and even Caribbean Travel + Life readers via our Facebook page asking if I'd made it to this beach or that bar: Willy T's, Bitter End Yacht Club, White Bay, and on and on. And for the most part, no...I didn't hit the usual hot spots on this visit, didn't sip (chug?) a Soggy Dollar painkiller, and didn't leave any of my undergarments behind at Bomba Shack (hey, it's tradition). On that note, I do want to give a special thanks to Tropical Storm Erika for thwarting my long-standing plans to finally check out Bomba's infamous Full Moon Party last Friday. But instead of all the usual, I enjoyed a week of the exceptional; With the throngs of summer vacationers gone, I found myself with seven days, a boat, and a string of spectacular islands and cays all to myself. And other than Erika's 24-hour damper of a visit, I enjoyed sunny skies and blissful weather the whole trip.

So what do you think? Would you trade all of the BVI's celebrated beach bar hopping for a little R&R like I did, or would you rather wait until high season and really turn it up?

My Own BVI