With icing-sugar sand, crystal-clear water and jungle-wrapped mountains, it’s exhausting to imagine how completely different the British Virgin Islands (BVIs) appeared simply 4 years in the past. In September 2017, Hurricane Irma – the strongest ever recorded within the Atlantic Ocean, with wind gusts reaching 215mph – ripped via this chain of lush islands, leaving them scorched and naked.
Simply two weeks later, Maria adopted – one other Class 5 hurricane.
When the winds died down, greater than 80 per cent of buildings on the BVIs’ fundamental island of Tortola have been discovered to have been destroyed or severely broken, and its important vacationer business was decimated.

Paradise restored: The tiny yachting hot-spot Saba Rock, above, was rebuilt after being flattened by Hurricane Irma
The speedy aftermath that agriculturalist Vernon Daniel describes is apocalyptic, but it surely additionally explains how the BVIs quickly bounced again from such devastation. He says: ‘Salt from the ocean got here in with the wind and burnt every thing. All of the bushes have been like bonsais, reduce to half their dimension. However a number of the soil was saturated with salt and that helped with the absorption of rain, so it was really all inexperienced once more inside three months, utterly naturally.’
A large clean-up operation was launched to sort out the £2.7 billion of injury, with intensive rebuilding and the institution of latest farms to make sure the self-reliance of this British Abroad Territory simply to the east of Puerto Rico.
Accommodations have been lastly poised to reopen in 2020, after which Covid struck…
Now, the a lot wanted and long-awaited vacationers are again and discovering an excellent hotter welcome. Common guests will see massive adjustments throughout the islands – despite the fact that they seem simply as inexperienced as earlier than, carpeted in cactus-studded rainforest and unique flowers, the seashores appear to glitter greater than ever.
‘When a hurricane comes via, the seashores change and are refreshed,’ says Keith Dawson of the BVI Vacationer Board. ‘All the things will get a clean-up. There weren’t as many boats round so fish are in abundance and individuals are farming extra of their gardens. It’s a really hopeful time.’

The British Virgin Islands are a tranquil various to tourist-heavy Antigua, an hour’s flight away. Pictured is the Antiguan capital of Saint John’s
With calm currents, dependable commerce winds and numerous abandoned coves, the BVIs have lengthy attracted eager sailors and celebrities who hop between the 60 islands, islets and cays.
However the brand new and refurbished inns additionally make the islands a dream getaway for individuals who choose to remain on dry land – and a tranquil various to tourist-heavy Antigua, an hour’s flight away.
Go to between December and April and you’ll keep away from the Caribbean’s hurricane season, although stricter new constructing laws ought to imply the islands stay higher protected in future.

An idyllic seashore on Virgin Gorda the place the blue waters of the Caribbean stretch out so far as the attention can see

Rosewood Little Dix Bay on Virgin Gorda has virtually been fully rebuilt. Pictured is among the luxurious rooms

Company at Rosewood Little Dix Bay ought to look out for hawksbill turtles
On Virgin Gorda, the second-largest island, Rosewood Little Dix Bay was already one of many area’s most prestigious properties. Based by American philanthropist Laurance Rockefeller within the Nineteen Fifties and frequented by the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh, a four-year closure has seen it virtually fully rebuilt, with a blissful hilltop spa, treehouse suites and beachfront cottages alongside half a mile of white sand.
Company can dabble in free non-motorised watersports or simply lie again and spot the hawksbill turtles rising for air simply yards from the water’s edge (rosewoodhotels.com).
The island can also be dwelling to The Baths, the place large granite boulders scattered by historic volcanic exercise have fashioned enchanting sheltered sea swimming pools and rocky underwater tunnels.
Some tiny coves will be reached solely by clambering over the boulders with rope ladders for an actual desert-island really feel.

Virgin Gorda is dwelling to The Baths, pictured, the place large granite boulders have fashioned enchanting sheltered sea swimming pools and rocky underwater tunnels
New companies are flourishing too, reminiscent of two-room floating Ocean Spa constructed out of timber salvaged from Irma’s wreckage and now anchored in postcard-perfect White Bay (theoceanspabvi.com). For one-stop memento procuring in Highway City, Tortola’s capital, the charming reward store and gallery Nutmeg sells the creations of native artists and craftspeople who misplaced every thing within the hurricanes (nutmegandcobvi.com).
Even previous favourites have had an entire makeover. The tiny yachting hot-spot island resort Saba Rock clings to a one-acre rocky outcrop and was flattened by Irma. It lastly reopened in October 2020 with seven fashionable rooms and two suites, two bars and an open-air restaurant that has already welcomed Sir Richard Branson from his dwelling on neighbouring Necker Island (sabarock.com).
Elsewhere, eco-wellness retreat The Aerial has thrown open its doorways for the primary time on unspoilt non-public Buck Island. Teetering on a cliff in Sir Francis Drake Channel, it overlooks 14 surrounding islands together with Lifeless Chest Island, mentioned to be the spot the place infamous pirate Blackbeard marooned 15 of his mutinous crew with only a bottle of rum every.
Guests to The Aerial fare significantly higher, with a most of 28 friends free to discover 48 acres of forested mountaineering trails, a personal seashore, an infinity pool and a recording studio. There are additionally yoga classes, wholesome, communal meals and guided group classes in every thing from meditation to monetary administration. These craving for all-out luxurious may even rent the island in its entirety for the final word getaway at £30,500 per evening with a minimal three-night keep (aerialbvi.com).

Eco-wellness retreat The Aerial has thrown open its doorways for the primary time on unspoilt non-public Buck Island (pictured)

A most of 28 friends at The Aerial are free to discover 48 acres of forested mountaineering trails and a personal seashore, pictured

Company at The Aerial are invited to get pleasure from ‘wholesome, communal meals’ on the retreat, which overlooks 14 surrounding islands

A wellness session at The Aerial. The retreat provides guided group classes in every thing from meditation to monetary administration

These craving for all-out luxurious may even rent Buck Island and The Aerial in its entirety at £30,500 per evening. Pictured is among the retreat’s guest-rooms
Most vacationers have a tendency to remain on Tortola, although. House to each Highway City and the primary airport, it’s the busiest and liveliest island with good eating places and a thriving crusing scene.
But it nonetheless feels blissfully underdeveloped, with no chain shops, little or no crime and a inhabitants of solely 23,000.
Cheaper lodging choices embody Maria’s By The Sea within the coronary heart of Highway City (rooms from £96, mariasbythesea.com) and Sebastian’s By The Seaside (beachfront rooms £115 an evening, sebastiansbvi.com).

For memento procuring in Highway City (pictured), the charming reward store Nutmeg sells the creations of native craftspeople who misplaced every thing within the hurricanes

Depart Highway City, pictured, behind and head into the mountains for the perfect views of Tortola’s glittering curvy shoreline
Iconic Nineteen Sixties seashore membership Lengthy Bay Seaside Resort sustained critical injury when the hurricanes hit, but the thick coral and limestone partitions from the previous 18th Century beachfront rum distillery survived.
Now a brand-new, delightfully laid-back boutique resort has emerged as an alternative, with 20 whitewashed suites opening instantly on to the seashore, a thatched cocktail bar and an open-air restaurant, with plans for a spa and hillside rooms to observe (longbay.com).
Simply subsequent door is favorite native lunch spot Tropical Fusion, the place plates are piled excessive with stewed lobster, barbecued ribs, macaroni pie and fried plantain in a no-frills eating room steps from the ocean.

Lengthy Bay Seaside Resort sustained critical injury when the hurricanes hit. Now a brand-new, delightfully laid-back boutique resort (pictured above) has emerged as an alternative

One of many 20 whitewashed suites on the refurbished Lengthy Bay Seaside Resort, which was initially famed as a Nineteen Sixties seashore membership

Lengthy Bay Seaside Resort boasts a thatched cocktail bar and an open-air restaurant (pictured above)
That is additionally the perfect place to attempt the BVIs’ nationwide dish of fish and fungi – purple snapper with okra and cornmeal – which was initially made out of slavery rations within the seventeenth Century (tropicalfusionbvi.com).
First settled by the Dutch, Tortola was captured by the British in 1672 at first of the Third Anglo-Dutch Warfare. Although the 2 nations signed a treaty promising to return all land gained through the conflict, Tortola remained underneath British rule, settled by plantation homeowners rising cotton and sugar who relied on slave labour.
In the present day, the island’s turbulent story is informed by a handful of historic buildings clustered across the capital, and alongside the coast are the ruins of St Philip’s Anglican Church in Kingstown, one of many earliest church buildings constructed within the Caribbean for liberated slaves.

Jost Van Dyke, pictured, was named after a Dutch pirate and is a must-visit for dolphin-watching and barefoot seashore bars
Depart Highway City behind and head into the mountains for the perfect views of Tortola’s glittering curvy shoreline. Marine biologist Mervin Hastings leads teams via the leafy depths of Shark Bay Nationwide Park, stating medicinal crops, orchids, dragon fruit cacti and even the correct kind of termite that can maintain you alive do you have to turn out to be stranded within the jungle.
Scramble up the boulder on the ridge to succeed in a yawning cave filled with nesting bats and concealing a sheer drop into the Atlantic Ocean the place you may spot migrating humpback whales.
Even essentially the most decided landlubber ought to attempt to get out on the water to essentially see the BVIs at their finest. In contrast to Barbados and Saint Lucia, island-hopping is a lifestyle right here. It’s straightforward to leap on a water taxi or ferry for lunch on one island, drinks and snorkelling on a second and dinner on one more. To decide on your personal schedule, constitution a crewed boat from The Moorings after which head off to wherever takes your fancy (moorings.co.uk).

Norman Island, pictured, is alleged to have been the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island

Pictured is the legendary Soggy Greenback bar – which will be reached solely by swimming – in 2019. Image courtesy of Inventive Commons

Though the Soggy Greenback bar (pictured) was virtually utterly destroyed by Irma, the bar has been rebuilt and is simply as full of life as earlier than
Sleepy Anegada is understood to serve the perfect lobster within the Caribbean; Norman Island is alleged to have been the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island; and mile-long Salt Island has a nineteenth Century steamer wreck for diving, in addition to a salt lake from which Queen Elizabeth is given a pound of salt every year as annual lease.
There are picnic spots and secluded seashores aplenty on the best way, however remember to drop anchor by idyllic Jost Van Dyke, the place Fundamental Road is a palm-lined sandy seashore monitor. Simply 4 miles by three and with solely 300 residents, the island was named after a Dutch pirate and is a must-visit for dolphin-watching and barefoot seashore bars.
Its legendary Soggy Greenback bar will be reached solely by swimming, so earned its identify from the waterlogged banknotes that workers pin up behind the bar to dry. Though it was virtually utterly destroyed by Irma, and its adjoining bedrooms now not exist, the bar itself has been rebuilt and is simply as full of life as earlier than (soggydollar.com).
Whenever you arrive, dry off in a hammock, then order a Painkiller cocktail – a mixture of darkish rum, cream of coconut, pineapple and orange juice topped with recent grated nutmeg that originated right here within the Seventies however is now copied in every single place.
It’s the perfect option to toast the truth that the British Virgin Islands are properly and really open for enterprise once more.