West Tortola Attractions

Tortola's Apple Bay beach is the best beach for surfing on the island. Apple Bay is also known for its Full Moon parties and Friday night fish fries that are hosted by local islanders under banyan trees.

The oldest structure in the British Virgin Islands, Fort Recovery was built by the Dutch in 1660. The fort features a turreted gun emplacement tower with 3ft/0.91m-thick walls. Today, guest villas surround the fort.

Lined with palms and seagrape trees, Long Bay in West Tortola is a 1mi/1.6km long white sandy beach. A resort and guesthouses are found on the eastern end, while the western end of the beach offers tranquility and good swimming. Joggers can be seen on the beach in the early mornings and evenings.

Measuring less than 1ac/0.4ha of preserved land, Mount Healthy was declared a National Park in 1983. Found at the site is Tortola's only remaining stone windmill that was once part of an 18th C sugar plantation. Overlooking the north shore of Tortola, the relic is a lasting reminder of the era when sugar production dominated the Caribbean.

At the western-most end of Tortola lies Smuggler's Cove, a secluded, sheltered and undeveloped patch of island surrounded by vegetation. Although known for its tranquility, the good snorkelling and seclusion of Smuggler's Cove have been attracting more people looking to escape the beach resort scene. An old car used as a film prop for the 1990 Hollywood remake of The Old Man and the Sea that was filmed on the beach still remains, and sea turtles can be spotted offshore.

This busy anchorage is where Tortola's first Dutch settlers landed in 1648. Reputed as a former pirate's den, today the harbor is a popular point of entry and ferry terminal since the anchorage is both deep and sheltered. Connected by bridge are the residential areas of Frenchman's Cay and the Soper's Hole Marina, which includes shops and a restaurant housed in West Indian-style buildings.

Only ruins remain of this fort built by the Royal Engineers in 1794 to protect island shipping. Stairs lead to an underground cell featuring remnants of what may be prisoner's graffiti, hence the name "The Dungeon". Scratched into the wall are a woman, buccaneer, and a sailing ship.

A small settlement on the west side of Tortola is West End. West End has many fun shops with all kinds of merchandise from the necessities to the frivolous.

The unpreserved and unguarded ruins of this grand plantation house were once home to William Thornton, a native Quaker of Tortola born in 1761. Thornton is known for his design of the Capitol building in Washington D.C., which was selected to be built through competition. Thornton was also a prominent doctor in Philadelphia as well as the first U.S. Secretary of Patents.