Cane Garden Bay

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One area in the BVIs that we were excited to explore was Cane Garden Bay on the western end of Tortola. Unfortunately we had skipped this anchorage on our trip 10 years ago and we wanted to make sure to visit it this time. Cane Garden Bay, as the name implies, was a major port for the sugar cane industry. In fact there is the still a working rum distillery in Cane Garden Bay which has been in the Callwood family since the 1800’s. It is the longest running distillery in the Caribbean and definitely worth a stop. Seriously, we couldn’t call ourselves the Rum Runners if we didn’t go to a rum distillery and pick up a barrel or two (okay…just kidding, not a barrel but at least a few bottles of rum). When we visited the distillery it was like stepping back in time, for the rum is still made from the local sugar cane fields and produced in the same fashion over the last 200 years. In fact, the Arundel Rum from the Callwood distillery is renowned throughout the Caribbean and the standard of excellence has been maintained as the distillery has passed down thru the family. It was awesome to see the whole process; the iron kettles called “coppers” where the cane juice is boiled to the gooseneck pipe which the vapors run thru to the barrels where the final product is aged before bottling. We had a great time rum tasting and learned that their dark rum is aged in oak barrels from Kentucky, giving it a more distinct taste like Bourbon. We especially loved their spiced rum, so delicious that you could drink it straight. Needless to say it was a fun experience and we ended up taking home a few bottles.

So our first day in Cane Garden Bay was a hit, we loved exploring the rum distillery. And the anchorage was picturesque, a beautiful half-moon bay with soft white sand and palm trees for shade. Not to mention that the entire length of the beach was lined with open air restaurants and bars, often playing live music. It was a charming little town so we decided to stay an extra day and go to the beach- bring books and sunscreen and the dog to take advantage of this great beach with all the amenities. So imagine our surprise when we woke up the next morning and this quiet little beach town was literally crawling with thousands of people. And more tourists were being bussed in by the minute. That is when we realized that a cruise ship had just made port in Tortola and everyone on board was going to this beach for the day. Holy cow! Because we prefer the quieter beach experience and didn’t want to spend the day with 5000 of our closest friends- we decided to change our plans. Forget the beach day, let’s get out of dodge. So we had anchors up and were off to the next island.

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Photos

Cane Garden Bay
What a beautiful beach- too bad 5000 tourists from the cruise ship swarmed the area.

Dinghy Row
All the dinghies at the dock here in Cane Garden Bay, boy are the BVIs crowded.

Callwood Rum Distillary
Go straight to the source!

Rum for the Rum Runners
Just one barrel of rum for the Rum Runners- just kidding!

Yo Ho Ho
And a Barrel of Rum!

Distillary
The oldest distillary in the Caribbean, making Rum the same way since the 1800's. Cool!