Up fairly early to get some breakfast this morning as we had to meet at the Escape Theater. We were given towels and sat down and waited for instructions. Augers were running behind us.  In fact I think after they ate they had to run back to the room for something. Thankfully they made it and we made our way to ferry which was a short walk away.

We ferried to Virgin Gorda at which point we were quickly loaded onto multiple…taxis I guess you’d call them, to take you to the Baths. There were a lot of people going to the Baths. It is a very popular destination so it seemed a bit of a cluster *bleep* at times trying to get everyone on. So after about a 1/2 hour to 45 minute ferry we drove another 20 minutes to the Baths. We had to wait for everyone to show up and there were a few taxis that showed up later than us. We were instructed to use the bathrooms now because there were none down on the beach so of course everyone used the bathroom. A bit more instructions and were allowed to go down. We were patient about it and were still waiting for some in our party to get out of the bathroom still.

It is a bit of an uneven path down to the beach. Reading before hand on multiple sites and also when booking the excursion it says the path is uneven. Yet, we came upon an older gentleman with a walking stick that slowly was trying to make his way down. We couldn’t believe it. There were parts where you have to step down from rocks…not far but still if you have trouble walking it can be difficult. Of course Chris and Linda start talking to him and he’s said he’s made the trip down here before so he knew what he was in for. Chris stayed with him and told the rest of us to go on ahead….Saint Christopher.

We finally get down there and as promised, it is beautiful!

and HERE’s where we/I screwed up. I remember reading to not follow everyone and go directly to the main beach but rather start making your way through the rocks to the other beach. Well we got down there late compared to others and we went right to the main area and started snorkeling and swimming. About an hour later we wanted to go through the rocks. Bad idea. By that time everyone was trying to do the same thing and on top of that, people were trying to come through from the opposite direction. Asking people how long it took to get through they said 40 minutes because of all the waiting. By this time we didn’t have 40 minutes. Time at the the Baths is extremely short. So we just started exploring where we were at a little.

Note the shoes in some of the pictures. It was mentioned to buy water shoes for this treck and so we did. It was well worth it for the Baths not to mention a good alternative for the slippery lido deck.

We were still treated to beautiful views anyway

A view from the top of the trail. There is gift shop here and I believe a bar?

So we begin to ferry back to Tortola and this is a view back towards the Baths.

The adults were outside on the front of the ferry for the ride back. The kids on the inside….

Part of the problem here was the ferry had to turn around and go back to the docks because a couple didn’t make it back in time! You could tell they were mad and I’m guessing it was an argument they were going to have once they got back to their stateroom.

Thankfully the views on the ferry were nice and we got to meet some people from Australia.

Our ship is bigger than your ship
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I want to live here!
  For whatever reason, Norwegian leaves Tortola very early. Probably trying to get to their next destination in time I suppose but it is very early and there isn’t much time to spend at the Baths. So a tip here, get on those first taxis at Virgin Gorda, go to the bathroom right away, find out as soon as possible when you need to be back, and start heading down to the beach as soon as possible. There is not a lot of time to waste here. It’s worth the view and you have to do at least once, try to get there quickly so you can relax and explore. We got back to the Escape and the Ropes Course was finally open again. After a lot of convincing, I talked Sophie into coming with us!

Now mind you I am afraid of heights but I had to try it. Sophie is deathly afraid but I got her to go. I had to coach her through the beginning and really convince her to move along and I think that helped my fears trying to talk to her.

We honestly didn’t make it that far and Sophie was done. I couldn’t talk her any further. I think it was at the zip line part. And you can’t turn around and other sections are blocked off so I had to have a worker there lead her back to get off. I kept moving.

Still afraid of heights mind you
Kate got done with the ropes long ahead of me so her and Sophie played mini-golf.

Men, be cautious with you junk on the ropes course
Tthe one nice thing about leaving early is the view leaving Tortola is spectacular! Unfortunately we didn’t take a ton of photos however.

The kids went off and did their own thing and we started playing our favorite card game, Wizard. Heather took the picture with her phone not realizing at all that Chris was showing his hand.

We kept things pretty simple this night. We ate dinner at the buffet which was just fine by us. It was relatively relaxing. I believe we went and found Orly again and again he finished up his set by saying he needed to go get dinner. Not sure if he ever really eats.

I wanted wings again tonight at O’Sheehans after everyone went to bed. This time, Heather knowing I went the night before, decided to join me. It was around midnight I believe when we went out.  I could tell she was exhausted but I appreciated her wanting to spend time with me and helping me indulge in my guilty pleasure.

Tomorrow…Day 6….Day at Sea