Josiah's Bay

Tucked away on the northeastern side of Tortola sits a beauty of a beach called Josiah's Bay.  This is where boards get waxed and people surf and play in the Caribbean sunshine.  The waves and wind are formidable, and the sandy beach bottom provides a comfortable base for thrill seekers hanging ten.

We got going and caught an 8:15 ferry over to Tortola.  We didn't really have a big game plan in mind, but we new we would rent a car and just drive around and see were the Kia would take us.  I returned to the car rental dealer I had just been too two weeks prior, and much to my surprise the lady didn't recognize me...  I told her I would be back and bring my family, evidently she couldn't quite remember.  Evidently I didn't leave much of a lasting impression.  However we settled this transaction on a car that would ferry Shelly, Molly, Wally, me, and our provisions for three quarters of a day.

Tortola was very busy.  There were 3 cruise ships in.  1 being very, very large, and then 2 medium to smaller sized vessels.  Nearly all of the passengers would have disembarked their boat and got on a taxi-truck to traverse the island.  It took them to the more commercial, tourist beaches and locations.  How do I know this?  We passed by them as we initially headed towards them as well.  But Shelly, with her acute sense of excitement, said the place to go was Josiah's Bay.  And sure enough.  Not a tourist taxi truck to be seen, and only a handful of people enjoying this wonderful place.

We found a great spot to put our belongings and quickly headed into the water.  We all enjoyed it, but salt water swimming does take a bit of getting used to.  The waves near the shore are gentle enough and didn't really knock Molly over or cause and big problems.  The surf is quite large a 75m or so off shore.  It is still pretty shallow, in places, and I always felt that I could swim and maintain my bearings and safety.  I should have rented a body board, but rolled it old school and just rode in a number of big 4 foot waves or so in on my chest = It was pretty fun actually and I really was on top of a few of them for what seemed was a long time.  I got thrashed and tossed about a few times too, but like I wrote, it is all a sandy bottom.  There were no rocks nor reef....

Sadly, but inevitably, this area is beginning to get built up.  There were a number of new houses in the area and others under construction, and the beach had a decent bar and social area.  Locals rent surfboards and body boards, but Shelly said it looked nothing like it did 9 years ago with its consumer growth....  That is the way things go I suppose.

On the ferry ride home Shelly was recognized, again, and sat and chatted with a old acquaintance...  Molly and I sat outside/upstairs and chit chatted with others on the boat and took one last look back at this nice island.