Norman Island

Norman Island is where the BVI starts to feel like a different world. The Bight is the main anchorage, a wide protected bay with the Willy T floating in the southwest corner and Pirate's Bight Beach Bar & Grill commanding a view of the bay. Go early if you have kids aboard. By afternoon the Willy T is a party in full swing, complete with people making the leap from the upper deck into the water below, with or without bathing attire. The caves at Treasure Point are a short dinghy ride away and worth every minute with snorkel gear. The Indians, just north of Norman, are some of the best snorkeling in the BVI. Do not leave without doing both.

Norman Island sits at the western end of the Sir Francis Drake Channel and the locals have called it Treasure Island for centuries. The name is not entirely metaphorical. A 1750 letter documented the recovery of buried pirate treasure from Norman's shores. Whether the treasure was real or myth, Norman still feels like it has a few secrets, which is rare in the modern BVI.

The Bight and the Willy T

The main anchorage is The Bight, wide, well-sheltered, and busy most of the season. Pick up a mooring or drop the hook well clear of the mooring field and plan your position with some intention. The William Thornton, anchored in the southwest section of The Bight, is the floating bar and restaurant every charterer knows as the Willy T. The food is better than the reputation suggests. The ambiance is exactly what you expect: casual, loud, and riotously fun, with a regular rotation of people making the leap from the upper deck into the water below. If you have kids aboard, go in the morning. The Willy T is a different place by 3pm.

Pirate's Bight Beach Bar & Grill commands a view of The Bight from the head of the bay. Quieter than the Willy T, better for sunset with a couple of rum punches. Reservations are recommended for dinner. Between the two you have a full afternoon and evening covered without leaving the anchorage.

The Caves at Treasure Point

When you are ready to move, point the dinghy southwest toward Treasure Point. Tie up to the mooring line strung between the floats, bring a flashlight, and get in. The caves extend back into the rock with light filtering in from above and an abundance of small bright fish that have no fear of snorkelers. Quiet, strange, and genuinely beautiful. Do not anchor near the caves.

The Indians

The Indians are a separate stop. A cluster of four red rock pinnacles rising out of the water near Pelican Island, about a mile north of Norman. Pick up a National Parks Trust mooring and get in the water. Caves, tunnels, brain coral, elkhorn coral, sea fans, and more fish than you will know what to do with. The anchorage is exposed and you will feel the swell. The snorkeling is worth the rocking.

Spyglass Hill

There is a trail at Norman Island that most charterers never know about, and it is worth the early alarm. The Spyglass Hill trail starts at The Bight, behind Pirate's Bight restaurant, where a dirt road runs between the dive shop and the back of the building. Follow the road up the hill until it splits, then head right toward Spyglass Hill. The trail is about 2.5 miles out and back. There is no shade, so the right time to do this is just after sunrise, when the air is cool and the light across the channel is at its best.

The summit is a pirate lookout from the Golden Age of sail. Whether or not anyone actually stood watch there with a spyglass, the geography makes the story credible. From the top you can see St. John and St. Thomas, with Tortola and Peter Island filling in the channel to the east. Bring water. Wear a hat. Be back at the boat by the time everyone else is making coffee. The hour you spend up there is the part of Norman Island that almost nobody talks about.