We arrived in Tortola on Wednesday morning. We woke up and went to breakfast in the main dining room on the ship, before we debarked to meet our driver. I had emailed Wheatley Transport Services back on February 8 to arrange a driver for the day. Dorna Wheatley promptly responded and said she would be happy to assist us. She indicated she would be at the cruise port holding a sign with my name on it as soon as we debarked the ship.

As soon as we finished our breakfast and debarked, we found Dorna at the pier just as promised, holding a sign with my name on it. It was super easy to find her. She was dressed very professional, and took us to her vehicle to drive us around the island for the day. The cost for 4 hours was $350 + tip.

We started off in Road Town which is where the ship docked. We drove around Road Town exploring and her pointing out different places around the town. Road Town is the capital of Tortola. From there, we drove up to Callwood Rum Distillery. Callwood Rum Distillery is the oldest distillery in the Caribbean still in operation at over 200 years old. This was a very cool, old building to see. We went in and sampled some rum and checked the place out. I wanted to buy rum but they were cash only, and you could not take pictures inside unless you purchased rum. Sadly I left empty handed since I do not use cash. It was a cool place to visit though.

Once we left Callwood Rum Distillery, we headed over to Cane Garden Bay Beach which was a beautiful beach with ameneties as well as a restaurant on site. We spent some time here looking around and taking pictures. Then the cruise ship excursions started to come to Cane Garden Bay so we left before it got busy.

After we left Cane Garden Bay Beach, we went to Smuggler’s Cove. This was by far the prettiest beach we visited. There were only about 5 people there when we got there. The road to Smuggler’s Cove is pretty rough so you may want to ensure you’re not in a small car before heading here. It was beautiful though.

We spent time at Smuggler’s Cove, then headed toward west end Tortola where we’d sight see some more and ride around, learning about the island. From there, we’d ride back toward Road Town.

We arrived in Road Town and went to Her Majesty’s Prison. This prison is SUPER COOL! It was built in 1774 and is the original prison that was in continual use until 1995. Within the prison walls, murderers were hanged and buried. It was very interesting to tour. It cost $5/pp to do a self guided tour of the haunted prison. We saw places such as the exercise yard, the cells, the execution cell, and the segregation cells. If you’re ever in Tortola, I highly recommend checking this prison out.

We spent time at the prison, then decided to head back to the port area so we could do some shopping. We walked around Road Town near the port and did a bit of shopping before heading back to the ship. It was an early port day. I HIGHLY recommend Wheatley Transport Services. Dorna is fantastic and top notch.