Brewer’s Bay – a Tortola Beach

For many people, Brewer’s Bay is their favorite beach on the entire island of Tortola. And it certainly has the big Wow factor.

Even though Brewer’s Bay is only a 15 minute drive from Road Town, on the north shore of the island, it remains a very secluded beach, perhaps largely because it is only accessible by road.  But what a spectacular road.  If you’re driving yourself to Brewer’s Bay, test the brakes before you get very far because the roads leading there are super steep.  There are one or two places where the road goes into switch back and times when you are seemingly looking vertically down onto a beautiful bay but, as long as you remember to keep driving on the left and take things slowly, you will have the reward of an amazing concealed beach when you arrive.

The bay is out of bounds to all charter yachts because of underwater power cables lying across the cove, which could catch a misplaced anchor.

The beach here is a long stretch of immaculate sand, protected by coral reefs in a truly stunning setting – a tranquil utopia.  The swimming here is generally excellent, in usually calm conditions with very little, if any, undertow at all.  This makes it a safe beach for supervised children to swim in.   

Brewer’s Bay Activities

There are a limited number of water toys available from the nearby camp site, and the water is rather shallow for scuba diving. The real glory of the water here, though, is the snorkeling – which would be a good enough reason on its own to visit Brewer’s Bay.  In fact, the snorkeling by the rocks on the western side of the bay is almost certainly the best on Tortola.  If you’re lucky, you could come across tarpon, squid, octopus, parrot fish, trigger fish and box fish; all vividly at home in the glorious coral formations.

In fitting with the peaceful ambiance of the beach, there are very few facilities here for visitors.  Nicole’s Beach Bar, on the west side of the bay, serves excellent burgers and other light meals – and Pina Coladas, of course.  You could also go for a wander just beyond the shoreline to see the ruins of the brewery which gave the bay its name.  Presumably built some time in the 18th century, you can see pieces of machinery and distilling equipment exactly where they were left when the distillery was abandoned over a hundred years ago.  

Brewer’s Bay Camping

In addition, Brewer’s Bay is home to the only camp site on the island of Tortola – a collection of tents and shelters well hidden among the palm trees.  There are both tent and ‘bare site’ options available for campers, with access to the showers and washrooms.  On Fridays, there is a communal fish fry and also a barbecue every Sunday.  Some visitors have been returning here for many years, and it’s not difficult to see why; there can be few more attractive locations for a camp site anywhere in the world!

Brewer’s Bay is almost never crowded, although it is quite popular with locals on public holidays and at weekends.

If you really want to get away from it all, and indulge yourself in some sensational snorkeling, then Brewer’s Bay is worth that ‘interesting’ drive!

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