Scuba diving in Tortola

Tortola is the largest island in the British Virgin Islands, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The waters around Tortola are warm and the beautiful underwater life is another whole world in itself to keep returning to. Among the local marine species divers can spot butterfly fish, trumpet fish, rays, barracudas, parrotfish, jewfish, African pompano, Spanish hog fish, soldier fish, octopus, turtle and lots of others. Dive charters offer a list of reefs, walls, wrecks to explore, and depending on skill level and interests, divers can find lots of sites to see. Brewer's Bay West, Brewer's Bay East and West Brewer's Bay Pinnacles are the closest sites to Tortola Island. There are also lots of sites around the offshore islands, mostly on the south. Among them are Norman, Pelican, Peter, Dead Chest, Cooper, Salt and Ginger islands, also some located offshore Tortola on the north including Guana Island and Scrub, and Beef islands on the east. The most interesting dive sites are Angelfish reef, Santa Monica Rock, Spyglass Wall (Norman Island); Pelican Reef, The Indians and Rainbow Canyon located near Pelican Island. Rainbow Canyon has a spectacular array of coral formations and is a home to several colonies of garden eels and a huge variety of reef fish. The site's depth ranges between 6-18m/20-60ft. Inganess Wreck and The Wreck of the Rhone are near Salt Island. Wreck Alley, Thumb Rock and Vanishing Rock are near Cooper Island. M/V Iganess Bay, Rhone Anchor, Black Forest, Coral Garden and The Fearless wreck are near Peter Island. Blonde Rock is another great site located together with Painted Walls near Dead Chest Island. Blond Rock is a rock pinnacle covered on top with yellow fire coral and featuring an amazing system of undercuts, ledges, canyons and tunnels. Alice in Wonderland, located near Ginger Island, is a colorful coral garden with large coral heads of pillar and star coral with waving purple, green sea fans, and narrow twisting channels. Five types of butterfly fish can be found here. The Wreck of the Rhone (sunk in 1867) is the first and only Marine National Park in the BVI. The park includes examples of fringing reef habitat and sea grass beds. The 94m/310ft long and 12m/40ft wide wreck lies in waters between 9-27m/30-90ft deep. Much of it is still intact and visible, including decking, parts of the rigging, the steam engine and propeller.

Diving can be enjoyed all year long but the best time to do it is usually from November till May. The average water temperature stays between 25-27C/78-82F through the most of the year.