Calling Cane Garden Bay a third choice really understates how we feel about this bay. The truth is that we knew we could count on it as a reliable, safe harbor, we-KNOW-this-will-work, final choice for the day. This palm-tree lined white sand beach bay is beautiful, unpretentious, and intoxicating. We've been here before and there’s plenty of sand outside the mooring field to anchor in with a calm, laid-back attitude to relax in. We arrived at 1430 and anchored in sand a little over 100 yards from the south end of the beach. We rewarded ourselves with a relaxing swim toward a cluster of diving pelicans to swim amongst the numerous schools of small fish that are their favorite meal; along the way Donna spotted the biggest Porcupine fish we had ever seen, which according to our reference book was about the largest size they become—up to 3 feet in length. (use Google Earth "Fly to" to find 18 25'29"N 064 39'32.5"W)

The gorgeous beach of Cane Garden Bay is lined with small beach bars and restaurants, without becoming overwhelming or obnoxious. Huge crowds are rare and coincide with certain cruise ship arrivals in the government center Road Town. The visitors that do arrive from shore seem very content to quietly lounge in the beach chairs, sipping rum drinks. Did we say laid back – and intoxicating?

Well known island musician Quito Rymer has a bar and restaurant here where he performs several nights a week. The entertainment doesn’t start until 9:30 pm so it’s a challenge for us to be awake beyond that hour. Regardless, we played his CD earlier that evening and could hear his Thursday night solo performance clearly from our bunk….

For us, the bonus attraction to Cane Garden Bay is the abundance of pelicans, boobies, frigates and other seabirds that perform for us from dawn to dusk. They are feeding constantly on vast schools of sprats, a small fish that never gets larger than a few inches long. They often soar and dive in unison – perhaps choreographed by some unseen air traffic controller. Truly mesmerizing to us, we can watch them for hours. Listening to a soothing Quito CD while watching the birds completes the feeling….

We would depart Cane Garden Bay on Monday, January 16, clearing out of the British Virgin Islands in advance of an arriving cold front, and heading back for the US Virgin Islands where we would entertain visiting friends aboard Pas de Deux.