Our son Andrew joined us for ten days in the Virgin Islands. I was merely going to mention the superb snorkelling that we have had, but the Virgin Islands themselves need homage paid to them. 

Snorkelling is such a wonderful experience that we have never been satiated - one day we explored four different sites.  Each site is different and we always seemed to find something new and never stopped delighting in the things we see.   At times it can be a bit intimidating when you see dark water pounding on the rocks on the surface, but below is an absolute treasure trove: nuggets of awe with every stroke through this serene world of colourful fish and myriad of coral.  The water is so crystal clear, I am sure you see as much as if you were diving.  Highlights were to watch an octopus, as it stealthily coiled itself over the coral, eventually taking flight when I followed it perhaps a little too closely, and to again have the privilege of a turtle allowing me to swim alongside it as it gracefully glided close to the seabed and then up to the surface for air.  (Also, I hadn’t realised that squid [which are very beautiful when they are alive] like to travel together in a line, say five or six, one behind the other – they looked very cute.)

The Virgin Islands are full of charter boats, well charter catamarans to be exact, and you can quite see why. The British Virgin Islands consist of more than 60 islands, a third of which are uninhabited. St John (US Virgin Islands) is largely a marine national park and St Thomas has a busy international airport at the town of Charlotte Amelie, which is where superyachts and cruise liners dock. The anchorages are all within a couple of hours of each other, the trade winds are steady, the blue clear water is warm and there are many lovely white sandy beaches.  The many moorings, laid to protect the underwater reefs and coral, also provide safe haven in bays too deep to anchor and get you to some of the best snorkelling spots with ease.