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Marina Cay, British Virgin Islands

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Travel to British Virgin Islands

Flying to British Virgin Islands

The easiest way to reach the British Virgin Islands from the UK is via Antigua. BWIA West Indies Airways (www.bwee.com), Virgin Atlantic (www.virgin-atlantic.com) and British Airways (www.britishairways.com) offer direct flights from London to Antigua. From Antigua, Liat (www.caribjet.com/liat.htm) flies to Tortola. Fly BVI (www.flybvi.com) runs chartered flights to an assortment of Caribbean islands.

Travellers arriving from the USA can take a connecting flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico with American Eagle (www.aa.com) or fly to St Thomas, US Virgin Islands and take a ferry to Tortola. The islands are also accessible via St Maarten and St Kitts.

Flight times:

From London to Antigua is 8 hours 40 minutes and from Antigua to Tortola is 1 hour.

Departure tax:

US$20. Children under five years are exempt.

Getting to British Virgin Islands by boat

US$5 for all international departures, US$7 for cruise ship passengers.

Ferry operators:

Tortola Fast Ferry (tel: 494 2323; www.tortolafastferry.com) operates ferries from St Thomas, US Virgin Islands to Tortola (journey time - 50 minutes). Speedy's (tel: 495 5240; www.speedysbvi.com) runs ferries from St Thomas to Tortola and Virgin Gorda.

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