Come Here, Fishy Fishy

Master of fish feed ceremonies, the guy in the white
shirt holding the bait, knew how to gather and
work a crowd.  He told us the tarpon about to be
fed could reach up to 10 feet!

Saba Rock Resort is a pint-sized rock of an island alongside Virgin Gorda that packs in plenty. 

Saba Rocks’ mooring balls include a fill-up of up to 250 gallons of fresh water, prompting a rare voluntary choice to pay $30 for a mooring ball, rather than anchoring for free. Fresh water is expensive in the Virgin Islands.  I wish their tiny water-filling dock took a cue from their generous dinghy dock; we did not sidle in smoothly when we came to fill up our water tanks.  Ooops!

They know their audience; Saba Rocks offers a cruisers special on their room rates, touting their king-sized beds and hot showers.  In a future post I’ll write about the joys of sleeping in a v-berth, and I am being sarcastic about “the joys”! 

Dad and son check out the hungry tarpon; the one
circling at Saba Rock were 3-5’ long, weighing in at
40-60 pounds. 

Saba Rocks evening fish feeding coincides nicely with $3 Painkillers (more on Painkillers in a future post) for Happy Hour, providing the perfect tourist attraction.  It worked for us and we were not alone.

Toes tease tarpon with fish food.  Gutsy gal!  

The dinner crowd was wowed by the
size of these Caribbean lobsters.
Thanks to no pinchers, the restaurant
allowed kids to hold them.  Great for
the kids though we’re betting
the lobsters were less than enthralled.

The ringleader for the fish feed was a master showman, cajoling volunteers to feed the fish, while at the same time teasing that lawyers held little sway in the BVI, should accidents happen.  The fish were tarpon, though he claimed the ocaisonal toothy barracuda might join the feeding frenzy.  To me, tarpon moved like big, fat, lazy house cats.  Like housecats, they could transform in the blink of an eye, leaping like greased lightingning for the right, tasty morsel.  The raced, bumped, thrashed and lept with alacrity.

Free vintage Ferries to nearby attractions and necessities make it
easy to visit Saba Rocks, or stay.  The vintage theme carries
into their gift shop display of vintage outboard motors and
this race boat in their restaurant / bar.