Trip Itinerary of ActionQuest: Barracuda

Day 1
Location: West End, Tortola

Morning:

Throw your toothbrush in the top of your bag and head to the airport!
Afternoon:

Transfer through San Juan and start to meet your new friends on the flight over to Tortola. As soon as you arrive, it's straight aboard the boat, so pick a bunk, change into your bathing suit and take your first dip into the warm blue Caribbean water!
Evening:

Your first experience of cooking aboard... try to remember the names of your fellow shipmates and then head for the big program introduction.

Day 2
Location: West End sail to South Bay, Peter Island

Morning:

Pancakes and fresh fruit starts the day off right, play some games to get to know the shipmates from the other boats and then leave the dock as soon as possible!
Afternoon:

Main from the Jib, Tack from the Clew. Practice helming and trimming as you make your way to Peter Island. Drop a hook and get ready for the check out dive! Do you remember how to do a buddy check? Five point descent? Mask clear and fin pivot? Don't worry, you'll take you back to basics first!
Evening:

Introduction to the Barracuda Jr. Advanced with Intro to Marine Biology Program. Do you remember how to use the dive table? Don't panic, this is the right time to review!

Day 3
Location: Peter to Cooper and finally to Savannah Bay

Morning:

Big day of sailing and diving, so it is up early to head east. First stop is Cooper Island. Here, in the cut between Cooper and Salt, is a great dive site called Blue Chromis Reef and you might even catch a glimpse of the wreck of the Beta, too. This is your first time diving with your Marine Biology instructors who will try to get you familiarized with the underwater world of the British Virgin Islands.
Afternoon:

After a quick lunch, you raise sails once again and tack upwind to Virgin Gorda and the beautiful Savannah Bay. Take a dip, shower off and get ready for dinner.
Evening:

Get together with the crews of the other dive boats for the Lifeworks Forum.

Day 4
Location: Savannah Bay

Morning:

Busy, Busy, Busy. Scrambled eggs and then off for a more formal introduction to Marine Biology and Fish and creature ID. You'll also chat a little about underwater navigation, as it is always important to know where you are and where you are going. Your dive gear will already be loaded into the dinghies so you can motor straight out to the sandcircles for an ID dive. How many different fish can you spot?
Afternoon:

Grab a sandwich and it's back on to the dinghies and on shore to learn a little about the differences in the biology between the Leeward and Windward coasts of the islands. A short walk takes you from the low energy, sandy beach of the leeward side up and over to the rocky, windy, wavy, high-energy windward side. Once you make it back, you'll head out for some wakeboarding before dinner.
Evening:

Doing it in the dark... it's the Night Diving chit chat

Day 5
Location: Savannah Bay to the Baths then to Mountain Point

Morning:

The Baths are one of the most beautiful places in the world and you'll get to explore before the crowds arrive. Giant boulders scatter the shore line providing caves and pools of blue water. This is a great place for some rock jumping too.
Afternoon:

Ready for a cheese burger? Rose at the Bath and Turtle in Spanish Town yacht club will be ready for you with burgers, dogs and all sorts of other goodies. Feeling full, you'll sail out in the early afternoon to Mountain Point and take a snorkel to view the night dive site before the sun sets.
Evening:

After dinner and a briefing, you'll don your gear and head out for the first of three night dives. The first one is always the most memorable and you may even be lucky enough to see a sleeping turtle.

Day 6
Location: Off to the Dogs and back to Mountain Point

Morning:

Motor over to the dogs having breakfast on the way. Once you're there, you'll tidy up and then jump straight in for a dive on the Chimneys. The hour surface interval is perfect to have a snack and read up on the underwater naturalist guide before heading back in for a second dive on the plane wreck at Coral Gardens
Afternoon:

You'll head back to Mountain Point while preparing lunch and aim to get some skiing in before the Underwater Naturalist chit chat. That leaves just a little more time for skiing and relaxing before dinner.
Evening:

Get together with the other crews for the Lifeworks Forum


Day 7
Location: Over to Leverick Bay and Dance night at Vixen Point

Morning:

You'll move the boat just round the corner to the point for your first underwater naturalist dive in the morning. The visibility here is fantastic, so spotting five new fish, four new invertebrates and 2 new plants should be easy. Then, you're off to Leverick Bay and the lighthouse restaurant for a quick cheeseburger!
Afternoon:

After a quick motor over to Vixen Point, you'll get together for a discussion on Underwater Navigation. Then you'll go ashore to practice on land first and with your towels over your head, before long you'll be navigating the length of the beach using just your compass! There will be time for a quick waterski or a game of beach volleyball at the end of the afternoon.
Evening:

There's just enough time to get the salt out of your hair before it's back to the beach for a BBQ and dance party with Heavy Beatz, the best DJ in the Islands.

Day 8
Location: Vixen Point to Peter Island

Morning:

After such a fun night, this morning always comes too soon, but you need to be up early for the long downwind sail to Peter Island. Once you arrive, you'll have a quick Deep Diving discussion before lunch.
Afternoon:

Ready to navigate? Straight out and back, reciprocals as well as squares and maybe even a triangle, too. Once you all make it back from the navigation dive, you'll head out for some wakeboarding before dinner.
Evening:

Deep diving chit chat, ready for tomorrow's advanced deep dive on the wreck of the Rhone.

Day 9
Location: Great Harbor, Peter to Salt Island, then back to Little Harbor Peter

Morning:

Today you motor over to Salt Island where the world famous wreck, the RMS Rhone, lies. Sitting between 30 and 80 feet, she is now home to thousands of fish and other sea creatures. You'll want to stay, but you'll be off to the Leeward side to meet Henry, the only inhabitant on the island, and hike the hills around the salt ponds.
Afternoon:

Lunch first and then you motor back over to Peter Island. Little harbor, this time, where you'll brush up on your dive table skills for an hour or two before skiing and then snorkeling for the second night dive.
Evening:

Time to jump in again, but this time you are leading the dive! The instructors will be behind you all the way, but this should prepare you for the future when it could just be you and your buddy!

Day 10
Location: Great Harbor, Peter Island

Morning:

SLEEP IN! But it's tough when the sun comes up at 5am, and it's 85 degrees by 6am. Still, who's complaining?! You'll make scrambled eggs and then go for a shallow water snorkel to collect specimens for a discussion group. If you're lucky, you may also visit Big Bear, a local fisherman who tells everyone all about the history of Peter Island then lets help him pull in his catch of Bonita.
Afternoon:

Grilled cheese for lunch and then you're off for an underwater research dive with the Marine Bio shipmates, learning to use transect lines and quadrats. Then back to Big Bear to collect a fish so that you can learn more about anatomy and biology during a dissection.
Evening:

Time to relax, clean the boat on a mid-voyage blitz and then watch a movie!

Day 11
Location: Great Harbor, Peter Island to Ginger Island and Marina Cay.

Morning:

Time to get some fresh food, water, linens and call home. You head for Hodges Creek on the Island of Tortola early that morning and aim to leave again by 11am to sail over to Ginger. Mario's Wonderland, on the Leeward side, is one of the most amazing sites in the islands and the mushroom coral formations and schooling fish may even take your breath away for real!
Afternoon:

You'll stay on the leeward side for lunch and get cleaned up and tanks pumped before a short sail over to Marina Cay. This tiny island is quintessentially Caribbean, with lush landscaping and only a couple of pink buildings. There's one store on the island, which sells the best ice cream, too!
Evening:

You head to shore this evening for a Lifeworks Forum with the whole fleet.

Day 12
Location: Lava Flow, Tortola and then to Muskmelon Bay, Guana Island

Morning:

After filling yourself up with French Toast, you'll head to the north side of Tortola, to a beautiful bay that you call Lava Flow, due to the basalt rock formation that is found there.
Afternoon:

Today is a great day to relax and kick back, hit the beach or do some snorkeling. You've earned a day like this by now!
Evening:

Ready, set and off you go! Night dive # 3 and, when you surface, CONGRATULATIONS, you're a certified Night Diver!

Day 13
Location: Somers Beach, Tortola for Rescue day and Beach BBQ

Morning:

After a sleep in, scrambled eggs and a quick ski around the flat, calm bay, you'll raise anchor and head over to Tortola and Somer's beach to learn about the next course on the PADI ladder, Rescue Diver.
Afternoon:

After a short discussion and lunch, you go to the beach with your mask, fins and snorkels and run some rescue scenarios with the instructors. You'll finish the afternoon with a championship game of Ultimate Frisbee on the white sand beach.
Evening:

Quick shower and clean up back aboard, then it will be back to the beach for a BBQ with the whole fleet.

Day 14
Location: Brewer's Bay to Cane Garden

Morning:

Up and out on the earlier side today for a great downwind sail to Brewers Bay. This morning, you'll finish off your Underwater Naturalist certification dive before lunch.
Afternoon:

Second dive? Snorkel? Waterski? Your choice... After this, there may even be time to explore the sandy beach before slipping the mooring and motoring around the corner to Cane Garden Bay.
Evening:

Learn a little more about the underwater world during the fish and creature slide show then off to bed early as tomorrow is a big day.

Day 15
Location: Hike Mt. Sage, Sandcastle competition and Sydney's Peace and Love

Morning:

Are you ready for the longest day ever? Starting with a hike to the rainforest at the top of Mt. Sage, you'll have earned that Cheese Burger in Paradise once you make it back down. This is the place where Jimmy Buffet wrote those famous words, so enjoy your lunch and then head back to the boat.
Afternoon:

Off to Sandy Cay for the sandcastle building competition. The whole fleet will be here to compete, so don't forget your shovel and pail. Wash off in the blue waters before you set off once again to Little Harbor on the island of Jost Van Dyke for the evening.
Evening:

This is the best meal ever! BBQ chicken, rice and peas, potato salad and an ice-cold soda... all to the sound of a live reggae band. Sydney, at his Peace and Love Restaurant, really knows how to lay on a party. You'll sleep really well tonight!

Day 16
Location: Green Cay, Sandy Spit and the Playgrounds

Morning:

A well-deserved sleep in, followed by a slow breakfast as you motor around to one of the most famous islands in all of the Caribbean, Sandy Spit. If you were asked to close your eyes and picture a classic desert island, this is it! You'll drop anchor and head to the cut between Green Cay and Little Jost. Here, at a dive site called the Playgrounds, you often see turtles, eagle rays, tarpon and many other big pelagic fish.
Afternoon:

After lunch, go for a second dive and then head to the beach to play Frisbee, weave a palm frond hat or maybe sit back and relax!
Evening:

The final Lifeworks Forum evening, when you'll chat a little about your goals and aspirations.

Day 17
Location: West End to Dead Chest and back to Peter Island

Morning:

Wow! Back to West End, the place where it all started. You've now circumnavigated the whole of the BVI, but, this time, you'll only be staying long enough to fill up with fresh food and water before heading out again for a long upwind sail to Dead Chest Island.
Afternoon:

Dead Chest is the island where renowned pirate, Blackbeard, marooned 10 of his men with nothing but a cutlass and a bottle of rum. The tale of this incident is well-known to this day, through the words of the song "Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum." You won't be going ashore, but below lies one of the prettiest dive sites in the islands, Painted Walls.
Evening:

OK, so tomorrow is the advanced quiz night, so now is a good time to pull out the books and spend some time reviewing the material!

Day 18
Location: Cooper all day and back to Peter Island

Morning:

Up and out! You'll grab breakfast on the way to Blue Chromis Reef while planning your for two dives. Once you arrive at the site, you'll jump straight in and get to it. This really is a very special dive site. Amazing visibility and incredible coral formations.
Afternoon:

Grab a bite to eat and relax while you wait on deck for your minimum surface interval before heading back down once again. You'll want to grab a final half hour’s review of the advanced diving book as you motor back to Great Harbor, Peter Island.
Evening:

It's Quiz Night!

Day 19
Location: Trip to Road Town and off to Norman Island

Morning:

Second to last dive this morning on the Fearless and then over to Road Town, the capital of Tortola and the BVI, for lunch. You'll enjoy exploring the town and picking up a few gifts for people at home and then you'll head back to the boat.
Afternoon:

Your final downwind sail to Norman Island, so enjoy yourself as you race the other yachts for position in the anchorage. Take a dip, clean up and start to get your things together for the final evening out on the water.
Evening:

Closing program and time to reflect on the amazing experience that everyone shared.

Day 20
Location: Final Dive, back to West End for a mega boat clean and final BBQ

Morning:

Off for the final dive of the trip on the Indians. It's a shallow dive, but one of the very best. Once you are back aboard, it's go, go, go. You start heading back to West End, but this is a good time to get your bags packed and the boat cleaned.
Afternoon:

With lines thrown ashore and the yacht shipshape once again, you can relax. Swap addresses, take photos and get ready for the final BBQ.
Evening:

BBQ and final closing... "I have to get up how early in the morning for my flight?!"

Day 21
Location: West End

Up early and head to the airport. Make sure that you remember to pack that towel and bathing suit you hung up to dry last night, then head for home with an address book full of new friends, pocket full of certifications and a bag full of great memories. See you next year!