# Free WIFI in BVI



## 6string

I am flying out of Chicago Thursday morning for Tortola. We have a Bareboat charter with Footloose. Third trip, just love it.

I haven't taken my laptop in the past. I am wondering, is there free wifi service available around the BVIs? It would be useful to do some research of info on things to do, places to go in the event we want a change in itinerary.

I am also wondering if AT&T cell phone service will cost more there?

Any help is appreciated. 

Jeff


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## Zanshin

Free WiFi is to be had at:
a) Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour - both the main office and the Bath & Turtle bar have free WiFi available, the B&T WiFi is only available during their business hours and they would prefer that you have a drink or meal while using the WiFi but they don't insist.
b) North Sound. Both the Saba Rock Bar and the Bitter End Yacht Club have free wireless. If you take a mooring close enough to Saba Rock you not only get WiFi on board but if you use their mooring balls you get a bag of ice and filling-up on water as well. I usually anchor just in WiFi range of the Saba Rock bar, up against Prickly Pear island.
c) Corsair's bar on Jost Van Dyke has free WiFi
d) Pusser's Marina Cay has free WiFi that may or may not work at anchor but you can dinghy ashore and use it.
e) If you eat/drink at either The Last Resort or the Loose Mongoose in Trellis you can get a code and access WiFi
f) The Pusser's store at the west end broadcasts a signal, but the WiFi hasn't worked for over 6 months!
g) Road Town marina has free WiFi, range is limited so you do need to sit at the bar

You can pay through the nose to get the Marine WiFi but I've never bothered.


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## 6string

Thanks Zanshin


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## hellosailor

Jeff, call AT&T direrctly. You'll be paying "international" prices and yes, that's gonna cost you. If you've been a customer more than 90 days and have a GSM phone (with a SIM chip) call them and ask them to unlock the phone. They'll give you back an unlock code to enter (usually a day after your call to them) and then you can use a prepaid or domestic SIM chip that you buy down there, with much better rates. The US cellcos really kill customers with overseas rates. Why? "BECAUSE WE CAN".


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## sailingdog

If you're in the US... HS's suggestion to get the phone "unlocked" is a very good idea. I've done it with my phones, through T-mobile, with no problems.


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## Zanshin

I forgot to mention that while sailing in the Sir Francis Drake channel you will be in range of the US towers, otherwise you should thing about turning off your phone, since the only other provider is the Cable & Wireless monopoly which will cost you both an arm and a leg. I think I used my UK GSM phone for less than 2 hours total time one day (when my rudder decided to go off on it's own) and it cost several hundred pounds!


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## BoxedUp

We'll be going back to the BVI in late May and just checking on the free WiFi spots, so time to update this thread. Cooper Island YC has free WiFi at the bar & restaurant. Wasn't planning on bringing the iPad but now rethinking that plan.


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## Geoff54

*Not Quite an Update....*

This is a list of WIFI and other mostly free access. I compiled it over time for my own use and it hasn't been updated lately. It may not be current but it is a good starting point. More and more bars and restaurants are offering free WiFi so it's always worth asking.

"The Pub" (WIFI), Road Town, near TMM and Road Town Marina
Soggy Dollar Bar (WIFI), White Bay, Jost Van Dyke
Corsair's bar, Great Harbour, Jost Van Dyke has free WiFi
Pusser's Marina Cay has free WiFi that may or may not work at anchor 
Pussers Restaurant (WIFI), West End, Soper's Hole
Customers at either The Last Resort or the Loose Mongoose in Trellis Bay can get a code
Road Town marina has free WiFi, range is limited so you do need to sit at the bar
Village Cay Marina Hotel/Bar (WIFI), Road Town
Caribbean Connections, Road Town, near Village Cay Marina
Caribbean Printing Quick Copy Co., Road Town, next to Riteway - Wickham's Cay II
Sub J's Internet café & sandwich bar (WIFI) , Road Town, Wickham's Cay II
Prospect Reef Resort, Road Town, near TMM and Fort Burt
The Caribbean Wave, Road Town, Chalwell St. - downtown
Popeye's Stationery Store and Document Centre, Road Town
Coconut Telegraph (WIFI), Nanny Cay Marina
The Genaker Cafe (WIFI), Nanny Cay Marina
Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour - both the main office and the Bath & Turtle bar (during their business hours )
CCT Boatphone (BVI Cellular), Road Town, near Bobby's Market (in lobby)
Public Library, Road Town, Flemming St. (above Riteway), 
DataPro (computer store), Road Town, Flemming St.
Copyright Systems Ltd., Road Town, Wickham's Cay I 
The Moorings (lobby, restaurant) (WIFI), Road Town, Inner Harbour
Cable and Wireless BVI, Road Town,Pasea Estate office, near Moorings
"Bits n Pieces", formerly, "Click On Line", Road Town, Mill Mall, Wickham's Cay 
Jost Van Dyke Scuba, Great Harbour, Jost Van Dyke
Le Grand Cafe (WIFI), Road Town, Main St.
Internet Cafe (above the Serendipity Book Store) (WIFI), Road Town, Main St.
Little Harbor - Peter Island (WIFI)
Trellis Bay Cyber Cafe (WIFI) Reaches Trellis, Marina Cay, & Scrub 
Marina Cay (WIFI) , Marina Cay
Beef Island Airport (WIFI), Beef Island, Trellis Bay
De Loose Mongoose (WIFI)
Last Resort (WIFI), Beef Island, Trellis Bay
Caribbean Jewelers (aka Samarkand), West End, Soper's Hole
Pisces Restaurant (WIFI), West End, Soper's Hole
Jolly Roger Hotel & Restaurant (WIFI), West End, Soper's Hole
Voyage Yacht Charters (WIFI), West End, Soper's Hole
D' Best Cup Soper's Hole (WIFI), West End, Soper's Hole
Sebastian's Hotel & Restaurant (WIFI), Little Apple Bay, Tortola
Myett's Garden and Grille (WIFI), Cane Garden Bay
Pusser's East End (WIFI) - formerly Fat Hog Bob's
East End, Maya Cove (aka Hodges Creek)
The Chandlery - Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour
Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda
Dive BVI - Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour, Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda
Spanish Town Marina (WIFI), Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda
Olde Yard Village (WIFI),The Valley, Virgin Gorda
Bath and Turtle (WIFI), Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour, Spanish Town
Bitter End Yacht Club (BEYC) (WIFI), North Sound, Virgin Gorda
Christine's Bakery, Great Harbour, Jost Van Dyke
Saba Rock (WIFI), North Sound, Virgin Gorda
Fat Virgin Cafe (WIFI), Biras Creek, Virgin Gorda
Mine Shaft Cafe (WIFI), Virgin Gorda
Mad Dog Restaurant (WIFI), The Valley, Virgin Gorda
Pirates Restaurant (WIFI), Norman Island
Leverick Bay (Coffee Shop & nearby) (WIFI), Leverick Bay, Virgin Gorda
Mahoe Bay - in and around office (WIFI), Virgin Gorda
Purple Turtle, Anegada
Neptune's Treasure (WIFI), Anegada
Anegada Reef Hotel (WIFI), Anegada


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## kootenay

Sitting in Moorings using the free wickam wirleless after a two week charter. And mornings did a great job dealing with us. Couldnt have asked any more of them. Off to the grenadines for a month and looking forward to it.


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## gon2C

might be a silly question - how secure would it be using the open wifi service in a bvi marina...if you access your etrade account... and make a trade? Thank you.


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## BoxedUp

gon2C said:


> might be a silly question - how secure would it be using the open wifi service in a bvi marina...if you access your etrade account... and make a trade? Thank you.


Not any less secure than accessing any other open, non-encrypted WiFi connection.


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## hellosailor

"how secure would it be using the open wifi service"
Might as well take an ad out in the local newspaper and ask someone to use all the information and place the transaction for you.

IF your brokerage or bank is using the HTTPS protocol, as most as, the transaction was assumed to be secure. But that has proven to be easily defeated, so we're back to the future.

Now, if you can perform the transaction by email, using a personal digital certificate so the email can be encrypted before it leaves your email client, then you'd be secure again. But that means a human being on the other end and a bit of effort to get and configure an encryption certificate. (Or to use manual encryption.)

Or you might use a VPN service, so in theory everything you send is encrypted until it hits your VPN server, which in theory is secure, somewhere back in the States. In theory.


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## gon2C

Hellosailer - wow.... I hear you and knew the answers in theory. Just wanted to have another confirm my 64 yr old mind. I'll check with broker on HTTPS. 

Really no other way down in Tortola unless you traded by phone. Thank you for responding.


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## gon2C

What's the alternative?


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## hellosailor

Using a cell phone for the internet connection would be more secure, in theory, since it is less common for cellular connections to be intercepted--although the cost of doing that has also become very small. Anyone can put up a "stingray" or other spoofing site, a suitcase that says "No, really, I'm the local cell tower, you can trust me" and then the signal can be decrypted easily, but still passed on without any trace of what has happened.
Still, it is way less likely than WiFi interception.

Your broker may think HTTPS is secure, but how secure it is depends on what versions, what products, whether you have been or cannot be patched for existing weaknesses. If you search around on the web, you'll find a variety of opinions. And generally, if the big players (industry, government, university) don't all agree on it? Then something is really NOT secure.

Perhaps, do your trades, then call up and ask to change your password, over the phone or by email. Or perhaps your broker will offer a guarantee against fraudulent transactions. (Oh wait, no, sorry, I must have been on drugs to eveb think that.(G)

The sharks are _always _hungry.


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## gon2C

Thanks.... Had a good laugh at the shark comment. You must have some years under you.... Because you make sense.

Anyway... Wish me luck... Haven't sailed or had a boat since the 90's... Just me now at a young 64. Survey and sea trial in June on Tortola. 

Hey... I figure... Maybe I have 10- 15 quality years. Can't get into too much trouble down there. Thank you again.


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## ObsessionSTJ

Sprint and AT&T are the only carriers that really work in the USVI. That being said, in the BVI when we have been anchored at Soggy Dollar on Jost Van Dyke or at Norman Island we can usually pick up the towers on St. John for data and text. However if you use your phone in the BVI for calling it will cost you an arm and a leg.

Hope that helps a bit. There are a lot of places these days that offer wifi though. Shouldn't be an issue. 









Happy sailing!
Camile
s/v Obsession
Mountains and Seashore


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## gon2C

Thanks Camile... Have you ever skyped or used Facetime from the USVI or BVI?

"Mountains and Seashore" blog caught my eye. I live in Southern Colorado at the base of the Sangre de Christo Mtns. I enjoyed your pics of Nanny Cay...as I was just there....working with a broker.....and found a boat It's a 36i' Jeannea. Survey and sea trial are set up for mid June. Anyway...if it happens.....I'm trying to determine where to base out of....for the first winter season 2016. mark


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## ObsessionSTJ

Hi Mark,
Thanks for taking a look at my blog.  We liked the simplicity of Nanny Caye.

We lived in Montana for a couple of years and thus are always torn between mountains and the sea. Colorado is another beautiful place. To answer your question; I Facetime with family quite frequently. If you have good enough wifi signal in the BVI it's possible as well, but Sprint and AT&T service only in the USVI. 

Also, hope all goes well with the survey and sea trial. If you have any questions feel free to reach out to us. [email protected]

Best,
Camile


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