Our Fishy Tales : British Virgin Islands 2007-2008

BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS, North East Caribbean
(Our new jobs on Marina Cay)

July 2007

Having got over the leap back into relative civilisation, well certainly in terms of living accommodation, we woke up the next morning to blue skies and an amazing view from our balcony. This already seemed a long way from Curacao and it felt like the Caribbean at long last. There's a certain tranquillity here and a relatively simple way of life.

We are now in Virgin Gorda, one of the easternmost islands in the BVIs. At only 8 square miles and with only 3,000 inhabitants, it is small - about the same size as Hopeman my home town back in Scotland. While both places boast beautiful white sandy beaches and a few bars, there's a vital 20 degrees centigrade difference in temperature!!

Our first challenge following arrival was to get legal! That means trips to the Labour Dept and also back to Immigration. Because our papers weren't 100% on arrival, Immigration kindly held onto our passports for us (so we couldn't leave???), so we were on a two week tourist visa and the clock was ticking. Most of our first week was then spent going back and forth between Immigration, the Government building, back to Immigration, back to the Government Building and then back to Immigration again, then onto the Medical Officer who validated our medical certificates, all in Dutch as they had been 'produced' in Curacao - amazing language skills - and then finally back to Labour and Immigration again. Labour went ok, and then to Immigration. I guess we should all know by now that Immigration are a different breed. Amazingly Sadie's passport was stamped with a 12 month work permit and visa, and she was excused. I was next. Unfortunately for me, while Sadie got the new guy on work experience, I got a more senior official let's say. It didn't take him long to realise that my Police Report from the UK, wasn't actually one, just a receipt!! I was therefore rejected - and given 14 days to get the correct paperwork in, otherwise I would be sent out on the next available plane. The Official then realising that we were a couple proceeded to scrutinise Sadie's papers. Sadie was recalled, the work experience guy given a clip around the ear and probably deducted a months wages, and we were then both back to square one. Of course we couldn't start work now.

So stuck with playing tourists for another couple of weeks, we started to settle into the island and to explore our surroundings, as well as going out as customers, courtesy of Dive BVI our new employer. Life is hard sometimes :-)

Once all the paperwork eventually arrived, Immigration was finally satisfied that we were genuine hardworking individuals with no known criminal record behind us, we got down to what we came here to do! Work.

Dive BVI has three main locations here on the island, two based in Virgin Gorda, and the third Marina Cay located on a tiny wee island some 5 miles and a 20 minute boat ride from Virgin Gorda. Marina Cay is to be our place. Jeff and Casey who are the general managers of the company are our new bosses, and we have the great opportunity to manage our own shop and to make it our own. Obviously we have a company framework to work within and necessary ground rules, but this is exactly what we wanted - it is a bit of a dream come true. All the staff here are really friendly and a good mix of Brits, Americans and South Africans, as well as a few locals.

Within a few weeks of arriving on the island, and after Jeff was happy that my boat handling skills were up to the job!!, we were let loose on Marina Cay to make it our own.

Marina Cay from the air is a beautiful, idyllic island paradise, crystal clear waters, a white sandy beach, two bars, a restaurant and a shop. On land it has a certain rustic charm to it, the tourists love it, although it is fair to say it is in need of a bit of TLC as well as an injection of customer service to most of the staff there. The island is run by a Scottish couple Alison and Jim, who live on the island and it is currently leased by an American who also owns Pusser's Rum - what were the British Admiralty thinking off!!! Oh and there's an island cat too, Tess. She's been here as long as anyone can remember, at least 12 years old, and although a bit saggy, it's her island.

Over the course of the month we set to work getting to know the ropes, no pun intended, as well as sprucing our shop space up a bit, and getting to grips with the day to day runnings of a dive business. We are definitely having our cake and eating it.

Here's a few pictures from Marina Cay.......