Trellis Bay by Day: Beef Island’s Quiet Side of the BVI

Ask most people what they know about Trellis Bay and you’ll get one answer: the full moon party. Fair enough — it’s the reason the anchorage shows up on so many itineraries in the first place. But the party happens once a month, and Trellis Bay is worth a stop on every other day too. It’s one of the calmest anchorages on Tortola’s east end, it sits across the water from a genuinely strange little art studio, and it holds the ruined remains of one of the BVI’s more colorful pieces of history, all without a crowd in sight.

We run guests through here plenty on charter days that have nothing to do with a full moon — usually on the way to or from Marina Cay or Scrub Island, or as a calm first stop before a day that gets busier later. It’s a low-key kind of stop, and that’s precisely its value: a break from the reef-hopping, beach-hopping rhythm of a typical BVI day, with a story attached that most guests never hear anywhere else.

Where Trellis Bay Sits

Trellis Bay is on Beef Island, connected to Tortola by a short bridge, and it sits directly across the runway from the territory’s main airport. That proximity is part of what makes it useful on a charter day — it’s an easy stop if you’re picking up or dropping off guests near the airport, and it’s a short, sheltered run from Tortola’s north side out toward Marina Cay and Scrub Island. The bay itself is a horseshoe of calm water, well protected from the swell that can build up on more exposed anchorages, which is part of why it draws a bareboat fleet every night of the month, not just on the full moon.

Aragorn’s Studio

The most distinctive thing on the shoreline is Aragorn’s Studio, a working art gallery and metalworking studio that’s been part of Trellis Bay for years. It’s the source of the large metal fire sculptures — mostly figures shaped like flame or sea creatures — that get set alight and towed out into the bay during the full moon party. On any ordinary day, though, the studio itself is open, and it’s worth the ten minutes it takes to walk through: hand-forged metalwork, local art, and a small café that’s a reasonable spot to grab a coffee or a snack between stops.

It’s a different kind of stop than most of what fills a typical BVI itinerary. There’s no beach to lay out on and no reef to snorkel — it’s a chance to see something made rather than something natural, and it tends to be the stop guests remember for a different reason than the rest of the day.

Bellamy Cay: The Island Behind the Ruins

Just offshore in the middle of the bay sits Bellamy Cay, a small island named for Samuel Bellamy, a pirate who reportedly used the spot to watch merchant ships passing through the Sir Francis Drake Channel in the early 1700s. It’s changed hands and purposes more than once since: a Polish yachtsman built a boatyard and small hotel there in the early 1950s, and from the 1970s onward it was home to The Last Resort, a restaurant and bar run for decades by a British war veteran named Tony Snell.

Hurricane Irma badly damaged the buildings in 2017, and the island has sat as a ruin ever since — you can still make out the old structures from the water, along with a washed-up fishing vessel on the shore. Nobody’s rebuilt it, so it isn’t a stop you go ashore for, but it’s a striking bit of history to see from the boat while you’re anchored in the bay, and it’s the kind of detail we’ll point out if you’re curious about it. If you want the fuller version of the story, the background on the cay’s ownership history is worth a read before you go.

A Bit More History: From Pirate Lookout to Beach Bar

What makes Bellamy Cay worth pointing out isn’t just the ruins — it’s how many different lives the tiny island has had. It started as a pirate’s vantage point over one of the busiest shipping channels in the territory, sat quiet for two centuries, then became a working boatyard and small hotel in the 1950s under a Polish yachtsman who saw the same thing modern charter guests do: a protected little cay in the middle of a calm bay. By the 1970s it had turned into The Last Resort, a restaurant known as much for its owner — a decorated British war veteran — as for the food, and it ran for decades as one of the more eccentric fixtures of the BVI’s bar scene before Irma ended that chapter for good.

None of that history is signposted. There’s no plaque, no tour, nothing that tells you what you’re looking at unless someone points it out — which is part of why we like bringing guests through here. It’s one of the few stops on a charter day where the interesting part is entirely the story, not the view or the water.

A Quieter Way to See Trellis Bay

The difference between a full moon night here and any other night is total. On our guide to the Trellis Bay Full Moon Party, we cover the fire dancers, the live music, and the crowd that shows up once a month. The other twenty-nine days, it’s just a calm anchorage with good holding, a scattering of bareboats, and enough quiet that you can actually hear the studio’s wind chimes from the water. If you’re the kind of traveler who wants the story behind a place without the crowd that comes with its headline event, this is when to see it.

Working It Into Your Charter Day

Trellis Bay rarely anchors an entire itinerary on its own — it’s a stop on the way to somewhere else, which is exactly what makes it easy to add. On a half day charter, it pairs naturally with a beach stop or a run out toward Marina Cay. On a full day, it’s a good first or last stop, especially if you’re timing your day around an airport transfer. If you’re the type who wants a photo that isn’t the same beach shot everyone else comes home with, the studio’s sculptures and the view across to Bellamy Cay are worth having your camera out for — something we mention in our broader guide to photography and drone spots around the territory.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Trellis Bay worth visiting outside of the full moon party?
Yes. Aragorn’s Studio is open daily, the anchorage is one of the calmest on Tortola’s east end, and the view of Bellamy Cay’s ruins is worth seeing even without the crowd of a full moon night.

What is Aragorn’s Studio?
A working art gallery and metalworking studio on the Trellis Bay shoreline, known for the large metal fire sculptures used during the monthly full moon party. It’s open to visitors on ordinary days too.

Can you visit Bellamy Cay?
No. The island has sat in ruin since Hurricane Irma in 2017 and isn’t set up for visitors — it’s a stop you view from the water rather than go ashore for.

Is there a beach at Trellis Bay?
There’s a narrow strip of sand near the studio, but it’s not set up as a swimming beach the way Cane Garden Bay or White Bay are. We’d treat Trellis Bay as a cultural and scenic stop rather than a beach stop.

How far is Trellis Bay from Road Town or Nanny Cay?
It’s on the opposite end of Tortola from Road Town, close to the airport on Beef Island, which makes it a convenient stop if your day already includes a pickup or drop-off there.

Will The Last Resort restaurant on Bellamy Cay ever reopen?
Not that we’re aware of. The island has remained in ruin since Hurricane Irma in 2017 with no restaurant currently operating there — it’s a piece of history to view from the water rather than a stop to plan a meal around.

What’s the best time of day to visit Trellis Bay?
Mid-morning or early afternoon, before the anchorage fills in for the evening. It’s calm enough that time of day rarely matters much for comfort, but you’ll have Aragorn’s Studio closer to yourself before any tour groups or later arrivals show up.

Curious what a day that includes Trellis Bay, Marina Cay, and a proper beach stop could look like? Reach out and we’ll build the itinerary around it.