Joe Collier wasn’t looking to make a deal when he visited Scrub Island in the British Virgin Islands while on a bareboat charter in 2003.

The hotel developer was looking for a good meal, however, and a man in a dinghy had just passed by with flyers alerting cruisers the island’s sometimes-open Donovan’s Reef restaurant would be welcoming guests the following evening. Joe picked up the VHF and made dinner reservations that would forever change his life and the fate of Scrub Island.

Less than two miles from Trellis Bay, Beef Island, off the east end of Tortola, Scrub Island is easily accessible yet off in its own world. Once a haven for pirates and base for a failed Dutch settlement, the island sat uninhabited until Gene McManus, an American architect, built a home and opened a restaurant named after his favorite John Wayne movie. When Joe visited in 2003, Gene had passed away, and his widow and two sons were running the restaurant. Over drinks and some guitar playing, Joe got to talking with the family, and once they learned he was in the hotel business, they divulged their search for a developer. Soon, the concept of Scrub Island Resort was born, said to be the first new development in the B.V.I. in 15 years.

From the sea, Scrub island is hilly and unassuming so that her beauty almost sneaks up on you. But from shore, it’s something else entirely. High cliffs plunge into startlingly clear waters, the vistas of surrounding emerald hills and open seas seem to roll on forever, and protected beaches and nature trails beg for exploration. Opening February 11, 2010, Scrub Island will host a luxuriously appointed 62-room resort, hillside villas, a 53-slip marina and a marina village with four restaurants—ranging from fine dining to casual—and the only Zagat-rated chef in this part of the Caribbean. There are also lounges, pool bars and an establishment on the north beach playfully named One Shoe Grille for the mismatched shoes that had been found washed up on shore.

While many new marinas in the Caribbean cater exclusively to the megayacht set, Scrub Island’s marina is designed to berth more 60- to 80-foot sportfishermen than superyachts. At 13-nautical miles, it is the closest marina to the famed North Drop, where anglers boat prize-winning blue marlin. Located only 75 miles east of Puerto Rico, many of the development’s first buyers were yachtsmen from P.R. attracted to the destination for its proximity to great B.V.I. fishing and cruising.

Virgin Gorda’s famous Baths rock formations are only a short boat ride away, as are many fantastic dive and snorkel sites.

An on-site dive shop offers dive trips and eco-tours, and fishing charters can be booked in the marina. Of course, the deepwater marina can also accommodate yachts up to 150 feet, and megayacht owners and captains will find all the high-end amenities they are accustomed to.

The 10,000-square-foot chandlery in the marina village will sell everything from peanuts to foie gras, have a extensive wine selection and offer provisioning services and prepared meals. 

As one of the few full-service marinas on the east end of Tortola offering fuel, dining, a dive shop and accommodations, Scrub Island hopes to attract a variety of yachtsmen. While the resort operates condo/hotel style—owners buy a unit, which is placed back into the hotel rental pool—the docks aren’t for sale and are open with hourly, daily and long-term rates for owners and cruisers alike. Peaceful and chock full of amenities, Scrub Island makes an excellent destination and is an ideal jumping-off point for exploring the B.V.I.

Pablo and Lucille Guzman of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, owners of a 46 Fairline, became interested in the development when they saw the Scrub Island booth at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show and bought a unit. “Being from Puerto Rico, my dad had a boat and we were always here. Tortola has a sentimental pull,” she says. “Scrub Island has an understated elegance. There’s nothing like it close by. And the access is perfect to the rest of the B.V.I.”

In an effort to preserve the island’s natural beauty and provide a true Caribbean sanctuary for their guests, Joe Collier’s Mainsail Development Group, LLC, and his partners have made a very un-developer-like decision to leave most of the 230-acre island undeveloped. Sans the addition of private homes to be built in phase two, what you see is what you get when it comes to the resort and marina. Scrub’s development has been largely focused on sustainability. As everything that’s brought into the island has to be brought out, builders have been highly conscious of waste disposal. This carries down to even the smallest detail; in the hotel bathrooms attractive shampoo bottles are refilled each day instead of being tossed and restocked. To harness the B.V.I.’s great resource—the wind—testing has begun on the use of windmills to power road lighting.

In a modern blend of technology meets nature, Scrub Island is also wired for island-wide Internet access. This works well for those who do need to stay connected, or who want to order “room service” on a private beach—all they need to do is pick up a GPS-enabled phone and the staff will find them anywhere on the island. For those who have come to shun technology and get lost in paradise, well, that’s fine, too.

Text and Photos By Risa Merl
Courtesy of Southern Boating January 2010