Waterlemon Cay

The north side of the cay, toward Tortola, has a strong current. Favor the southern side, and stand only on sand to avoid the sharp rocks and long-spined urchins around the entry. Conditions can shift with wind and waves, so don't treat a report of easy water as a promise. If you aren't comfortable swimming in open water, enjoy the closer reef from shore instead of pushing across.

The reef around the cay is the point of the outing: coral and sea fans ring the island, with schools of reef fish moving through the shallows and the deeper edge. Visitors often report green turtles; rays, barracuda and nurse sharks show up in some accounts too. Those encounters are a bonus, never a guarantee.

The path from Annaberg follows the shoreline into Leinster Bay, past a remnant bridge and ruins associated with the old plantation coast. Those remains are along the approach, not on the cay itself. The walk is exposed and the small parking area at Annaberg serves the plantation ruins as well, so arriving earlier can make parking easier.

Leinster Bay was a working plantation landscape in the 18th and 19th centuries. Records from 1769 describe 50 acres of sugar cane, a sugar works and rum still, and 38 enslaved people on the estate. Keeping that history in view changes the feel of the otherwise quiet shoreline: it was once a populated, industrial coast built on enslaved labor.

Openings along the trail give you a clear look at the cay across the bay. Frame the low island with water and the green hills behind it to show how small it is against the coast. The coral and fish views are underwater, though, so a shoreline photo is a different experience from snorkeling around the reef.