This Secret Hotel in the British Virgin Islands Has Colorful Bungalows, Fresh Lobster, and a Postcard-Perfect Beach

There are places in the Caribbean that feel almost imagined. Anegada is one of them — a flat coral island adrift in the British Virgin Islands, where the sea stretches to every horizon and the sand seems to go on forever. Tucked into that expanse is something even rarer: a set of cottages right on Loblolly Bay, paired with a barefoot beach bar, all called Big Bamboo.

This isn’t a resort in the usual sense. It’s a handful of bungalows on the sand, a restaurant grilling lobster pulled fresh from the traps, and a bar where sailors and travelers gather after finding their way across the reef. It feels secretive and open at the same time — the kind of place you only learn about through stories, until you see it yourself.

Beachside Bungalows

The cottages sit just steps from the surf. Each one is simple, sturdy, and made for the essentials: a bed, a breeze, and the sound of waves as your soundtrack. Wake up, open the door, and you’re already barefoot on the beach. It’s the opposite of overdesigned luxury — here, the luxury is proximity, the immediacy of sand and sea as part of your living space.

Big Bamboo on the Bay

The Big Bamboo Beach Bar and Restaurant is the anchor of it all. Every afternoon, the grills are fired up with lobster that locals call the sweetest in the islands. The menu is unfussy and perfect: conch fritters, grilled fish, cold beer, strong rum punches. It’s the kind of spot where lunch drifts into happy hour, and where the stories told are as good as the food itself.

The Beach Itself

Loblolly Bay is one of those beaches that lives up to the postcards. A mile of pearl-white sand unspools into shallow turquoise, with a reef that makes for some of the best snorkeling in the BVIs. Swim out a few yards and you’ll find yourself among coral heads, schools of fish, even the occasional turtle gliding past. Onshore, the beach feels almost private, even when a few boats have anchored nearby.

Evenings in Anegada

When the sun drops low, the cottages glow in the fading light and the Big Bamboo comes alive. The air fills with the crackle of lobster shells on the grill, live music drifts across the sand, and the stars over Anegada begin to brighten. There’s no schedule, no stage — just the natural unfolding of island night, best enjoyed with a drink in hand and your toes still in the sand.

How to Get There

Anegada is about an hour’s sail from Virgin Gorda, often found by “sailing toward the clouds with green bottoms” — the old sailors’ trick for spotting its reef. You can also reach it by ferry or small plane from Tortola. Once you’re here, the cottages are directly on Loblolly Bay’s north shore, with the Big Bamboo marking the spot.

Why It’s Different

In a region full of polished resorts, Loblolly Bay’s cottages are something else: unpretentious, authentic, and unforgettable. A bed on the beach. A restaurant known for its lobster. A reef just offshore. It’s the kind of place that feels discovered rather than designed — a secret bungalow escape on one of the Caribbean’s most unusual islands.

How Much It Costs to Stay Here 

It’s $200 in the low season, $250 in the high season for a villa here., a pretty attractive starting rate when you consider you’re on one of the best beaches on the planet.