By the Caribbean Journal staff

Beaches, parties, yachts, turquoise waters, cocktails and spectacular music.

If a BVI vacation feels like Christmas in July, well, it actually is.

This year is the latest annual edition of the BVI’s Christmas in July event, a popular weekend party held on Virgin Gorda’s Pond Bay Beach.

The party is famous for gathering hundreds of boats from Puerto Rico that sail into the BVI for a full-fledged fete.

This year’s event, which will take place on July 27 from 9 AM to 7 PM, is organized by Wally Castro Marine.

“In Puerto Rico, it’s already a tradition to use the last days of July to take a small summer vacation and spend time with family and children before they go back to school,” Castro said. “Having that in mind, we created a family event in Virgin Gorda to gather the nautical community, which usually arrives as a “fleet” to the BVI in those days, and regular tourists who use other means to arrive to the BVI to celebrate Christmas in July with us,”

This year’s party will include Virgin Gorda band The Final Faze, along with Puerto Rican band Orquesta La Oferta, a tribute band to the legendary salsa group El Gran Combo.

Another Puerto Rican band, Baston de Diego, takes the stage in the afternoon, with Denisse Torres, a DJ from Puerto Rico’s Magic 93.7 FM, will be the master of ceremonies.

But you don’t need your own boat to enjoy the celebration.

Cape Air runs regular flights to Tortola and Virgin Gorda, and there are regular ferries from several stops in the BVI to Virgin Gorda.