Sailing to the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean 1500

Visiting The Baths

Giant boulders at The Baths, a popular attraction on the island of Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands.

The Baths are a spectacular natural feature located at the southern end of Virgin Gorda. Numerous giant granite boulders lie scattered along the water's edge, some of them as big as a house. The boulders were formed from an ancient magma deposit that was uplifted and eroded, producing the jumbled rocky landscape of today. One particular trail leads you through dim passageways amongst and even under the huge masses of granite, where you can marvel at grottoes awash with luminous blue seawater.

While I was visiting Tortola, I made a day trip to Virgin Gorda to visit The Baths. At the ferry terminal, I bought a round-trip ticket for Speedy's ferry ($25), and once in Virgin Gorda, I paid an extra $5 for a round-trip taxi ride to The Baths. You can buy a special ticket that combines the two fares. The Baths are a national park, so there is a small admission charge.

I spent most of the day wandering around and taking pictures (and getting a bad sunburn). In addition to the world-famous Baths, you can also walk trails to Devil's Bay and Stoney Bay, two other scenic areas well worth a visit. There are a couple of restaurants and shops near the park entrance, plus a snack bar and restrooms down by the beach.

Maps of Virgin Gorda and Spanish Town. These are thumbnails for two large maps that you can view on the internet; click on a map to see the large online map. If you start with the Virgin Gorda map on the left, you can see the Spanish Town enlargement.

Click on the picture to launch Google Earth and display numerous points of interest for the Virgin Islands. If Google Earth doesn't automatically open, right-click the image and download the .kmz file to your computer, then run Google Earth manually and open the downloaded file. If you don't have Google Earth, click here to display the points of interest using Google Maps.

I have arranged the pictures into subsections; you can click on any of the following links, or you can click the "Next Page" button at the bottom to read all the pages sequentially.

• Ferry To Virgin Gorda (1 page)
• Trails To Beaches (3 pages)
• Stoney Bay (2 pages)
• Devil's Bay (1 page)
• The Baths (3 pages)
• Ferry To Tortola (1 page)

Internet Links For This Section

• The Baths - pictures and information from Bareboats BVI
• The Baths - tourist information
• The Baths National Park - information from the BVI National Parks Trust website
• Speedy's Ferry Service - information about the ferry between Tortola and Virgin Gorda
• Virgin Gorda Map - link to the online map (same as above map)