Touring
Watch the moon come up over the other coast.
Virgin Gorda has the effervescent purity and simplicity of what is
basically a pastoral land.
A small circle at the entrance to The Baths
is a good spot to call a cab or rental jeep (both at Andy's Jeeps at 495-5252).
A long 40 minute walk, or short ride, to the
Yacht Harbour from The Baths.
Here also is the road to the beach at Spring Bay
and the path to The Crawl, a rock-formed pool
great for novice snorkelers.
Spring Bay has a small public parking lot. The trail leads down to the
beaches. Picnic tables and barbecue grills sit amidst giant boulders.
After a picturesque jog in the road comes
the more traditional countryside.
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Shops.
At the entrance to The Baths is an interesting group of shops.
Cabibbean Flavor
Gift Shop (495-5914), down the hill right next to The Baths path, has Calabash baskets, larimar in silver, "Caribbean Colors" stone, shipwreck coins, mahogany and
hisbiscus wood carvings, beadware like wraps, Italian and Trinidadan jewelry, silver
necklaces and metal candleholders.
Easy Bargains (495-5527) has clothing including colorful
crop-top and The Baths motif t-shirts, sarongs, wraparound skirts, elastic-back
sundresses in island themes and beach coverups.
Tropical Gift Collections (495-5380) has an eclectic
collection of small gift items, Cuban cigars, t-shirt dresses and caribbean designed
t-shirts and kids clothes.
 Caribbean Beachtique
(495-5428) has a selection of resortware, beach items and jewelry.
Villas.
The Baths area, as you might imagine, has some of the most stunning
private, individually styled, rental villas.In this beautiful coastal area below The
Baths toward the Yacht Harbour, these Villas at The Baths on Virgin Gorda are nestled amongst
the same rounded granite boulders that create The Baths. |
The
Crawl |
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One of a series of beaches below The Baths, The
Crawl is fashioned out of large boulders protecting a little "lagoon"
with its own reef and tropical fish, especially favored by little snorkelers (photo: Casarocalta villa). |
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Lodging.
See Lodging at
The Baths of Virgin Gorda for more information on accommodations near The
Baths. |
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A short walk
to the right across a fenced-in park takes you to refreshments at a
number of interesting spots at the Yacht Harbour as well as a BVI
Tourist Board office with information.
Plenty of taxis greet the ferry. The road
straight ahead leads to the Beach Coast (except take the first left to Little Dix Bay) and
North Sound. Turn right for The Valley and The Baths.
Getting Around
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| Sporty jeeps are a great way to tour the Virgin Gorda's beautiful
countryside. Andy's
Jeep Rentals (495-5252 email), which
has the Little Dix Bay concession, has the especially popular model with retractable
sunroof pictured here. |
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Other car and jeep rentals
are Speedy's (495-5240), L&S Garage Taxi & Car Rental
(495-5297), and Mahagony Rentals & Taxi Service (495-5469). Four
wheel drive vehicles are preferred on Virgin Gorda.
Open air safari bus
Another touring alternative is the taxi, especially these buses, both a/c and open air
made for touring. Andy's Tours
offers tours big and small (email
495-5252).
Diving & Snorkeling |
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Resort course divers in the water for their first dive.
The place to go to dive and snorkel on Virgin Gorda is Dive BVI (495-5513 email).
Divemaster and instructor Richard from Quebec makes "die-ing"
great fun!
M/V Sea Lion
Day trips to Anegada are made on this 45' catamaran. |
Stevens Laundry (495-5596) has coin
operated machines but also allows clothes to be left to be done.
Virgin Gorda Entertainment
RTW, Riteway's wholesale outlet
(495-5228, fax 495-5572)(on the way to The Baths), offers strictly cash and carry
selling cases and minimum quantities (usually sets of threes) for serious
provisioning.
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Shops.
Shops are concentrated around the Yacht Harbour area,
especially at the Courtyard, and another building across the
parking lot, with others around The Valley nearby. All shops are in the Courtyard unless
indicated otherwise. |
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The
Courtyard
The Courtyard is an open air atrium and a focal point for shopping, dining and entertainment at night. |
Wine Cellar and
Bakery (495-5250), run by Ziggi and Melody, has its own bakery with oven-fresh
bread, pasteries such as large raisin buns, cookies and pound cake, delicious
sandwiches ("best in town" according to Ziggi), hot dogs, sodas, wines, and
bottled liquor.
Scoops (495-5722) has unusual gifts and clothing, Diane
ceremaics such as decorative tiles, copper "fish" and brass moviles, picture
frames made with Virgin Gorda sand, limited edition lucky lizards and animal themed
sarongs.
Pelican Pouch Boutique, an elegant shop, offers women's
fashions such as Joseph Ribkoff designer dresses, hats by Cappelli and Betmar, sundresses
by Jams World and swimsuits by La Blanca and Gottex.
The Virgin Gorda Craft Shop (495-5137) has craft
materials like crocheted threads and beads and crafts with straw and other local
materials, such as local straw hats.
 The Commissary, a/k/a Spanish Town Cafe
(495-5834), across the parking lot and run by Little Dix Bay, has a deli with gourmet
items including sandwiches and salads made by its chefs in addition to a
good selection of groceries. Seating is available at a couple of tables outside with a
view of the Yacht Harbour as well as an attractive area inside in good,
strong air conditioning. |
Buck's Food Market
(495-5423) has groceries for provisioning and the Island Drug
Centre (495-5449) is a drug store.
Flamboyance (495-5946), across the parking lot, has
watches and a large variety of perfumes, both women's and men's, including Cartier (So
Pretty and Declaration), Calvin Klein (Contradiction) and Christian
Dior (Dolce Vita).
 Dive BVI
(email
495-5513) has a variety of gift items and clothing including swimsuits, t-shirts, baseball
hats (many with the popular Dive BVI logo pictured here) as well as dive
equipment sales and rentals and other dive-related items.
Margo's Boutique (495-5237) has a large selection
handcrafted and other jewelry, baskets, wood sculptures and sarongs.
Artistic Gallery (495-5104), an intimate shop across the
parking lot, feaures jewelry, including Larimar and Tanzanite gem stones, nautical prints,
and wooden sculptures.
BVI Apparel Factory Outlet (494-5511), across the parking
lot, embroiders clothing for many hotels and others and offers clothing including
t-shirts.
Next Wave Sail & Canvas (495-5623) does custom canvas
work including sails and awnings. Ramona, who is the owner, makes and sells
hammocks and fine quality bags such as sport and travel duffels.
They also carry Moroccan carpets.
Kaunda's Kysy Tropix (495-5636)
has CDs and cassettes of Caribbean and local music including:
raggae (Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Reggae Gold
98 (also
1999), dancehall, which is Jamacian reggae (Dancehall 98),
fungi (local group Lashing Dogs), soca (Byron Lee) and calypso (local
group Fhase 2 as well as groups performing locally at places such as the
Rock Cafe and Andy's Chateau include Mighty Sparrow, Vito Band, Square
One, King Obstinate, and Onyan). |
Power Boat Rentals (494-5511) rents a 13' Boston
Whaler to a 24' Wellcraft. Rental arrangements can be made at the BVI Apparel Factory
Outlet.
The Spirit of Anegada (496-6825 email, web site), a 44' gaff
rigged schooner, offers daysails and private charters from the Yacht Harbour to
islands within a 10 mile radius. |
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Walking Tour
The Valley's coast on the Sir Francis Drake Channel presents a nice level 10
minute walk from the Yacht Harbour past Fisher's Cove Beach Hotel & Restaurant, the
pink buildings on the right, to a 'T' at the Rock Cafe (don't let the bare front parking
lot deter you from visiting the interesting deck in the back). |
Turn left at the 'T' to go to
The Baths, another 20 minutes or so. Turn right and go a block to Andy's Chateau with the
Lobster Pot Restaurant on the right, the Post Office on the left and The Aquarium out on
the reef.
Roadside Grazers
Sleek brown cows buried in the rich, dense foliage next
to the post office. |
Toward The Baths a short
distance is RTW, Riteway's wholesale outlet for
serious provisioning.
Hiking & Driving
Separating 'The Valley' from the North Sound is mountainous terrain, including the Gorda
Peak National Park with excellent hiking trails. Driving over the
mountain has been described as a "airplane trip" with
exhilerating views. |
Other Activities
Snorkeling is a traditional activity found most
anywhere here in the islands.
Sea kayaking is incresingly popular along the coast
here.
Day sails are a big attraction. See the Spirit of Anegada as well as Day Sails and Small Boat Rentals.
Dinghies are popular rentals that charterers have
available to explore intimate coves limiting sailboats keels.
Oars are a good opportunity for exercise and detailed
maneuvering in spots, especially around reefs.
Slamming dominos is popular at various bars and
especially fun for older kids.
Darts are popular as well at Thelma's.
The Mine Shaft Cafe
in the Coppermine area has minature golf for families.
For a refreshing swim, have lunch at the Sip and Dip Grill. |
Fort
Point Vista & The Aquarium |
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| Enclosing The Valley coast's vista toward The Baths is Fort
Point at Little Fort National Park, a 36 acre wildlife sanctuary with the ruins
of an old fort. A dinghy tour from the Yacht Harbour runs past the
beautiful beach at Fischer's Cove to the dinghy dock and delightful dockside
dining pavilion at Andy's Chateau. |
| The Aquarium dive and snorkel site, also
called Fischer's Rocks, is the extension of Fort Point into the sea--a shallow reef shoal built
of sponge-and-coral covered boulders piled up to form grottos and dens filled
with sargeant majors, French grunts and blue tang (hence its name The Aquarium) as well as
ledges hiding morey ells and napping nurse sharks. A great beginner's dive and snorkel
site and a convenient break from shopping, but use a dive flag and watch
for boat traffic. |
Dining.
The excellent Bath And Turtle
Restaurant (495-5239), open breakfast, lunch and dinner, is at the Courtyard
with a mix of Continental and local dishes. Try their great stew!
Formerly the Big Bamboo and Chez Michelle, Chez Bamboo
(495-5752), open for dinner a few steps away from the Yacht Harbour, features garden patio
dining in a casual, romantic atmosphere with fine French Caribbean Creole cuisine.Dishes
include Red Snapper Papillote (stewed in parchment paper with seafood sauce), Pasta
Penne Jumbalaya, Steak New Orleans and Conch Gumbo. Deserts include
Apple Tart Tartin and Creme Brulee.
Fischer's
Cove Restaurant (more) (email,
495-5252), only minutes by foot, has a variety of excellent dishes from fresh grouper in
mustard sauce to mango chicken and Caribbean peas (bean) soup. Its dining verandah sits
right on the surf in a spectacular setting for a relaxing drink or dining.
The Rock Cafe
& Sports Bar (495-5482), open for dinner only on a beautiful deck nestled
among the boulders in back, has great, affordable Italian/Caribbean cooking with fresh
grilled fish, a variety of real Italian pastas, such as Penne Caprese
and Conchiglie Al Fungi, and lobster boiled, then baked in creamy basil sauce as
well as live entertainment with famous Caribbean bands.
 Thelma's Hide Out, along the entry road to Little Dix
Bay Resort, has good local food and is a popular location for playing darts.
The Lobster Pot (495-5252) at Andy's Chateau has great
lobster.
The Crab Hole has affordable West
Indian items like callaloo, rice and peas, johnny cake, conch fritters, salt fish, and
roti. To get there, take the first left before the 'T' at Rock Cafe, and go past the first
speed bump, taking the next left on a dirt driveway.
La Brassiere at Olde Yard Village
(495-5544, breakfast, lunch and dinner),
operated by the chef/owner of Giorgio's Table, offers poolside dining in an
beautiful garden setting with authentic Italian cuisine with an island
touch, such as fresh lobster and Napolitan pizza. A short hop from the
ferry.
Lodging.
See Lodging in The Valley
of Virgin Gorda for information on accommodations in "The Valley." |
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Bartender 'All Out' |
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Bringing down the secret ingredients to
make a "Cave In," the house drink, bartender 'All Out,'
actually Elton Sprauve, one of the owners, used to sit on a big rock here while tending
the family cattle as a child and watch the sun go down in its spectacular
fashion, now has realized his lifetime dream. |
Valley Square Tour |
Take a little excursion
around a place with a sunny disposition--the "Valley Square" part of the
Virgin Gorda Tour. Here are detailed driving instructions for getting to
The Coppermine and the Virgin Gorda Airport. |
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Dining.
 At the Mine Shaft Cafe in the
Coppermine area, sunset drinks and old time tunes during happy hour (4-6
pm) on the deck with its spectacular panoramic views is the
"thang" here. Grilled tuna steak and chicken breast sandwiches,
honey/beer batter chicken and baby back ribs are all excellent.
Mineshaft Hurricane
Party. Elton and friends were drinking in the bar pit during
Hurricane Lenny. The bar structure is open air with a large roof. Elton reports they had never
been so scared in their lives, with fierce winds, constant roaring and ominous
clouds, some seen offshore reaching down to the sea to form waterspouts.
Needless to say, the second half of the storm was spent in a different location.
Airport at Virgin
Gorda.
An airport built by Little Dix Bay, but recently acquired by
the BVI government, is right along Virgin Gorda's far coast, right on a spectacular reef
with views to a succession of rocky ridges down the coast.
One of the world's most beautiful small airports,
the landing strip is granite sand with paved round abouts on each end, serving smaller
planes.
The Flying Iguana (5-5277), open for lunch and
dinner with open air dining overlooking the airport and coast, serves good sandwiches,
juicy hamburgers and steaks and pasta specials.
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