©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd

Virgin Gorda POP 3500

Why Go? Spanish Town is the BVI’s rich, plump beauty, beloved by & the Valley ...... 165 movie stars and feisty billionaires. You’ll understand their Mid-Island ...... 170 ardor once you’ve seen her national parks. The otherworldly, North Sound ...... 171 granite megaliths at the Baths put on the main show. Boul- ders hulk over the shore and form sea-fi lled grottoes, mak- ing for a wet and wild climb up, over and around them to Devil’s Bay. Trekkers can summit Virgin Gorda Peak and Best Places to Eat then head south to meander around wind-pounded Cop- » Mermaid’s Dockside Bar & per Mine National Park. Sea dogs can take ferries over to Grill (p 168 ) Bitter End Yacht Club to sail, kitesurf and drink with the yachtsfolk. » Mad Dog (p 169 ) It’s the way these extraordinary sights blend with easy » Thelma’s Hideout (p 169 ) access, good restaurants, and no rampant commercialism » Bath & Turtle (p 169 ) that catapults Virgin Gorda to most-favored-island status. A » Clubhouse Steak & prosperous, well-tended atmosphere permeates. Sure, you’ll Seafood Grille (p173 ) probably come across roaming chickens sooner or later, but they will be snowy white and an islander will have named them all. Best Places to Stay » Guavaberry Spring Bay When to Go Homes (p 168 ) Mid-December through April is the high season, when » Leverick Bay Resort (p 172 ) prices go up but all the businesses are in full swing. Virgin » Bitter End Yacht Club & Gorda’s main events throughout the year also get a lot of Resort (p 172 ) attention. The late February/early March BVI Kite Jam at- » Virgin Gorda Village Hotel tracts a hip group for activities around North Sound. The (p 168 ) Virgin Gorda Easter Festival brings revelers for parades and bands in Spanish Town, usually in late March or April. The two weeks leading up to Christmas are also a local party time in Spanish Town. History Friday through Sunday during the Christian After leaving St Croix in 1493, Christopher holiday (usually late March or April). 163 Columbus sailed north and anchored to the The BVI Kite Jam (www.bvikitejam.com; late southeast of Virgin Gorda. He named the Feb–early Mar) is a weeklong event packed island the ‘Fat Virgin’ because to him, its full of ‘freestyle, sliders, big air and wave silhouette resembled a full-bodied woman riding’ around North Sound, Necker Island sleeping on her back. and . Sir Richard Branson is the co- Virgin Gorda thrived in the centuries founder and an active participant. that followed. Large plantations on the is- land produced sugarcane, ginger, indigo 8 Getting There & Around and cattle. By 1812, the island’s population AIR reached an all-time peak of 8000. Alas, the Virgin Gorda (VIJ; %284-495-5621) plantation economy soon collapsed, and is on the Valley’s east side, about a mile from Virgin Gorda sat all but abandoned until Spanish Town. At press time, only private the 1960s. That’s when Laurence Rockefeller charters were permitted to fl y in. constructed the Little Dix Bay resort, which (www.airsunshine.com), a commercial carrier brought jobs, roads and utilities and put the with fl ights from St Thomas, is trying to change island back on the map. that. In the interim, it fl ies into ’s airport and provides a free ferry to Spanish Town. z Festivals & Events BOAT Spanish Town around the yacht harbor fi lls Check the BVI Welcome Guide (www.bviwel with mocko jumbies (costumed stilt walkers come.com) for schedules. Between Spanish representing spirits of the dead), fungi bands, Town and Road Town, Tortola, ferries sail almost a food fair and parades for the Virgin Gorda every hour during the daytime (round trip $30, VIRGIN GORDA Easter Festival (www.bvitourism.com), held 30 minutes): & EVENTS FESTIVALS

Prickly Eustatia Pear Seal Dogs Mountain Island Oil Nut Point Bay Cockroach North Sound FESTIVALS & EVENTS FESTIVALS Island Biras Hill George Virgin 432ft Gorda Peak West Dog Berchers Dog Great Bay Gorda Peak Hill Great Dog National Park Mattie Point hannel Savannah rake C Bay South Sound Cow Bluff Hill Handsome Sir Francis DSt Thomas Bay Bay Spanish Sea Town Copper Spring Bay Mine Point 0 3 km Copper Mine 0 2 miles The Baths Devil's Bay National Park National Park

Virgin Gorda Highlights 1 Wade around boulders 3 Sail or kitesurf in the 6 Snorkel in the protected and through grottoes at bay at North Sound (p172 ) pools at Spring Bay (p 167 ) sunrise at the Baths (p165 ) 4 Walk the long beach at 7 Explore the forlorn, 2 Hike to island-spanning Savannah Bay (p 171 ) windswept ruins of Copper views atop Virgin Gorda 5 Join the yachties for Mine National Park (p166 ) Peak (p170 ) happy hour at Saba Rock (p173 )