Virgin Gorda - January 16-23, 2016

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Geo: 18.462, -64.4265

Our trip to Virgin Gorda was very enjoyable but had its good
and bad aspects, though the good probably outweighed
the bad for most of us. Arranging travel to and from
Virgin Gorda with seven people was an adventure in
itself, almost as much an adventure as the actual traveling.

We all drove to Atlanta and spent the night in a motel
where we parked our cars, spent the night, and utilized
the motel shuttle the next morning to get to the Atlanta
airport. We flew from Atlanta to San Juan where we
were met by a representative of the air charter company,
FlyBVI, who collected our baggage claim tickets, then
escorted us to an area where we waited while he
collected our luggage. Our pilot met us there in the
waiting area and escorted us to our plane. We then
flew from San Juan to the island of Tortola in the BVI
where, after passing through the BVI immigration/customs
area, we waited on the North Sound Express ferry that
took us to Leverick Bay in Virgin Gorda. At Leverick Bay
we were met by resort personnel who took us to
Euphoria, the villa we had rented for the week.

While it is possible to fly directly into Virgin Gorda, the
air strip is too short for a plane that could carry 7 people;
thus we had to fly to Tortola and ferry to VG. We left the
motel that morning at about 6:00 AM and arrived at our
villa around 6:00 PM, AST (5:00 PM, EST), only11 hours
after we left the motel. The return trip pretty much mirrored
the trip going – ferry to Tortola, charter flight to San Juan,
Delta to Atlanta, shuttle to the motel, pick up cars and drive
home.

Our villa was located on a hillside above Leverick Bay
and the North Sound of Virgin Gorda. The views from
the house were beautiful. Below was the sight of a
large number of yachts, from huge to small, sailing,
motoring or anchored in the bay or sound with several
islands in the distance, including Necker island, Sir
Richard Branson's private island. There was one small
beach within walking distance of the villa but to visit the
main swimming and snorkeling beaches, we had to
drive 20 or 30 minutes over the mountains to the mid
and southern parts of the island. However, the location
provided a pretty constant breeze, an ever changing
scene of ferries, yachts, and other small craft moving
about in the bay and sound below with amazing
sunrises and sunsets each morning and evening.
The Leverick Bay Resort was within walking distance
for a convenient restaurant and shopping for basic
supplies.

We spent six full days seeing the sights of the island
and pretty much all of two additional days traveling on
this trip. This was a very enjoyable trip with the
exception of the last two or so days for two of us,
LeeAnne and me. We came down with severe bouts
of food poisoning that limited our last two days to seeing
the sights of bedrooms and/or bathrooms.

Here is a list of places we visited on the good days:
The Baths National Park – sort of the “gotta go there” place on Virgin
Gorda. On the southwestern tip of the island, this is an area of
huge boulders right at the edge of the Caribbean Sea with wading
pools in among the boulders. There is a trail through the boulders
to Devil's Bay which is a nice place to swim or snorkel if you can
avoid bumping into any of the hundreds of other people who will
probably be there, mostly from cruise ship passengers.

Spring Bay National Park – Just north of the Baths, this bay is similar to
the Baths in that there are boulders along the shore and areas for
swimming and snorkeling.
Savannah Bay – At the narrow neck connecting the northern and southern parts of
the island, this bay is very shallow for a long distance making it
nice for snorkeling and swimming.Gorda Peak National Park – Containing the actual peak, it is the highest
point on the island at 1,370 feet. Of course we had to hike to the
top. The hike was relatively short at a bit less than two miles,
round trip, but the views from the platform at the summit were
impressive. Little Dix Bay Resort – This is a relatively exclusive resort located on a
protected bay just north of the main town of Spanish Town. While
this is a private resort, non-guests can enter and enjoy the beach
and water of the bay as long as they do not use any of the resort
provided facilities such as cabanas, beach chairs, etc.

Hog Heaven Restaurant – This restaurant is located on the northern slopes of
Gorda Peak and provides, in addition to excellent BBQ and vegetarian
side dishes, one of the best views of the North Sound and the
northern portion of the island.

Bitter End
Yacht Club – Reached by private boat or by using the free ferry
from Gun Point adjacent to Leverick Bay, this exclusive resort is
virtually self contained providing mooring and other facilities for
yachts but also lodging, restaurants, shopping, water sports, etc.
for guests.

Fat Virgin Cafe – Hard to get to but worth the trip. Located in the now
closed Byras Creek resort, it's reached by the using the same ferry
to the Bitter End YC; it is located about a half mile walk along the
shore to the southern edge of the Bitter End Peninsula.
Those are the main sights that we saw
on Virgin Gorda. I'll add pictures from the trip below. If you click on a picture
it will take you to a gallery that you can scroll through. Most pictures have a
caption that appears above and to the right of the picture.

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Photos

Co-Pilot Maggie
On our charter flight from San Juan to Tortola, Maggie was in the co-pilot's seat.

FlyBVI
On the Charter flight we didn't have a cabin attendant but it wasn't a "dry" flight.

Approaching Tortola
The air strip at the Tortola airport can be seen at the extreme right side of the picture. The airport is located on an area called Beef Island which, at one time, was an island separated from Tortola by a narrow strip of water.

The North Sound
The long island on the left is called Prickly Pear Island and is a National Park. The bit of land with the hill to the right of Prickly Pear is actually part of Virgin Gorda called the bitter end. The Bitter End Yacht Club is located there. The Leverick Bay resort is that group of buildings with a bunch of boats moored or docked right in the center of the picture. Our villa was located there.

Villa Euphoria
The pool

David and Maggie
Enjoyed the pool

Sonja
Our very own private bartender.

Enjoying the evening
Sitting by the pool. You can get an idea of the view from the villa. That's Prickly Pear Island in the distance.

Sunset
The first evening.

Sunrise
The first morning

David & Sonja
Among the boulders at the Baths.

Maggie
Enjoyed the trail through the water among the boulders.

The Baths
One of the cave like spots along the trail from the Baths to Devil's Bay.

Devil's Bay
Sonja - by the bay. Devil's Bay is adjacent to the Baths and reached via a trail through the boulders along the shore from the Baths area.

Lunch
At the "Top of the Baths" restaurant after our trek to and through the Baths.

David and Sonja
With the view from the Top of the Baths restaurant.

The Vials
With the view from the Top of the Baths restaurant.

David and Maggie
On a boulder at Spring Bay. David, Bob, LeeAnne, and Maggie all climbed these huge boulders and jumped into the water from pretty high up. Looked like fun, but I didn't try it. Spring Bay is just North of the Baths.

Bob, Maggie, and LeeAnne
At Spring Bay.

I CAN FLY !!
Maggie jumping from the boulder into the water. At Spring Bay.