Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands

Last updated: December 17, 2023

While visiting the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) with my mom for our birthdays, we decided to spend a day island hopping across the British Virgin Islands (BVI). Virgin Gorda was our first stop, where the crew took care of our customs and then whisked us to the Virgin Gorda Baths. This was my favorite out of the three islands as it’s a natural wonder of unique geological formations featuring boulders and caverns that make up a maze that leads to secret rock pools and the famous Cathedral Room, a natural pool inside a small cave.

Virgin Gorda is the third largest BVI and the second most populous. It’s about 8 Square miles. Christopher Columbus is said to have named the island “the Fat Virgin”, because the island’s profile on the horizon looks like a fat woman lying on her side.

As we approached Virgin Gorda, I snapped this photo of the island, gave my phone to the captain to put in his dry bag, and then jumped out of the boat and swam to shore. Unfortunately, my mom wasn’t feeling well so she stayed on the boat and didn’t get to see the island, so no photos of her.😔

Once I got to shore, I collected my phone and waited for the rest of the crew. The shoreline was stunning. I truly regret not having my water shirt or some type of coverup while on Virgin Gorda. It honestly just slipped my mind when they said we had to swim to shore… we were instructed to leave our personal items on the boat and I didn’t have a dry bag. So even though you have to swim to shore, I’d recommend making sure you have something to wear while you explore the caves… I did not make this mistake again for the other two islands. I know some people prefer a cover up rather than a sun shirt, but for me it just isn’t very practical (who can swim in a flowy cover-up?). If this is your thing, I’d recommend taking your own dry bag and pack your cover-up to take with you when you swim to shore and then take it out and put it on once you get there. Otherwise, a good water shirt works perfect and you’ll be comfortable and protected during the whole trip. Outside of that one minor mistake I made, I wouldn’t change anything else about this trip to the beautiful Virgin Gorda Baths!

Once there, we started the hike through the caverns. I was pleasantly surprised to discover I was in a BVI National Park! Devils Bay National Park is 58 acres and includes The Baths hike.

I won’t lie… it was crowded with tourists, but I have no regrets and would do this again. It was such a unique experience and just so freaking beautiful every time I turned around. The whole thing took about two hours because of the crowd, but I didn’t mind because I was so enthralled with where I was and what I was looking at; plus, it gave me plenty of time to take photos and videos. Truly amazing!

The hike through the caves are not particularly closed in the whole way. There are times the ceiling opens and exposes the sky.

I created this TikTok video of the Virgin Gorda Baths that summarizes experience! In case you don’t have a TikTok account, here’s the video:

Once we were all accounted for, we swam back to the boat and made our way to Norman Island for some scuba diving.

It would be cool one day to stay on Virgin Gorda for a whole day or even overnight, but this small escursion was the perfect introduction to the island and I love I got to experience this! If you’ve been or would like to go, let me know by dropping some comments at the very bottom of this page.