Virgin Gorda: My Baths Adventure

Christopher Columbus named this island "La Gorda Virgen" — the Fat Virgin — in 1493, supposedly because the island's silhouette from the sea resembles a rotund woman lying on her side. I can't unsee it now, honestly.

The tender ride from the ship to Spanish Town already had us grinning — water so clear we could see starfish on the bottom. Spanish Town itself is the oldest permanent settlement in the British Virgin Islands, founded in 1780 and nestled inside what geologists say is an ancient volcanic crater. We shared a safari taxi with six other excited cruisers up to The Baths and arrived just after opening (another pro move). The trail down is short but the second you step into the boulder field your jaw drops — house-sized granite spheres scattered like a giant's marbles, forming cathedral-like grottos with shafts of sunlight piercing turquoise pools.

Here's the wild part: these granite boulders are around 50 million years old, formed deep beneath the earth's surface when molten rock cooled slowly. Volcanic activity eventually pushed them up, erosion stripped away the softer rock around them, and wind and water spent millennia sculpting them into the rounded giants we see today. Standing among them feels like being in a natural cathedral built by deep time itself.

We waded waist-deep through the caverns, climbing wooden ladders, ducking under boulders, sometimes swimming short stretches where the water fills the passages. The sound is incredible — waves echoing off stone like distant thunder. Emerged at Devil's Bay and honestly lost the ability to speak: pure white sand, water every shade of blue, and only a handful of early birds sharing it with us. Snorkeled around the boulders and saw huge tarpon (easily 4–5 ft) patrolling the shadows, blue tangs in swirling schools, and a spotted eagle ray (6-ft wingspan) that ghosted past so gracefully I forgot to breathe.

By noon more people arrived, but it never felt overcrowded — there's plenty of space if you explore.

Lunch was back at Top of the Baths restaurant — conch fritters and the strongest painkillers I've ever had (BVI recipe with nutmeg on top — dangerous). The view from the pool there is ridiculous; I could have stayed all day.

On the way back we detoured to see the ruins of the old Copper Mine, a haunted-looking cluster of stone chimney stacks and crumbling walls on the southwestern coast. In the mid-1800s Cornish miners came here chasing copper veins, working the ore until the mines became unprofitable and were abandoned. Now it's a national park — quiet, windswept, and strangely beautiful. The juxtaposition hit me: these same islands where enslaved Africans labored on sugar plantations until abolition in 1834, later saw European miners toiling underground. History layered on history.

The pros: unlike anything else on Earth, and the snorkeling is world-class right there.

The cons: the trail can be slippery and requires moderate fitness — not stroller or wheelchair friendly.

Practical tips: Wear proper water shoes with grip — the rocks are slicker than they look. Go as early as humanly possible — we were in the water by 8:45 a.m. and had the place almost to ourselves for an hour. Bring a dry bag for your phone/camera. Entry to The Baths National Park is $8 per person (cash or card accepted at the entrance booth).