Virgin Gorda is tantalizing

 The story goes that Columbus saw this island as a pregnant woman laying back with the Gorda Peak depicting her belly and the famous boulders of the baths indicating her toes.

What predominated Columbus’s thoughts at the time is anyone’s guess. The suggestion of pregnant and a virgin obviously realizing some religious connotations.

Many people over the years have asked me which Caribbean islands are the best places to go to? That’s a tough question, considering the overwhelming choice that you actually have.

Keeping it real

These days, I spend a lot of planning that avoids touristy areas where I can. Personally, I prefer to keep away from the “commercial islands”.

These are the islands that have thousands of cruise ship passengers arriving daily. Baying shops that pitch for duty-free seeking customers with garish and in your face promotions is not my scene.

 I love St Thomas, it’s one of my favorites. It has had its share of mother nature misfortune.The3 island deserves visitors. Sadly, in the last decade, it became an over-sized shopping mall for the most part – certainly in the area of Charlotte Amalie, the main town.

These days I prefer to find places that, if are not remote, at least give a sense of natural beauty and offer seclusion. There are many destinations of the world that provide just that.

Virgin Gorda is one of my personal best travel destinations that offers a quiet and tranquil idyllic surrounding. It is filled with friendly locals and lots of goats…and cows. 

Few roads exist to carve their way through the arid and scrub bush landscape. The shoreline is remote from most access and that brings the sense of naturalness and unspoiled beauty for which the Virgin Gorda is renowned for.

Spanish Town is the center of the Virgin Gorda universe. It is a small but charming town situated on the south of the island. Here that you can visit the few stores, hire a car and go to the marina, travel in style, and enjoy a vicarious lifestyle of yachts, time and money.

Truly, the ‘Fat Virgin’ delivers – a wondrous place for exploration of a primitive beauty that is best traveled by watercraft. Circumnavigating the island will bring you a stunning view of the craggy shorelines and, get closer,  the many palm blessed grottoes.

 Places to See on Virgin Gorda

• The Baths – by far this is the islands most well known of the sights.  In the company of giant boulders, you can swim in the calm pools or get venturing between the rocks and explore the grottoes. The best time to visit here is early morning and in the late afternoon so you can enjoy a less busy time.
• Just one mile to the west of Spanish Town is a lesser populated national-park beach, that shy from the many visitors to the close by Baths. This beach also has the great boulders like that of its more popular sister but additionally offers fantastic grottoes and snorkeling. Picnic areas and low key recreational facilities are available.
• Check out Gorda Peak – the bulging belly in the center of the island. Within the 265-acre national park, this area contains the highest point on the island, standing at over 1300 feet. If you like stair climbing and hiking, you’ll love this trail up through the trees to reach a wooden observation tower from which you can enjoy superb 360 degrees worth of view. It’s a bit of a huff and a puff to get there but well worth the effort.
• If you enjoy solitude or at least a less inhabited beach, seek out the Crawl, Little Trunk, Valley Trunk, Devils Bay and Spring Bay.

Virgin Gorda is one of the most fabulous places to visit if you’re looking for a real Caribbean vacation getaway. As a result, it is perfect for those who love water sports, hiking, chilling and just about anything a vacation should be. It is definitely one of the best islands in the Caribbean I have visited.