The Baths of Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands

Boulder Love at the Baths

Climbing around the ancient granite boulders made me feel like a child playing in a maze. There were sudden pools and just beyond the waves splashed white foam as they hit the rocks. All was quiet inside the rooms and crevices between the boulders. Light shot through illuminating pale green pools of warm water. If you were there alone it could be a set from Lord of the Flies. A few other travelers wound through and in one opening, a commercial photographer from Colorado was shooting sunglasses arranged on a tree branch. Just another day in the Baths of Virgin Gorda.

We scampered over the granite, thru narrow passages past a grotto of cairns, waiting silently and marking the sacred beauty of the place. Finally the passages opened to the gentle shore of Devil’s Beach. I wondered how it earned that name. After playing in the sandy turquoise waves for a few minutes, we wound up a sandy path to our return passing Mangroves and Barrel Cactus, lately bloomed. A soft wind scuttled dry leaves past our footprints. One lone dove wove into the low branches but other than a rare small lizard, there was no wildlife.

View from the Baths veranda

At the entrance to the Baths are two restaurants. The veranda shops held local crafts and beyond was the perfect postcard view, looking out past palm trees and low brush, rocks and beach to a few sailboats in the distance. There’s a fresh water pool where bar customers dipped with drinks in hand. Mounds of multi-colored Bougainvillea framed the patio fence. We had an hour to just soak all the beauty in waiting for the open air shuttle to carry us through town and back to the dock. Would that I had several days on land to visit with the locals and explore the open spirit of the Baths of Virgin Gorda.