British Virgin Islands
Virgin Gorda (BVI)
Virgin Gorda: The Baths, Granite Boulders and a Cornish Copper Mine
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Good to know
Coming Ashore
The jetty at St. Thomas Bay takes ferries and small cruise ships and has a passenger terminal. If your ship is larger, it will bring you ashore by tender, and the crew will tell you where the tenders land.
- Spanish Town, also known as The Valley, is the island's main town, on its southwestern side, with a yacht harbor marina.
- The Baths lie about 1.9 km south of Spanish Town.
- In 2026, visitors arriving by air or sea pay an environmental and tourism levy of 10 US dollars; check with your cruise line whether it is included.
- The US dollar has been the currency of the British Virgin Islands since 1959.
- The Caribbean hurricane season normally runs from June to November.
Virgin Gorda on Your Own
The Baths, a national park of granite boulders and sea pools at the island's southwestern tip, are one of the major tourist sights of the British Virgin Islands. Take a taxi to the car park above them, walk down, and leave plenty of time for the climb back up and the ride back to the tender.
- Devil's Bay: From the car park at the top of The Baths, a path of about 15 minutes over rocky, scrubby ground reaches Devil's Bay, a curved beach with umbrellas for shade.
- Through the boulders: The route between Devil's Bay and The Baths squeezes through the boulders, so you will use steps, ladders and ropes, and some of it means getting wet. Go slowly on wet rock.
- The day pass: One day pass covers The Baths, Devil's Bay, Stoney Bay and Spring Bay. It cost 2 to 3 US dollars in 2026, so check before you go.
- Copper Mine National Park: Ruins of the Cornish mine, including the chimney and engine house, stand on Mine Hill at the southeastern tip. White-tailed tropicbirds nest in the sea cliffs nearby.
- Getting back on time: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before sailing, and your ship posts the exact time. A ship will not wait for passengers touring on their own.
A Brief History
Taíno people lived on Virgin Gorda long before Columbus sighted the Virgin Islands in 1493, and English settlers took the island in 1680. Cornish miners worked its copper in the 19th century, and the boulder beaches of its southwestern tip are now national parks.
- 100 to 300 CE: The earliest known settlers, the Taíno, came from South America, and traces of their settlement have been found at Spanish Town.
- 1493: Columbus sighted the islands on his second voyage and named them after Saint Ursula and her eleven thousand virgins. He is said to have called this island Virgen Gorda, the fat virgin, for its profile on the horizon.
- 1585 and 1595: Francis Drake is reported to have anchored in North Sound before his raid on Santo Domingo, and returned on his last voyage.
- 1631: The Dutch West India Company, interested in rumors of copper, set up a settlement on the island, remembered in the name Little Dix.
- 1680 to 1741: England annexed Virgin Gorda in 1680, and Spanish Town served as the capital of the territory until 1741, when the government moved to Road Town on Tortola.
- 1834: Slavery was abolished on 1 August 1834, and emancipation is still marked by a three-day public holiday at the start of August.
- 19th century: About 130 people, Cornish miners and their families, lived on the island while the copper mine was worked. It closed in 1865 because of rising costs, low prices and local taxes.
- 1963 to 1990: Devil's Bay became a national park in 1963, Spring Bay in 1964 and The Baths in 1990. Laurance Rockefeller donated the land of Gorda Peak in 1974.
- 2017: Hurricanes Irma and Maria struck the British Virgin Islands.
- To learn more ashore: The ruins at Copper Mine National Park, on Mine Hill at the island's southeastern tip, show what is left of the Cornish mine; restoration of the engine house and chimney began in 1998 with help from experts in Cornwall.
Virgin Gorda with Children
Virgin Gorda is a beach and boulders day for families, and how far you go into The Baths depends on how well each child can climb, crawl and wade. Spring Bay has a lawn with swings, which makes it an easy stop with small children.
- Younger children: Spring Bay, reached from the road, also has picnic tables and a barbecue grill. It sits in an area called The Crawl, where an old boulder-walled pen for turtles and fish now serves as a swimming pool.
- School age: The 15-minute path from The Baths car park down to Devil's Bay suits children who can manage rough ground.
- Teenagers: The boulder route between Devil's Bay and The Baths, with ladders, ropes and wet sections, is the adventure here. Gorda Peak, the island's highest point at 1,370 feet (about 418 meters), has trails to a lookout tower and is home to the endemic Virgin Gorda gecko, a tiny lizard.
Accessible Travel
Virgin Gorda's main sights involve sand, steps and rough trails, and the boulder route at The Baths involves ladders, ropes and getting wet. Spring Bay can be reached from land, without the boulder trail.
- Ask your ship in advance whether the tender can take a wheelchair or walker.
- The path from The Baths car park down to Devil's Bay takes about 15 minutes over rough ground, and the return is uphill.
- Roads in the British Virgin Islands are often steep, narrow and winding.
- The Baths have bathrooms and lockers on shore.
Beaches
The beaches of the southwestern tip sit among granite boulders, and The Baths, Devil's Bay and Spring Bay share one national park day pass. In winter, strong swells can close the sea approach and make swimming inadvisable.
- The Baths: Boulders form tidal pools, tunnels, arches and grottoes open to the sea, and swimming and snorkeling are the main activities.
- Devil's Bay: A quiet bay for swimming and snorkeling, with a trail at its southern end to Stoney Bay, where Atlantic swells break on the coast.
- Spring Bay: Sand between the boulders, and a path through the rocks on to Valley Trunk Bay.
- Winter swells: From the sea, winter swells can rule out landing at The Baths beach, and the park advises against swimming while the currents are strong.
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