Salt Island is one of the islands of the archipelago of the British Virgin Islands

British Virgin Islands

The Virgin Islands, often called the British Virgin Islands , is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the remaining islands constituting the U.S...

 located about 4.7 miles south east (151 degrees true) of Road Town

Road Town

-See also:* Government House, the official residence of the Governor of the British Virgin Islands located in Road Town-External links:*****...

, the main town on Tortola

Tortola

Tortola is the largest and most populated of the British Virgin Islands, a group of islands that form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. Local tradition recounts that Christopher Columbus named it Tortola, meaning "land of the Turtle Dove". Columbus named the island Santa Ana...

. It is named after its salt ponds, which were once an important resource.

Salt Island is most notable for the wreck of the Royal Mail packet steamer, RMS Rhone

RMS Rhone

The RMS Rhone was a British packet ship owned by the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. She was wrecked off the coast of Salt Island in the British Virgin Islands on 29 October 1867 during a hurricane with the loss of approximately 123 lives...

 which sank in a hurricane on October 29th, 1867 after she was driven back on Salt Island while attempting to head to safety at sea. Most of the ship's crew were lost.

The wreck of the Rhone is one of the best scuba diving

Scuba diving

Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....

 sites in the Caribbean. Some of the underwater scenes in movie The Deep

The Deep (film)

The Deep is a 1977 adventure film directed by Peter Yates and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. The film stars Robert Shaw, Jacqueline Bisset, and Nick Nolte.-Plot:...

were filmed in and around the wreck.

The population of the island hasn't been more than three people since at least 1980. They pay an annual rent to the Queen of the United Kingdom, delivered to the Governor, of a one pound bag of salt. Category:Islands of the British Virgin Islands

The island is often visited by yachts and gets an occasional smaller cruise ship. Where before there were twenty or more households there are now only three or four derelict houses.

Reference

• Salt Island at BVI Bound