Virgin Gorda
Encyclopedia
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...
and Anegada
Anegada
Anegada is the northernmost of the British Virgin Islands, a group of islands which form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. It lies approximately north of Virgin Gorda. Anegada is the only inhabited British Virgin Island formed from coral and limestone, rather than being of volcanic...
) and second most populous 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...
(BVI). Located at approximately 18 degrees, 48 minutes North, and 64 degrees, 30 minutes West, it covers an area of about 8 square miles (20.7 km²). Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
is said to have named the island "The Fat Virgin", because the island's profile on the horizon looks like a fat woman lying on her side.
The main town is Spanish Town
Spanish Town, British Virgin Islands
Spanish Town on southern Virgin Gorda is the second largest town on the British Virgin Islands. Also known as The Valley, Spanish Town offers numerous shopping possibilities featuring Mr. Nice Guy Store which is located in Spanish Town right across from the Virgin Gorda Yacht Harber...
on the southwestern part of the island.
An unusual geologic formation known as "The Baths
The Baths
The Baths is a beach area on the island of Virgin Gorda among the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean.-Geography:"The Baths" are situated about 1,2 miles south off the maintown Spanish Town at the southern tip of the island between Spring Bay and Devil's Bay."The Baths" are an area of unique...
" located on the southern end of the island makes Virgin Gorda one of the BVI's major tourist destination
Tourist destination
A tourist destination is a city, town, or other area that is dependent to a significant extent on the revenues accruing from tourism. It may contain one or more tourist attractions and possibly some "tourist traps."...
s. At The Baths, the beach shows evidence of the island's volcanic origins, as huge granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
boulders lie in piles on the beach, forming scenic grotto
Grotto
A grotto is any type of natural or artificial cave that is associated with modern, historic or prehistoric use by humans. When it is not an artificial garden feature, a grotto is often a small cave near water and often flooded or liable to flood at high tide...
es that are open to the sea. North of the Baths is the Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor, formerly owned Little Dix Bay. The most notable ruin on Virgin Gorda is the old Copper Mine
Copper Mine, Virgin Gorda
The Copper Mine on Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands is a National Park containing the ruins of an abandoned 19th-century copper mine.Copper was first discovered on Virgin Gorda...
. In the island's North Sound is the high-end Bitter End Yacht Club, now a five-star resort. Also located on the island is Rosewood Little Dix Bay, a four diamond resort offering luxury villas and suites as well as an award winning spa.
Transportation
Boat ferry service from Tortola and the Virgin Gorda AirportVirgin Gorda Airport
Virgin Gorda Airport is an airport on Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands, an overseas territory of the United Kingdom. The airport is owned and operated by the Government of the VI . The government purchased the airport from Little Dix Bay Resort for $2.9 million in 2005...
serves the island. In January 2010, Virgin Gorda Airport was restricted to a very small list of airlines by Air Safety Support International, the territory's aviation regulatory agency, which demanded that the airport be brought in line with international safety standards. The airport reopened in December of 2010. Speedy's offers service by water and Island Birds operates private air charters in and out of Virgin Gorda (VIJ) with approval from both the FAA and ASSI.