Just before Christmas I escaped to the beautiful island of Virgin Gorda for 5 nights and I’m really excited to share a bit of my trip with you. If you’re not familiar with Virgin Gorda, it’s located in the Caribbean just East of Puerto Rico and is one of the British Virgin Islands. It’s a tiny little island that spans just 8 square miles and has a small population of around 3,000 people. Getting there was a bit of a journey. I flew from New York to San Juan, Puerto Rico which took just over 4 hours and from there I took 45 minute flight on a small propeller plane to the island of Tortola. Once I landed in Tortola I took a short van ride to a nearby boat dock where I was picked up by a ferry that took me to Virgin Gorda. The ferry ride was about 20 minutes long.
I snapped this beautiful photo of the sun setting from the boat. During my trip I stayed at a beautiful resort called Little Dix Bay. The ferry I took belonged to the resort and the great thing about it (aside from the rum punch served!) is that it took me
directly from the dock on Tortola to the Little Dix Bay property. While on the ferry, I was checked in and handed the keys to my room so that when we arrived I was all set to go. Such a great service as it was nice to not have to go to the front desk to check in.
directly from the dock on Tortola to the Little Dix Bay property. While on the ferry, I was checked in and handed the keys to my room so that when we arrived I was all set to go. Such a great service as it was nice to not have to go to the front desk to check in.
This is the dock at Little Dix Bay. Upon arrival I was greeted by several friendly hotel staffers who took my luggage and since my room was on the farthest end of the resort property, they gave me a lift on a golf cart.
This was my cute little room. The decor was simple…nothing to write home about but it was comfortable and had the most beautiful views of the bay. It’s definitely a place designed for relaxation. None of the rooms have televisions and I didn’t even miss it. In fact, I didn’t even notice there was no TV until my third day there!
Here’s another shot of the room where you can see the gorgeous ocean view just outside my window. It’s hard to tell from the photos but the room was almost octagonal, with a pitched wood beamed ceiling…it kind of reminded me of a yurt. My room was on the second floor but right on the beach. So perfect.
This was my balcony….
And this was the view from my balcony….so beautiful to wake up to every morning.
I didn’t snap any photos of the bathroom so here’s one from the resort’s website. Mine looked exactly like this.
The property was beautifully landscaped with lush trees and beautiful flowering bushes and shrubs everywhere. I snapped this photo walking along the resort’s main road.
Here’s shot of the main road where guests walk or ride via golf cart to get from place to place on the resort. Little Dix Bay offers an array of amenities from amazing restaurants and a gorgeous pool, to a world-class spa, a great gym, tennis courts and a variety of water activities.
The hotel has two formal restaurants as well as a Beach Grill which is a bit more casual. Above is the Sugar Mill restaurant which is the “nicer” restaurant at Little Dix Bay. I ate there on my first night on the island and the food was amazing.
This is the Pavilion restaurant where I ate breakfast and lunch every day as well as several dinners. I’m not much of a fan of buffets but one day a week the Pavilion has this ridiculously over-the-top buffet. It was amazing…I consumed so much seafood I’m surprised I didn’t get mercury poisoning! The pavilion is also where I went for a drink most nights and was great for people watching. I can’t resist telling you that during my stay I spotted Orlando Bloom as well as Nick and Drew Lachey who were all staying at Little Dix Bay too!
This resort is situated on a long strip of gorgeous white sand beach which you can see pictured above. Isn’t it gorgeous?
This is the pool at the resort, also very beautiful. I loved Little Dix Bay. Aside from being insanely beautiful, I give the place an A plus on service as well. The staffers couldn’t have been more friendly and accommodating. After my wonderful stay, Little Dix Bay is definitely on my Haute Hotels list! For more on the resort visit their website.
Virgin Gorda is definitely a destination for people who want to get away from it all. The Island is small…there really isn’t a central town and if you want to shop you’ll have to hop a ferry to nearby Tortola or St. Thomas. Pretty much the only thing to do on VG is go to the beach, eat and drink which suits me just fine and is all I did when I was there. Above is Spring Bay beach. I spent the first three days of my trip hanging out there during the day. The thing I love most about the beaches of Virgin Gorda is that they’re empty! There were less than 10 other people at any of the beaches I went to at a given time…so peaceful and serene.
Here’s another view of Spring Bay beach.
Another beach I visited was Devil’s Bay. This is a photo of the path to get there. I was surprised to see lots of cacti on the island because I usually equate cacti with desert locations, but there was cacti abound on Virgin Gorda.
Here’s more of the path to the beach. It was about a 15 minute hike down a hill, through trees and
bushes…it was a beautiful hike but also kind of scary because I was all alone walking through
what felt like a jungle!
bushes…it was a beautiful hike but also kind of scary because I was all alone walking through
what felt like a jungle!
When I finally got to the beach this is the beauty that awaited me.
There was a lovely Canadian couple walking nearby who saw me taking photos of myself and offered to take my picture. I jumped at the offer since all of my pictures from the trip are “self-portraits” with my extended arm visible in the shot! I usually don’t like to post photos of myself but this is the only one I had that showed a broader perspective of what Devil’s Bay looks like. Isn’t it beautiful?
While I was laying out there were some chickens that tried to encroach on my territory!
It was pretty funny to see chickens on a beach! This one had such beautiful coloring.
The island is best known for all of its beautiful natural rock formations. These are some of the rocks at Devil’s Bay but just nearby is perhaps one of the most spectacular natural wonders in the Caribbean…a beach called The Baths that has the most beautiful natural rock formations I’ve ever seen.
The Baths
The Baths
The Baths
The Baths is one of the most popular tourist destinations on Virgin Gorda. People often take day trips from nearby islands just to experience this unique beach. The giant rocks and boulders form many natural caves with shallow pools of water that are so much fun to explore. I took this photo above inside one of the caves.
I only ventured away from the resort for dinner once and that was to go to The Rock Cafe. The Rock is considered by many to be the nicest restaurant on the island. Inside is a lively atmosphere with a bar and a band band while outside is a serene dining area surrounded by large rocks (hence the name) with fish ponds and waterfalls adding to the ambiance. The service was great as was the food…I had lobster spaghetti…so good!
The day before I headed back to New York I took a taxi tour of the island so I could finally get a chance to see more than just the beaches. Above are the Copper Mine ruins.
Up until the late 19th century, Virgin Gorda was rich with copper and this used to be the mines where the copper was extracted. The Copper Mine ruins are now a national park.
For Virgin Gordian’s this is the equivalent of the Rockefeller Center tree in New York. While I was there, the island had its tree lighting ceremony. I didn’t go but I heard that many of the islands residents attended and each year it’s quite a big event in town.
My taxi driver Andy was nice enough to drive me up up the tallest mountain on the island so I could see the view from the highest point. This is a zoomed in photo but the far island in the shot is Necker Island, Sir Richard Branson’s luxe private island which is a popular vacation destination for the uber rich and famous.
As we were coming down the mountain the sun was starting to set so I had to stop and take a photo. One of the most gorgeous sunsets I’ve seen and a perfect ending to a perfect trip!
5 Comments
Looks so lovely. My good friend honeymooned at Little Dix 18 years ago!! I have always wanted to go! Thanks for the photos!
(Cap Juluca Anguilla was their 10th anniversary destination!)
Thanks for sharing!
GORGEOUS! That looks like a FAB time!
A very nice account of your trip. I found your site while researching a trip to the BVIs of my own that I’m taking in April. Looking at your photos, I’m getting pretty excited to go!
So glad I found this. We are leaving to go to Little Dix Bay in 9 days and I can’t wait! Currently computer surfing to get extra info and stumbled upon your site.
You’ll love Little Dix Bay! It’s so beautiful and idyllic! Have a wonderful trip!!