Photos by The Soltes Family

There is paradise on earth, and her name is Virgin Gorda.

Situated among the British Virgin Islands, near its American-atoll cousins and the shores of Puerto Rico, Virgin Gorda floats with an Edenic charm. It’s a place where the days are measured by the lantern in the sky and the water is as clear as a freshly cleaned pane of glass.

Most visitors to Virgin Gorda first land in Tortola, the BVI’s main island. From here, a short boat ride to the eastern section of the scattered islands, where Virgin Gorda lies, will leave you with several beach options at your discretion.

The most unusual area of Virgin Gorda is the famed Baths, where boulders are tossed about like a lazy-man’s Stone Henge. The boulders not only line the beach area, but also jut into the water, making for ample opportunities to climb their coral-tinged sides to jump back into the abyss of the Atlantic Ocean.

Getting to the Baths is not for the faint of heart. Most access, unless your boat pulls right up to the beach, is from a trail that winds itself down through thick foliage and haphazard steps. Once you reach the sand, you can either head to the right for a snack at the beachside bar, head straight ahead into the ocean blue that stretches to meet the blue of the sky or, better yet, head left, where you can make your way through caves formed by the tumbling of the boulders.

Inside these caves there are refreshing pools of water to lounge in. The few rays of sun that make their way in to the cavern make for trippy images dancing throughout your visit. If you thought the trail down to the beach was difficult, the trail through the cave to the beach on the other side is even more so. Using a network of old ladders and uneasy stepping stones, you’ll crouch and bend your way through the boulders like a mouse in a maze. But the reward is worth the trouble.

On the other side of the caves is a beach larger and probably less crowded than the one at your entry point.

Take a dip. Jump off a rock. Test your buoyancy by lying back on the surface, stretching your legs and feet out and looking up at the warming, violent light in the sky.

Vacationers beware. It’s all downhill in life once you leave Virgin Gorda.

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