BVI Charter Day 5: The Baths

This was supposed to be our last day and night exploring on the boat. The plan was to leave Leverick Bay in the north sound and swing counterclockwise around Virgin Gorda to the baths and do some exploring with quite possibly stopping at Peter Island to kill more time. This was going to also be the day for me to get some real sailing in and after struggling with the sale getting Tangled in the lazy Jack lines I was finally able to get both sales up and do some great sailing. The wind was mostly behind us and on the beam but I was able to reach 8.5 knots and it made for great easy sailing.

After about 2 hours, we approached the southern part of Virgin Gorda where the baths national Park is located. We had to roam around for a free national Park mooring ball but eventually somebody left and we secured it. The next phase of getting into the bears was to take the dinghy to devil’s Bay where we would have to unload ourselves in the water, tie the dinghy up to the dinghy line and swim in pulling ourselves in with the swim line. Dad is purposely designated for cruises coming in to visit the baths. To my surprise and with a lot of laughs we were able to get in just fine with the aid of some life vests which I had to return back to the boat too temporary leave them behind so that we didn’t carry that with us through the caves.

The bath is a natural rock formation, a series of giant boulders set on the beach that form shallow pools of water hence the the name. To explore the baths, you have to find the path into the winding maze where you explore a series of caves that can be confusing and a little bit challenging. There are built-in wood steps to assist with getting through some narrow areas and ropes to aid you along. Fortunately for us, and because we arrived much later in the afternoon, there was hardly anybody at the baths. Normally this can be a crowded tourist destination, especially if cruise ships are in port. We felt like we had it all to ourselves.

The experience was amazing and afterwards we took the nature path to the top of the park where we had lunch at The Top of the Baths restaurant. There was a swimming pool as part of the restaurant facilities. We enjoyed a great lunch but had to move fast back to the dinghy which was left at Devil’s Bay. We needed to get back to the marina as soon as possible to turn the boat over. As soon as we boarded, I knew that we were cutting it close and that we would not make it back to Nanny Cay Marina before sunset. I fired up the engines and made a dash for Cooper Island which was the closest mooring location. By the time we arrived to Cooper Island, we were too late to pick up any mooring balls as the bay was full. We moved on knowing that Norman Island had plenty of first come first serve mooring balls. The problem was that it was night time and a bit challenging to see out in the water. Thankfully the on deck navigation aid was accurate and reliable to get us to our location back in Norman Island where we first started. We secured a mooring ball for the night with the anticipation of waking up early in the morning for a 1-hour motor ride back to Nanny Cay.