The British Virgin Islands are about as close to a real life storybook paradise, with pirate legends, shipwrecks and rum distilleries a-plenty. If you want a taste of the true Caribbean spirit, this is your place.
On Virgin Gorda you’ll find the Baths, where giant granite boulders have created sparkling, spa-like caverns along the beach. Shallow sea water laps into the spaces in between these house-sized rocks, which are big enough to swim or walk through. Just off the northernmost tip of Virgin Gorda is Saba Rock, a tiny islet that acts as a platform for the glamorous James Bond-esque resort of the same name.
On Anegada Island, one of the largest of the BVIs, it’s all about the slap-up lobster suppers at Potters Bar and Lobster House. Oh, and the silk-soft beaches – but that should come as a given throughout the island chain, which has some of the finest sands in the Caribbean. There’s a reason Richard Branson picked out Necker Island to build his own personal sanctuary.
Head to Tortola for authentic Caribbean rum tastings; Guana Island for sublime snorkelling; and Jost Van Dyke for an all-natural wave-powered hot tub. Fans of swashbuckling pirate tales will want to head to Norman Island, the real life inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. Snorkel into the caves that pock the cliffsides, once used by smugglers and pirates, and you can still see markings they etched into the cave walls.
And if you think this all sounds too good to be true, think again. It’s all part and parcel of our dreamy Sailing Trip to the BVIs. You’ll spend eight days aboard a skippered, fully catered catamaran, island hopping your way across this spectacular swathe of the Caribbean.
