British Virgin Islands (Day 4)

Headed to the Baths on the second day of the charter. The Baths is a national park formed by a pile of huge boulders sitting on the shore of Virgin Gorda. You are not allowed to stay overnight there but you can use the free park mooring balls and then use the dinghy to get closer to the shore. The place is very popular and they will run out of mooring balls pretty quickly.

There is a roped off swimming section where you can tie up your dinghy and swim the rest of the way. Note that the distance is farther than you think. My recommendation is to use swim fins for the way in.

Once you get to shore, you can hike a short distance over to Devil’s Bay where there is some snorkeling and more views. The path is pretty slippery and they recommend you wear sandals to climb over the wet rocks. I thought I was taking some underwater pictures during my snorkeling excursion but the waterproof phone bag didn’t work the way I intended so no underwater photos.

Sometimes the sun hits just right and you get the iridescent pools under the boulders. Around the Baths park sign, you can also find a rock that resembles a buried skull.

Back in the main part of the beach at the Baths, you will find some vendors selling souvenirs as well as a small bar selling drinks and snacks. You can reward yourself for the hike with some beer or a Painkiller rum concoction. There are some picnic tables located there where you can relax (and of course some chickens running around).

Raised the sails for the first time leaving the Baths. Headed to Manchioneel Bay on Cooper Island to moor the boat for the night.

(PSA: Apparently manchioneel is a poisonous tree that grows around here that you should not touch - nature is awesome)

We had to head to Soper’s Hole on Tortola the next day to pick up some more late arriving crew members so we wanted to stay somewhere not that far away from there.

The resort on Cooper Island looks completely rebuilt since the last time I was here. There is now a nice rum bar sitting on one end of the beach. The resort has these tables set up in the water so that you can hang out in the ocean while you enjoy your beverage. The restaurant was actually full for the evening so grilled burgers on the boat instead.

Cooper Island is a popular anchorage for sailors on the last day of a charter because it’s a great beach and an easy run back into the charter base on Tortola. We wound up back here 5 days later for our last anchorage as well.