Virgin Gorda

In celebration of our seventh wedding anniverary we headed to a short vacation on Virgin Gorda and Tortolla in the British Virgin Islands. A secluded island of less than 3,000 people with a romantic hut right on the beach. Sounds like paradise, right? Well, sort of. We stayed at the Fischer's Cove Beach Hotel, right next to a popular marina in Spanish Town. The hotel, like most in BVI, was very small, but the restaraunt was considered top rate. We enjoyed the dinners, but found the best food just a 3 minute walk away at a place called The Rock.

The service at Fischer's Cove was first rate: the staff was as responsive as we have had any hotel in the world. Unfortunately, the beach hut was a little less than we expected. It didn't have airconditioning which we really wanted with the warm, humid nights. More importantly, the area had a recent increase in mosquitos - resulting a bunch of bites.

The people of Virgin Gorda were incredibly friendly. No matter where we were, people went out of their way to be helpful and friendly. It is unlike any other place we have ever seen.

Getting there takes a while: we flew through Puerto Rico where we caught a little commuter plane to Tortola. From there it was a fast ferry to Virgin Gorda where we picked up a taxi ($2 ride) to the hotel. We rented a car to see the other places on the island, but taxis were cheap and plentiful too.

We didn't take any pictures of Little Dix Bay, but if you are considering Virgin Gorda, you certainly want to think about it. It is the largest (by far) resort in all of the British Virgin Islands. Built by the Rockefellers as the first hotel on the island, it really sets the standard. The views are not nearly as nice as other parts of the island, but it is still very beautiful.