Chapter 103: Sun and Snorkeling!

We have spent the last several days learning more about why the BVI’s are such a popular place to charter.  We have visited some fantastic spots for sure!  We stayed in Cane Bay Garden on Tortola for two days.  It was a beautiful bay with lovely houses all around on the hillside.  It was very rainy during our stay so we did not get to explore too much but still enjoyed the beautiful views. We left our anchorage there in rainy conditions on Thursday morning.  By the time we got to the Thatch Island Cut near Soper’s Hole the sun was shining! It was here as we rounded the corner from Sopers Hole to Frenchman’s Cay that I saw it.  My dream house.  It was a beautiful white house with an amazing porch overlooking the Caribbean Sea.  It had a pathway down the hillside lined with the most beautiful flowers of all colors.  I tried to see if it was a rental property or someone’s residence but I haven’t found it yet!  

We continued over to Norman’s Island and found a sweet little spot called Kelly’s Cove that was just big enough for three boats with the bigger bay around the corner.  It was really lovely and we could snorkel right off the boat.  We saw some beautiful fish and coral as well as barracuda under the boat.  Barracuda seem to love Meraviglia and are always hanging out under our boat!!  We got up the next morning and took the dinghy on a wet and choppy ride out to the Indians. The Indians are an uninhabited small archipelago of islets in the British Virgin Islands. They were so named because from a distance they were thought to resemble a Native American’s headdress. The waters around the Indians contain much marine life and are also the second most popular dive site in the British Virgin Islands after the wreck of the RMS Rhone. The shallower areas of the Indians are also a popular snorkeling site. We tied off the dinghy to the mooring and hopped in the water.  It was really incredible snorkeling, definitely the best and most variety of fish and corals that I have ever seen.  We circled all the way around which was a bit of work with the current and the choppy water but well worth the effort.  We headed back to Meraviglia to weigh anchor and head to our second stop of the day.

Our next stop was at Lee Bay on Salt Island to see the wreck of the RMS Rhone.  Bob has long had seeing a shipwreck on his bucket list and our previous attempts in the Bahamas to see one were unsuccessful so this was a must stop! RMS Rhone was a UK Royal Mail Ship owned by the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. She was wrecked off the coast of Salt Island in the British Virgin Islands on 29 October 1867 in a hurricane, killing 123 people. She is now one of the most popular Caribbean wreck dive sites.  You can also snorkel and see parts of the wreck as well.  We grabbed one of the national park service day moorings and prepared to get in the water to snorkel over to the wreck site. We also saw several dive boats anchored nearby.  The water here was also choppy and swelly so it was again a bit of work to get over to the site. But we can now finally say Bob has seen a shipwreck!  It was actually really cool and more was there than I expected to be able to see without dive equipment.  We saw the stern section where the propeller was which is a bit shallower than the bow section.  The other thing that was incredible was to see all the scuba divers down below us.  There were way more divers that I would have guessed and I have never seen divers close up like that in the water.  It definitely made us both consider whether or not we should learn how to scuba dive! 

We left the Rhone and decided to push on towards Virgin Gorda.  We had heard that trying to visit the Baths on Saturday is good as the crowds are often a little less since Saturdays are typically a charter boat turn over day.  As we got closer to Virgin Gorda and Trunk Bay we could see the incredible rock formations all along the shoreline.  We also could see ALOT of other boats!  We found an anchor spot off of Trunk Bay with about 20-25 other boats along the shoreline! Some of the boats were there for the day and left but it seemed as soon as one boat left, another boat would slide into there place! They were definitely a lot of charters and clearly some of the charter captains were still in learning mode.  We had two boats right next to us whose navigation lights indicated they were underway (running lights on), using the engine (steaming light on), and while at anchor (anchor light on)! Like Bob said, I guess when in doubt, just turn them ALL on! 😂

We had a bit of a rolly night despite the swell bridle Bob put on and were up with the sunrise so we got an early start towards the Baths.  We decided to leave Meraviglia where she was and took the dinghy ashore to walk along the beach to get to the Baths that were about a 15 minute walk away.  It was an interesting walk to get there in and around the rock formations around the shoreline.  We got there around 9am which was just about perfect as it was not too busy yet.  The Baths is a collection of massive granite boulders, some as large as 40 feet in diameter, with a white sand beach, caves, and secret rock pools. The caves are a result of molten rock seeping up into the existing volcanic rock layers. The molten rock did not reach the surface, so it cooled slowly and formed a hard crystalline granite layer. Further shrinkage and cracking formed blocks, which were exposed when the softer volcanic rock above eroded away. Weathering rounded the corners of the boulders to what they are today. A series of steps and rope handrails were along a trail through the boulders from the top of the Baths down to the sandy beach at the bottom that is Devil’s Bay. Several of the spaces were pretty small and some fun little side areas to explore.  We were definitely glad we went to see them but very glad we were there when it was not crowded! 

We returned to Meraviglia and decided to take advantage of the beautiful beach at Trunk Bay and stay there one more night.  As always, a beach day is a good day so glad to have one more day here before moving on! We are looking forward to some more exploring of the BVI’s next week before we make the next leap to St. Maarten!

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