Cruise ships + The Baths = Horrible Experience. The Baths at Virgin Gorda are one of the highlight destinations for visitors. The charter industry along with a smattering of private boats will put about 1300 boats per month into the North Sound of Virgin Gorda. Rum Runner is out every day talking to those boats and as a result, we have imparted a lot of local knowledge.
During season there may be as many as 5 cruise ships in the BVI. The biggest ones are in Tortola, while smaller ones are now anchoring off Spanish Town and North Sound in Virgin Gorda. These cruise ships are depositing thousands of their guests into the that limited Bath geography. The result is extreme overcrowding. We have had charter guests tell us that sometimes they have to wait 45 minutes just to go up a ladder. Horrible, horrible experience. If you want to avoid that problem, give some thought to the following suggestions.
First thing, go to https://www.bviports.org/cruise-schedule. That will tell you when and how many boats will be there. Understand that on most days, the cruise ship passengers will start arriving as early as 7:30 am. They pretty much inundate the entire area until around 1:30 at which time they start to head back to their cruise ship. So, suggestion one is avoid the Baths in the morning and early afternoon unless there are no ships in port.
Next, many charter boats plan on tying up to a mooring ball at the Baths on their way to North Sound. There can be several challenges to this approach. Understand that there is a limited number of balls in the first place. Next, if there is any weather, the red flag will prohibit mooring. Lastly, swimming ashore from your mooring is not a cake walk. Fatalities happen when people overestimate their swimming skills and underestimate the currents and distances. Also, when you swim ashore, you won’t have some of the possessions that you want while ashore such as cell phones, money and other such things.
We believe the best approach is to come straight to North Sound. There are three great places to tie up for the night, Bitter End, Saba Rock and Leverick Bay. Now this is important, plan on spending two nights. Take that first day to unwind from the trip up, enjoy the beautiful waters and gentle breezes of North Sound. There are countless things to do from water sports, hiking and great beach activities. The restaurants are some of the best in the BVI. We also hope you will want to see Drake and have one of our famous Rum Runners, Mango Coladas, or Bushwhackers.
On the second day, take one of several water taxi options late in the morning to catch a cab or rent a car on the main part of Virgin Gorda. Take the high road with a stop at Hog Heaven for a spectacular view of Anegada, Moskito Island and the entire North Sound. While there don’t pass on their signature ribs. After lunch, your cab or rental car can take you directly to the Baths where you will be spared the crowds and have the place pretty much to yourself. A couple hours there and then the reverse trip back to your boat for whatever plans you have for that second night. We have had so much positive feedback from charter boats that have followed this advice. We hope you have a safe and wonderful experience as you visit our paradise. Please feel free to DM me if you would like further info.