Baths at Virgin Gorda or the Tale of a One Armed Swimmer

When we were exploring the idea of cruising for break this year, this stop, this excursion, is what got us really excited: the Baths at Virgin Gorda. It's also what I've been freaking out about since that exact moment. ;) 

Our last stop on this cruise was the British Virgin Islands.  We docked on the island of Tortola around 7:30am, and we were off by 8:15am on our next adventure. A boat took us to the island of Virgin Gorda, where we took a ride to the Devil's Bay area. 

At the Devil's Bay National Park (obviously we had to hit a National Park!), we had the opportunity to take the easy route to the beach, and end up where the above picture was taken, or do the "strenuous" trail, which is where you get to see the actual Baths. Well. Prior to this moment I had read every review available to me on the Internet, and watched every GoPro video I could find. And that only helped me know two things: I REALLY wanted to do it, and I wasn't sure if I could. The crouching down in places would be hard (you know, bending the knee that does not bend...), and there was also a steep incline going down that I was also worried about. But, I was not traveling half way around the world and NOT doing this! 

The geology of this place is amazing. And I don't fully understand it, so that's about all you're going to get! Volcano, magma, granite, erosion...all the favorites play a part here. ;)

It's a one way path through the Baths (short for batholith), and there were a fair amount of people on the trail. That worked in our favor because it meant we had to go slow, and there was no pressure to hurry. Plus, we made friends with the gal behind us (Amelia from Arkansas). The path goes between large boulders, over them, around etc, connecting one beach to another. The water comes in and out with the tide, forming pools of water that you sometimes get to wade through. 

This is THE shot, right?

We did it! Happy girl. 💕

Through to the other side.

If we'd have had more time, I'd have walked back to the top, and done the whole thing over again. Isn't this why we travel? To see something you didn't even know existed, on the other side of the world? We've seen and done some amazing things, and this little trek ranks right up there on the T&L adventure list. 💗 

On the other side of the Baths is a lovely beach, and we headed right in. 

You may notice that this picture seems to be taken from the water. We bought waterproof phone cases (Amazon, $15ish) just for this adventure. It wasn't clear if we'd feel good leaving stuff on the beach, so we bought the lanyards and cases just in case. Upon arriving at the beach, it seemed fine to leave our stuff as the beach was small, and I think it was mostly cruise goers. But then we got in the water, and wanted to capture all of the beauty around us. I swam back, got my phone, and plunged in. Only I had trepidation! We HAD tested the cases, and they WERE waterproof, but it just seemed dumb to completely submerge it. So I swam with one arm. THAT was dumb. I felt like superwoman at the time (especially coming off of my knee victory), but today, roughly 48 hours later, I can barely lift a fork with my right arm. Vacationing is SO hard! Ha!

Shoe commercial time: If you need water shoes, these were the best! Amazon, $30ish. Mine are white and pink and turquoise. So comfortable, and great traction. 

🤣 And I thought staying afloat was the trick! Turns out I needed to watch out for strangulation!

The water is as clear and turquoise as it looks. 

And then back up the trail, and back to the boat. With the afternoon ahead of us, we showered, napped, and took in another art class! Orchids this time. 

It's SO beautiful here. This has been the exact trip that was needed to unwind from ALL the things. Happy sigh. 

💖