Virgin Gorda Island

Virgin Gorda Island is in 3rd place on the list of the most beautiful islands in British Virgin Islands. It has an area of approximately 8 square miles and is located at approximately 18 degrees, 48 minutes north and 64 degrees, 30 minutes west (21 km2). Spanish Town, located on the island's southwestern tip, is the primary business and residential center.

The peculiar geologic phenomenon known as "the Baths," located on the island's southern end, has made Virgin Gorda one of the BVI's most popular tourist sites. Despite evidence of the island's predominantly volcanic origins, big granite boulders lie in piles on the beach, producing picturesque grottoes open to the sea near the Baths. Granite is an intrusive igneous rock, not a volcanic rock. It did, however, develop from magma at tremendous depth. Only after geologic periods of erosion have removed the overburden can granite become revealed at the Earth's surface. Weathering has shattered the granite into big stones with rounded surfaces on the surface. The Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor, north of the Baths, was once owned by Little Dix Bay. The ancient Copper Mine is the most noteworthy ruin on Virgin Gorda.

North Sound, and previously Gorda Sound, is one of the world's finest harbors, located at the island's northeastern tip. It is surrounded by four islands and linked reef systems that keep the seas quiet, resulting in one of the world's great watersports meccas with approximately 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) of protected waters. The premier anchorage is located at the eastern end of the sound, in the lee of Biras Hill (height 435 ft (133 m). The Bitter End Yacht Club hamlet, resort, and marina at this location (Jon'O'Point) spans about a mile of shoreline.

Location: British Virgin Islands