Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Sail or kitesurf in the bay at
North Sound
(
Click here
)
Walk the long beach at
Savannah Bay
(
Click here
)
Join the yachties for happy hour at
Saba Rock
(
Click here
)
Snorkel in the protected pools at
Spring Bay
(
Click here
)
Explore the forlorn, windswept ruins of
Copper Mine National Park
(
Click here
)
History
After leaving St Croix in 1493, Christopher Columbus sailed north and anchored to the
southeast of Virgin Gorda. He named the island the 'Fat Virgin' because to him, its silhou-
ette resembled a full-bodied woman sleeping on her back.
Virgin Gorda thrived in the centuries that followed. Large plantations on the island pro-
duced sugarcane, ginger, indigo and cattle. By 1812, the island's population reached an
all-time peak of 8000. Alas, the plantation economy soon collapsed, and Virgin Gorda sat
all but abandoned until the 1960s. That's when Laurence Rockefeller constructed the Little
Dix Bay resort, which brought jobs, roads and utilities and put the island back on the map.
Virgin Gorda
Sights
