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Virgin Gorda's |
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| Page Contents The Dogs Dog and Dolphin Giorgio's Table Little Dix Bay Long Bay Mahoe Bay Mountain Point Nail Bay The Pavilion Savannah Bay Upper Beach Coast Villas |
Beach Coast. Found north of "The Valley"/ Yacht Harbour, this unique Beach Coast, an area of entrancing beauty, somewhat remote in character, but close by car, offers a variety of intriguing places to stay on pristine, secluded beaches. Pictured above is Little Dix Bay and the rest of the Beach Coast to the north, including beaches at Savannah Bay, Pond Bay, Mahoe Bay, Nail Bay and Long Bay. See Touring Virgin Gorda by Land and Water. |
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Magnificent Setting. Behind its own emerald coral reef, the beautiful beach curves gently within its own cove. Cradled by two small picturesque mountains that wrap the small valley ashore, before spilling their minature rocky headlands into the sea, Little Dix Bay forms an intimate landscape--the idyllic tropical paradise. Gorda Peake can be seen in the background in the above picture.
The Pavilion (495-5555), open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, is the resort's
main dining room. Lavish breakfast and lunch buffets are followed by a la
carte Come for cocktails and light fare at the Pavilion's Bar with its moonlight-drenched Terrace and soak up the sounds from the romantic piano or Caribbean band nightly. |
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Delicious dishes from Little Dix Bay's fine cuisine that have appeared on Great Chefs of the Caribbean include entrees such as Colombo of Black Mussels with Leeks and Seared Red Snapper with Sweet Potatoes and Christophene with a Creole Sauce (see christophene) by chef Benoit Pepin as well deserts like Virgin Gorda Coconut Layer Cake by chef John Rhymer. | ||||||
| Pavillion
Gift Shop (495-5555) at the resort has contemporary women's and men's
resortwear as well as jewelry and a variety of gift items. Lodging. For more on resort accommodations, see Beach Coast Resorts on Virgin Gorda. |
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| Upper Beach Coast | |||||||
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A narrow
isthmus, separating The Valley from Gorda Peake, presents picturesque views
of the water on both sides. On the Channel side are Savannah and Pond
beaches. The Upper Beach Coast derives its character from and is framed by the mountainside of Gorda Peake as a backdrop. From this point on, the upper Beach Coast road runs between mountain and sea, sometimes challenging the driver. |
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 Savannah Bay.A beautiful long beach of white sand, Savannah Bay (as well as Pond Bay) is unspoiled and pristine and not too far from The Valley. These bays, and Mahoe Bay on the other side of Katitche Point, form one unique and unparalleled watersports playground behind their continuous protective reef. Pictured above is Katitche Point Great House on top and Giorgio's Table below. An ideal location for sea kayaking by novices, expert paddlers can travel past the point into The Channel to Little Dix Bay and go on up to "town" at the Yacht Harbour. Just remember that Blowing Point may earn its name on the way back. A nice hike starts from the bluff coming from The Valley side where the beaches first appear. The trail goes all the way down to the beach. Found here are cactus, aloe, exotic butterflies, an abundance of lizards and other wildlife favoring dry, sunny habitats. Pond Bay. Part of one continuous bay from the water, Pond Bay is reached by land at the turnoff to the Upper Beach Coast. |
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On Katitche Point next to Pond and Savannah Bay beaches, Giorgio's Table (495-5367, VHF 16) came to the BVI in 1994 to offer 100% Italian food with all the regions of Italy represented. Giorgio's uses fresh local seafood, bakes its own bread and makes its own pasta and deserts. Typical mediterrean ingredients in this fine cuisine matches the Virgin Gorda climate. Favorites are homemade cake of the day for breakfast, linguine with lobster sauce and gnocchi (dumpling) for dinner, eggplant parmigiana and shrimps flambe with brandy. And pizza of course! A welcoming jetty greets sailors and a bar and dining pavilion overlooks both bays and the Channel to George Dog and Great Dog islands. Georgio's Table is a great spot for a drink and a chat with a friend! Resorts. See Beach Coast Resorts for great accommodations in this area, including Mango Bay Resort and Paradise Beach Resort. |
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Nail Bay Sugar Mill Ruins. Off a side trail 500 yards up the mountain, the stone ruins include a small overseer's cottage on the right, the crumbling sugar mill with its boiling bench and holes for copper boiling kettles, and a horsemill out back, where the cane was crushed before flowing through a trough to the boiling room. See Virgin Gorda: On Foot or By Car.
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Long Bay. The ultimate secluded beach, reached partly by dirt road, Long Bay has a long beach with fine swimming and snorkeling. Your only company may be a sailboat or two anchored when the ground seas are down.  Great birding spots, Long
Bay and adjacent Nail Bay are common habitat for blue herons, spotted
sandpipers, black- necked stilts, and ruddy turnstones as well as brown boobies and
pelicans. |
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Mountain Point. On the sheltered beach side, novice divers can explore large coral heads and overhangs with abundant parrotfishes and butterflyfishes. Large tarpon chase huge schools of fish fry in the summer. Even experienced snorkelors should be wary of the surge in the shallow reef areas. The Dogs. Small islands in the Sir Francis Drake Channel offshore from the Beach Coast, The Dogs are a marine national park and seabird refuge with great diving and snorkeling. The Dogs, a great windsurfing venue, is a good day anchorage with moorings, but watch for ground seas. |
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Virgin Gorda's
"hidden" Beach Coast was revealed to the world when Laurence
Rockefeller (whose land donations also started the National Parks Trust) spent
the magnificent sum of $8 million in 1964 to create his famous Resort at Little
Dix Bay.
Unparalleled in charm,
Laurence Rockefeller's Resort reflects exquisite design.
Built originally to be an environmental hideaway, 
candlelight dinners served under the resort's architectural
trademark-- majestic Polynesian "great roofs" 
open to the tropical air with stunning
views to the sea. 
An
enclave of red tiled villas, Mahoe Bay has blossomed into a veritable 
