Visiting Devil’s Bay National Park in Virgin Gorda, BVI

Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands is known for its beautiful beaches. On the southern end of the island is where you’ll find towering beach boulders and turquoise water. It’s a popular place for boaters and day trippers who want to come over and see the famous beach: The Baths. But right next door to The Baths is where you’ll find an equally beautiful beach: Devil’s Bay National Park.

Devil’s Bay and The Baths are side by side with only the giant boulders between them. To get between the two, you can venture through The Caves to crawl and climb over rocks, and wade through water to get to the other beach.

While they are both protected, Devil’s Bay became a national park in 1964, while The Baths was declared a national park in 1990. Both beaches are incredibly beautiful and worth the effort to get to.

How to Get to Devil’s Bay

Devil’s Bay National Park is located right next to The Baths on the island of Virgin Gorda on the southern end. They share an entrance, ticket office and trail down to both beaches.

If you’re taking a tour to The Baths, it most likely includes a stop at Devil’s Bay first. If you’re visiting on your own and aren’t staying on the island, you’ll need to take a ferry from either St. Thomas or Tortola to get to Virgin Gorda.

There were no direct ferries from St. Thomas when we wanted to go, so we had to take a ferry to Tortola first, which is the largest British Virgin Island. The ferry from St. Thomas to Tortola is an hour and will get you to either Road Town or Beef Island. The ferry from Tortola to Virgin Gorda takes about 30 minutes from Road Town (20ish from Beef Island).

From there, Devil’s Bay and The Baths are a 10-15 minute drive from the docks.

Parking:

The parking lot for Devil’s Bay and The Baths is the same place. There are a hand full of spots near the ticket booth or there’s an open dirt lot across the street.

Trail:

Once you get your ticket, you’ll take the fork to the left to head down to Devil’s Bay. The trail is about a 15-minute walk down a dirt pathway. It’s got a few steps and boulders along the way and mostly takes you through tall cacti.

There are a few wooden platforms for viewpoints but you don’t get much of a view from the trail. It’s an easy trail, though it has little shade along the way, so it does get hot.

Once you’re towards the bottom, the trail will start to fork off for different places. There’s a trail over to Stoney Bay, which is the bay just south of Devil’s Bay and is mostly a rocky shore. And you’ll see a fork separating the two beaches with the right taking you towards The Caves and The Baths.

Devil’s Bay

The fork to Devil’s Bay is extremely short, so if you’re heading to The Baths, you may as well pop over to check out this beach first. Especially because the Caves may be a one-way trail depending on the day and how many people are there. And if that’s the case, they’ll make you take the long way around the trail to get back over to Devil’s Bay.

But it’s definitely worth visiting. This beach has sandy shores and giant boulders similar to those at The Baths, but for whatever reason, it’s usually less crowded.

It will depend on when you catch the tours of course. On one of the times that we visited, the beach was full of people but they all had the same beach towel so we knew they were on a tour.

We waited about 10 minutes and then they were ushered on to the next part of their excursion. So even if there are tours, they clear out pretty quickly.

There are no facilities on this beach and the only spots with shade are short bushes near the sand. But it’s a great place to lay out and read a book or explore around the rocks.

The rocks help break the rough water so there are some more shallow places to swim. But the waves in the center of the beach can be strong depending on the weather and time of year. It also gets pretty deep right off the sand and there are some surprise rocks on the bottom that you’ll want to watch out for.

Once you’ve spent some time here, head back up to the fork to go through The Caves and on towards the more famous counterpart: The Baths.

Good for: People who like a quieter beach to relax at but close enough to the facilities at The Baths. Activities include swimming, snorkeling and exploring.

Where to Go Next:

There are several great Virgin Gorda Beaches worth checking out if you have the time. If not, check out the things below that are within the vicinity:

• The Baths – The famous Virgin Gorda National Park and beach included in your entrance ticket to Devil’s Bay
• Top of the Baths – Restaurant and bar near the entrance of the park with good frozen drinks!
• Mad Dog Cafe – Restaurant just down the road with tasty wraps, burgers and sandwiches.

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