Published: Monday, May 3, 2004 at:12:36 AM




Losing the Crowds


The view from the top of Biras Hill is 180 degrees and to the end of the Earth.

by Justin Hokin

Whether celebrating a honeymoon, a romantic escape, or a free afternoon while the kids are learning to sail, there are many spots at Bitter End and around North Sound that once found, will make you believe you are the only two people on the planet.

Some of my favorites, with varying degrees of accessibility:

North End at BEYC—If you’ve never taken the path at Bitter End from the Clubhouse north, you might be surprised at its length. Keeping the water on your left, the path fronts the Beachfront Villas and strings along the beach, under palms, and around some rocks along the way. About one third of a mile along, the Vita fitness course appears on your left and just a bit further you’ll come upon the sheds for our heavy equipment. It’s probably that very industrial sight that turns most around at this point, but if you continue, the sweetest end of the Bitter End’s all yours. The remains of a hurricane ravaged walkway is your haphazard link to the jumble of Bitter End’s old north end barbecue decks. Some of the walking is through the shallows, there are stretches ducking under mangroves, and some light boulder climbing is required to reach the end of the road. Once you are there, you’ll be surprised how close all this solace is and how all you needed were your legs to find it.

Top of Biras Hill—If you walk Bitter End to the north end, and pass all of our Beachfront Villas, a road will appear on your right, marked “Guy’s Trail.” The road climbs the hill in a southerly direction and where it ends, a foot-trail begins to climb up the hill. Yacht Shots BVI photographer Guy Clothier cut this trail over the course of a year not too long ago and it’s still fairly unknown. It has stretches of rock scrambling and fairly steep pitches, so it is not for the faint of heart and shoes suitable for hiking are recommended, but the view from the top is well worth the effort. There are a number of boulders akin to those from Virgin Gorda’s Baths along the way and a notable clearing at the top of the hill, where a windblown field gently slopes toward the water. The vegetation here is different from the lower elevations and the panorama is spectacular.

Honeymoon Beach—At the western end of North Sound, where the sun sets and the wind blows, lays Mosquito Island. The first hotel on this side of Virgin Gorda, Drake’s Anchorage, has occupied this island since being built in the early 1960’s by the famed aquanaut Bert Kilbride. Trails leave from the restaurant over the hump of the island to a cliff rimmed teaspoon of a beach, known as Honeymoon Beach. Its exposure to the north swells gives it a sloping beach and a tendency to alter its shape after hurricanes. Go here at the opening or closing of the day, because it’s not much of secret anymore. But secrets get well known for good reason, and this one is good.

North Side of Prickly Pear—The north side of Prickly Pear hides a nice beach that looks past Eustatia and Necker islands toward the Atlantic. It sits on an unnamed reef and island-rimmed sound between Eustatia and Prickly Pear and is rarely crowded. There’s some snorkeling but lounging on the beach and in the sandy bottomed shallows is the recreation most suited to this calm nook on the other side of North Sound, only minutes away by boat. Check out a Boston Whaler and motor between Saba Rock and Prickly Pear’s east point, leaving room for the long shallow point on the Prickly Pear side. Once past that point, turn to the west and motor toward the far beach a few hundred yards away.

Pajaros Point—Here is the end of the world in the British Virgin Islands. To get to the jut of battered rock that sits at the junction of the Atlantic and Caribbean, you must take a dingy to the far east side of Eustatia Sound, to Oil Nut Bay. Beach the dingy on the east, or far end of this bay, and be prepared for a bit of bushwacking (wear shoes with sturdy soles). The hill above the beaching spot is roughly 150 feet high with thick cover. Once you duck brush and pull yourself up the steep parts with trees for hand-grabs, you will find yourself on the wind-whipped spine of Virgin Gorda, where its terminus has been eroded into the spiny tail of Pajaros Point. The ground is covered with discarded cactus needles that drive through flimsy sandals, requiring careful steps and formidable shoes. The travails of reaching this outback are rewarded with a spectacular view and sense of seclusion. This place is well beyond the beaten path. Leave ample time for daylight to return through the bush and past the reef with good visibility.