Tortola, British Virgin Islands
Greetings from Tortola & our very first port of call with Norwegian Cruise Line. For today’s cruise excursion, we chose “Virgin Gorda Baths,” and it was incredible thanks to Norwegian’s FREE AT SEA promotion where we’re cruising with FREE specialty dining, FREE WiFI, FREE drinks, and FREE excursions!
We booked this shore excursion in the NCL app prior to our cruise, and it was one of the first excursions we chose. There were two options when it came to times for this excursion, but we knew we wanted to get to The Baths as early as possible to beat the crowds. Our ship, The Norwegian V!VA docked in the port of Tortola at 7:00 a.m., and we were told to be at our meeting place by 7:15 a.m. The price for this excursion at the time of booking was $119.00 USD/per adult and $89.00 USD/per child. We used our FREE AT SEA excursion credit, which gave us a credit of $50.00 on this particular excursion.
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VIRGIN GORDA & THE BATHS
We hopped across the Sir Francis Drake Channel on a scenic 45-minute double-decker ferry from Tortola to Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda where we rode an open-air bus 15 minutes to The Greater Baths National Park. This place has been on our bucket list for decades!
After a leisurely 15-minute hike through dry scrub vegetation & a collection of massive granite boulders down to the southwestern tip of Virgin Gorda, we arrived at the magical white sand beaches & secret rock pools of The Baths National Park where we spent the morning exploring on our own. Here at the beach, visitors have the option to throw down a towel, swim, or just enjoy the view. If you don’t want to keep going, you certainly don’t have to as it’s very easy to follow the same path back up to the shuttle where there is a gift shop & restaurant for you to relax. We camped out here for a bit & we swam in the clear ocean waters. However, during our visit (as you can see a storm had just moved through) the current was a bit strong, so we did our best to stay away from the large boulders – but some folks got a little too close for comfort!
Side note: Norwegian does offer another excursion to The Baths that features a snorkel, but after seeing how strong the current was on our visit, we would not advise this excursion to anyone who is not a strong swimmer as you are swimming into shore from a mooring well. We chatted with a few of the folks on this excursion, who all said they were excellent swimmers, and they were quite shocked at how difficult of a swim it was. They used their snorkel time on the beach to recover before swimming back out, so do keep that in mind.
Baths National Park & Devils Bay
After a brief beach break, we started our journey through The Baths (this is what we came for, after all!). We climbed through narrow spaces, maneuvered our bodies through close quarters, inside natural caves & even repealed down ropes & ladders with every cavernous step keeping Janine’s fear of heights in check & earning us another breathtaking view.
Grab Janine’s Black Bikini: https://rstyle.me/+338Uoc-Kn5tzB8t0bTC7xQ
We got up close & personal with secret oceanfront caves, gigantic boulders & crystal-clear Caribbean waters. Hiking in water is no joke, and something we weren’t prepared for but now that we’ve done it – we would definitely do it again!
Travel Tip: Post-Hike, grab a delicious Pina Colada oceanfront at the Poor Mans Bar with the friendly staff, but make sure to bring cash as they do not accept any other form of payment
We try to do a good job of keeping others out of our photos & videos, so although it may look like we were alone on this excursion – we were not. Our entire double-decker ferry to Spanish Town from Tortola was completely full, and it took three open-air safari-style buses to get all of us to The Baths. This site is also open to the public, so not only do you have other cruise ships with excursions to compete with, but you also have the public. That’s why we knew we wanted to arrive as early as possible. For reference, there were only two other ships in port on this day.
We each brought a backpack for all the things we didn’t want to get wet (towels, SPF, cash, camera equipment, etc.). This also worked out great for when our hike was over & we went shopping at the various vendors in Devils Bay. We grabbed a ton of handmade & unique souvenirs for not only friends & family back home, but also ourselves! Surprisingly, one of the vendors did take credit cards, but we paid for everything in cash (USD).
Although this excursion is listed as “challenging,” there were individuals of all abilities & ages in our group. The ones that fared the best are the ones (like us) who wore water shoes as there were many uneven, slippery & treacherous surfaces throughout. Just take your time & understand, this is a hike down steep & narrow paths, through sand, water, and over rocky surfaces.
Our hike out of The Baths was peaceful & a time when we did feel like we had the whole place to ourselves. Everyone was either behind us enjoying more time in The Baths or ahead of us. The best part of our hike out though was the sound of steel drums leading us out.
Top of the Baths
After our hike through The Baths, we found ourselves at the most beautiful spot Top of the Baths to grab a bite & a beverage. What. A. View! Afterwards, our excursion guides greeted us back onboard our open-air buses with complimentary rum punch.
Today was a good day. thank you Norwegian Cruise Line for this epic excursion! the satisfaction of finally visiting a place on your bucket list is indescribable. If you haven’t been to The British Virgin Islands, you absolutely must.
Let us know if you’d book this excursion in the comments below & safe travels ♡
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