The Bitter End Yacht Club

When you're at the end of your rope, this British Virgin Island resort has the cure.

The Robb Report, February 1998
Copyright 1998, Dale Leatherman

    I arrived at the British Virgin Island of Virgin Gorda after dark, the perfect way to start an island visit. Deprived of visual influence, I find I am more acutely aware of sounds -- the musical call of tree frogs, the roar of surf, the whisper of an overhead fan -- and smells -- salt air, tropical flowers, tangy barbecue. I love to fall asleep wondering what the place will look like the next morning, when travel weariness is behind me and I'm ready to seize the day wearing t-shirt, shorts and sandals.

    My anticipation was greater than usual; I'd been hearing good things about Virgin Gorda's Bitter End Yacht Club since it opened 25 years ago. I'd had periodic reminders of the resort, because travel magazines usually list it as one of the world's top tropical getaways. As I sat in a motor launch skimming across dark waters toward the Bitter End, I couldn't help wondering if it would measure up.

    The boat ride, the only way to reach the Bitter End, was the last leg of a journey via San Juan to Tortola, which lies next to Virgin Gorda just off the tip of Puerto Rico. The resort is on the last point of land in the British Virgin Islands before the vast Atlantic -- which is probably the origin of its name, though sailors also refer to the end of a line as the "bitter end."

    Lulled by the sound of the boat's motors, I sat with my head thrown back, savoring the warm salt air, an ebony sky studded with stars, and a sliver of a moon. When we docked at the resort, my welcome packet included a small flashlight to use on romantically lit walkways leading to hillside villas.

    Roused by morning light and the chatter of birds, I flopped in a giant hammock on my deck to watch the sun rise over a picture-perfect harbor. The room in which I'd slept so soundly was like a treehouse, with natural wood louvers letting in light and air while lush vegetation insured privacy. Below me stretched the calm waters of the North Sound, the most protected and secluded deep water anchorage in the Caribbean. The mile-wide harbor, once a haven for pirates, is a favorite stopover of the international yachting crowd. . . . (more)