Review of The Baths -- Diving and Caving on Virgin Gorda in the BVI

Extraordinary place of natural beauty and spooky rock formations, The Baths is a wonderful, athletic alternative tourist attraction requiring a bit of physical effort to get to and enjoy. Some of the best experiences are unfortunately not for the out-of-shape or non-adventurous. But for the meager $3 fee to get into a place you can spend an entire day at, this is one of the best bargains in the BVI or anywhere else.

The Baths, formally made a BVI National Park in 1990, is a magnificent, boulder-strewn natural sculpture of rock and water -- the result of volcanic eruptions that left gigantic rocks strewn about to be eroded over millions of years by the sea and waves.

The boulders have formed incredible tidal pools and a maze-work of tunnels and arches, with grottos stretching from hillside to beach to sea. Some of the rocks resemble lunar landscapes, and one trailside sentinel looms over passersby like a giant, scary face.

After a 300-plus yard walk down a hot trail, the reward is some of the most spectacular scenery on the planet, as you enter a narrow passageway and spot the first massive smooth boulder, an iconic rock that dances with the colorful reflection of the crystal water lapping at its base.

Mind your head and your back as you haul yourself up one rock face and down another, ducking under overhanging boulders and down small but very useful ladders built to help tourists traverse a series of lagoons, grottoes, pools and rocks. From the start of the cave jaunt to the reward of a gorgeous white sandy beach on the other side takes 20-plus minutes, but take your time and enjoy it.

For the less intrepid, the good news is that you can easily swim out to snorkel right from the park's main beach, bypassing the caving adventure. Whether you paddle out from the beach or one of the dive boats just offshore, you'll enjoy some of the most amazing snorkeling in the Caribbean, with waves gently bobbing you in and around coral ledges teeming with a rainbow assortment of tropical fish, which seem to invite human interaction by gently closing around you.