My last week in Virgin Gorda

It's countdown now and I am sadly in my last week here in the BVI.
I ferried over to Tortola to catch up with my friends there and we all went sailing and then to a full moon party. Richard has a lovely boat named Jadie, she is solid with a steel hull and lovely burgundy sails. That's me guys, sitting right at the end of the very long bow sprit hanging over the water! It was such a hoot, especially when the bow dips into a swell! (Double click on any picture throughout the blog posts if you want to see it in larger format!) We sailed locally around the island and to close nearby islands like Great Camenoe where we anchored in a protected bay and snorkeled to our hearts content.

During this snorkel we discovered something quite incredible. I hadn't bought my fins with me so was swimming hard to keep up with Richard's kicking in his, Mike turned back to the boat so the two of us continued on. We eventually ended up outside the bay and followed the large rocky crags around the coastline only to discover a narrow "tunnel like" cave going into the mountain side. The current was fairly gentle and the ocean swell was minimal so we ventured in.

What was amazing is that the entrance leading up to this cave was like an abyss. I kid you not. The drop off must have been suddenly down to over 150feet. We saw HUGE fish which were barracuda's - very curious fish who will come right up to your face. It was clear and blue and stunning underwater scenery. I couldn't believe I didn't have a camera!
So, we entered the tunnel which was only some 2 metres wide, it was guarded by a quaint school of calamari. It became narrower and narrower as we snorkeled further in. The ceiling of the tunnel was quite low and it was getting darker as the tunnel's shape turned. IT JUST KEPT ON GOING.
I think both of us were becoming a little nervous, so we regrouped and had a quick conference call with masks on our foreheads! What was INCREDIBLE was this very loud booming noise somewhere at the end of the tunnel cave ahead of us. We decided to keep going for a bit. Once again, it just kept on going; at this point we could hardly see and we both decided to turn back. Damn not having torches! The "booming" sound was still a way off and we could only decifer that the tunnel must OPEN up into some sort of large cave with the water from the swell hitting a blow hole or a wall. It was AWESOME! We had snorkeled into this cave at least 100foot and it still continued into the mountain side..........WOW! At that point we turned back!

Later that evening went to the full moon party on Trellis beach but not before Richard cooked us a wonderful fish dinner with vegetable skewers on his bbq. It was very delicious. We rowed to shore where the party was in full swing and music playing. There were fabulous huge carved metal containers with bon fires in them. Caribbean music bands and people everywhere dancing on the sand. It was pretty cool. Of course, to top it all off it was a clear warm night with a big round full moon!