Virgin territory
With my invitation to Necker seemingly lost in the post , I opted instead to stay on neighbouring Virgin Gorda (‘ The Fat Virgin ’ – thanks go again to Chris Columbus ). This second-largest island of the BVI has a population of just 4,000 and offers yearround warmth , good food and relentless Caribbean colour : stunning azure blue waters rub up against lush green subtropical palm forests peppered with flowers of every hue . Unlike the bleakness of a Red Sea desert this is a lush place , fed regularly by warm rains . Its many birds of paradise , lizards and other inhabitants can be found scurrying between colossal granite boulders dumped during the volcanic fury of the islands ’ creation .
Operator Dive BVI is based in Virgin Gorda ’ s yacht harbour , from where its modern and well-equipped boats Sea Monkey and Sea Dragon run day excursions . They also run private charters , as owner and cheerful Texan Jeff McNutt explained to me before he cast off to run one , adding he would join me later in the week to showcase the best of BVI ’ s dive sites . My fellow divers were all Americans on ‘ vacation ’, though the dive guides happened to be British . At the helm was Rupert Raven who has lived here for 15 years , while Tom only arrived three months ago after completing his marine science degree . Also hailing from the UK
Dive guide Rupert at the helm
Sponges and plume corals on Thumb Rock
BVI brollies
Dive BVI boss Jeff McNutt
59