VG residents fear cruise “infestation” of local parks
Virgin Gorda residents have raised alarm over what one resident described as a potential “infestation” of cruise ship passengers in the territory’s national parks, warning that unchecked visitor numbers could erode both the environment and the local experience.
The concerns surfaced during a community meeting focused on the management of parks including Spring Bay and The Baths, where residents pressed the National Parks Trust on carrying capacity and the balance between cruise and overnight visitors.
One resident said Spring Bay, recently refurbished at a cost of more than half a million dollars, remains a beach heavily used by locals. “What worries me very, very, very much is that if you open it up to the hordes of cruise ship passengers … it’s going to get ruined,” the resident stated. The resident added that cruise visitors “are affecting our national parks greatly” and that the limited space at some sites makes overcrowding inevitable.
Another participant warned that without firm limits, “the cruise ships will take over. They’ll become an infestation,” adding that while it was “a horrible thing to say,” unchecked numbers would overwhelm fragile sites.
Chairman of the National Parks Trust Clyde Lettsome acknowledged the strain. “Increasingly, we find that with the use … the carrying capacity cannot sustain what is going on,” he said. He also conceded that “our overnight guests are in a quandary in terms of when to go, how to go, where to go. We have to fix that”.
Lettsome noted that revenue from cruise visitors plays a major role in maintaining the parks. “Most of the funds we collect to upkeep the Baths, that’s where it comes from. That is just the truth,” he said. However, he agreed that “we have to work very carefully at carrying capacities”.
Residents also linked infrastructure improvements, such as proposed bathrooms at Spring Bay, to fears of attracting even larger tour groups. “Bathrooms equals cruise ship tourists,” one resident argued, questioning how authorities would manage numbers and protect the site.
Lettsome responded that doing nothing was not an option and said the Trust would examine placement and scale carefully. “We recognise that the carrying capacity is a danger,” he said, adding that the board must balance decency and access with preservation.
The debate comes amid broader concerns about cruise growth in the territory. According to figures cited at the meeting, hundreds of thousands of cruise passengers visit annually, placing sustained pressure on key attractions.
While no final decisions were announced, officials said further analysis of site capacity and management options is underway, with additional community meetings planned.
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Before the days of cruise ships and mass tourism, Virgin Island poet Sheila Hyndman (1958 -1991) predicted the island’s future in her poem To Virgin Gorda:
They will come
with tools and machines.
They will bring to light your secret places,
They will demand your mysteries,
They will destroy,
Build up.
They will dilute your treasures
and rob you of your chastity.
They will adorn you like ancient Jezebel.
Alas, no one has taken heed of Sheila’s warnings, and as she states in the last line of her poem:
All that will be left is an old and forgotten poem like mine.
At the time of her death, Sheila was working on a novel that told the story of Virgin Gorda, generation by generation, from it’s far beginnings to its unimagined ends.
You can learn more about Sheila at: https://www.studiopublications.org/product-page/sheila-hyndman-remembered
Control and conservation are long over due.
The Baths and Spring Bay, for example, are a shell of what they use to be.
Rocks, blocks and cement are not enough. There must be a return to replacing the natural elements such as trees, grapes, coconuts and others, to bring back the natural ambience that once stood before thee advent of capitalism/touirism.
Noone today is thinking about refurbishing nature.
Have you been at Spring Bay now that it has reopened? Or the Baths recently. Based on your comment, it is clear that you have not. Should should take a site visit before making any further comments
Improve comprehension/understanding of what is read and its cxontext before commenting on a comment.
The Virgin Gorda resident is correct.
The Baths is a magical place. A place to reflect on what God has created for the people of Virgin Gorda.
While the Baths is the major tourist attraction on Virgin Gorda, it is not able to withstand the throngs of passengers off the cruise ships making the day trip to Virgin Gorda to visit this natural wonder. For many, including residents, overnight visitors and boaters the Baths has been lost to them because of this.
Spring Bay National Park is another God given gem. One which residents and the land-based visitors use all the time. It must be protected at all costs. The thought of throngs of cruise ship passengers taking over this ideal National Park is abhorrent.
Virgin Gorda is a high-end tourist destination. Visitors pay top dollar to enjoy the serenity and beauty this island has to offer. Please continue to woo this type of clientele and keep the number of cruise passengers down.
And where will the NPT get the money to pay tainting the parks. It should come from the sky right?
Raise the fees and reduce the numbers. Less people = less wear and tear on infrastructure, less repair and upkeep costs. Get creative with promoting other parks – Mt. Healthy, Sage Mtn., Coppermine, Gorda Peak. There are ways to keep the money flowing without killing the goose that laid the golden egg.
How I cry for our Virgin Gorda. There was a time the Tourist Board & Government wooed smaller cruise ship visits rather than the gigantic ones of today. These natural wonders VG has MUST be protected for future generations. We all know that the government has had the money to maintain our National Parks for many, many years, we just don’t know where it all has gone or do we. Hmm…
You are speaking from a place of assumption and not factual statements.
Raise the price substantially and put caps on a pass that cruise ships would use. Other types of passes would be very inexpensive to free.
It’s just so easy.
you can’t please them Virgin Gordians. If no cruise passengers or overnight tourists visit VG they would’ve complained about unfairness and business slow. Now the cruise passengers going to VG, they still complaining about infestation. It’s best we keep the cruise passengers on Tortola, or send them to JVD and Anegada and bypass VG
in other words, since it’s so hard for you to comprehend, ‘strike a balance’ We live where our tourists vacation, when they’re done with vacationing/visiting, they leave. We want them to come back too, so we have to upkeep. It’s simple.
Popular museums in the US now require registration online before entry so that the number of visitors can be better managed/limited. So visitors should understand when steps are taken to protect sites and manage crowd control. We should not allow our precious but small natural sites to be destroyed and overrun. They are very fragile environments that need our protection.
Sorry gang, the cows are out of the barn. Govt needs that head tax like a crack addict needs their daily. BVI tourism is absolute crap, geared to day trip/cruise ship folks who bring little to the economy for most businesses, but daily dollars to govt. The once valued overnight guests are pushed to the rear. You shall reap what you sow. The field is plowed, it is up to you what happens next.
Was it a huge quorum that spoke for the entire island? Or just the one same ol’ Squeaky Wheel looking for grease.
Fact: the cruise industry is a false economy. So few people benefit while most of us suffer. With cruise tourism less is more, a point that has never been comprehended by any VI government.
Those who object to overloading natural blessings like the Baths and Spring Bay are fighting the fight we all should be fighting.
There are those among us who do not value nature for nature’s sake and its many benefits to us as locals and as a wider species. They just see it as a means to generate dollars. This mentality is ingrained and momentum is currently deep in their court.
Here we are, one of the most beautiful and nature-blessed parts of the world and all we can do is watch as the big players with all the money and power monetize everything God gave us – everything that they they do not destroy to build on.
This is a real fight we all need to be aware of and we need to mobilise. All over the VI big names and connected people are turning nature into quick cash for them and their families/cronies.
No nature, no tourism.
We must learn limits, control these greedy forces and learn the meaning of the word ‘sufficiency’.
Enough.
A few white and Well off people. Cruises are very important to the economy, put food on many, many people tables and also pay their bills. This seems like a paid commercial by a hater of VG.
The Government needs to break free from the taxi-man’s shackles! The Virgin Island’s prosperity AND sustainable development cannot be held hostage by a handful of the population who have no problem turning our beaches into a garbage heap for profit.
We need middle market and luxury tourism, which will no doubt fill the void of limited cruise ship once our Government does what it needs to do in terms of finally fixing the infrastructure.
However, mass market tourism including all of those yachts is too much. If the BVI is a gem, it needs to be treated as such. You cannot give all these people access to the BVI, it should be a privilege to come here.
If VG is concerned, which I agree with, do not give cruise ship passengers the VG option. It’s our local ferry services giving them that option. It’s all about the mighty dollar.
Cruise ship tourism is high volume low value business, they spend minimum amounts of money per capita whilst at the same time tressing the territories limited resources. At a minimum the government should charge the cruise industry tourists the same fees and taxes the average tourist pays when entering the territory by air and sea which would be a good start. For as long as we open the island up to the cruise industry, it’s unlikely we will attract the investment required to offer up market tourism like locations such as St Barts, we can’t have it both ways.
Cruise employment is up there very high. It’s a plus to thousands of families and the economy. To say get rid of Cruise is a very selfish move.
VG. needs its own Cruise Pier. Cruise is the future. Cruise put bread on a lot of tables and pay a lot of bills. We can always find a negative in anything and everything when we are against it. This is the case here. The positive out weight the negative in this Case 7-3 in favour of Cruise Ship support.