On his many voyages across the Atlantic Ocean, Christopher Columbus gave most of the Caribbean islands their names, paying homage as he went to his home country and his faith. In the British Virgin Islands, however, Columbus got fanciful, naming Virgin Gorda after what he thought the island looked like from afar; a plump, happy woman, lying on her side.

Impressed with the sheer number of lovely islands that he saw, Columbus named the entire Virgin Islands chain after the 11,000 virgin followers of Saint Ursula, on his second visit to the New World in 1493. Today, a Virgin Gorda villa rental puts visitors right on the third largest of the British Virgin Islands, and right in the heart of what is widely described as the prettiest island.

While Virgin Gorda was named by the Spanish, it was pirates who first settled here. The Virgin Islands are strategically located on the main trading route between Europe and the Caribbean. Pirates soon figured out that the private shelters of the many hidden coves were useful, and that the nearby coral reefs made it easy to waylay passing ships and pillage gold and treasures. Blackbeard, Bluebeard and Sir Francis Drake were just some of the famous names who once made their home in the shallow waters of the British Virgin Islands. In fact, Sir Francis Drake once moored 27 ships in Gorda Sound, making it home to his crew and contingent of 2,500 men. That’s just shy of the entire population of the island today, which is about 3,400 people.

Eventually, the Dutch and the British developed a sugar industry in the Virgin Islands, settling into towns, and bringing in African slaves to work the fields. It wasn’t just sugar that made the island attractive to settlers. The oldest ruin on the island today is the old Copper Mine, a 400-year-old mine at Copper Point, which is a highlight of any Virgin Gorda vacation. Another way to explore the history of the region on Virgin Gorda vacations is to go scuba diving or snorkelling among the thousands of shipwrecks that litter the colorful coral reefs that surround the island.

After the collapse of the plantations, and the emancipation of the slaves, the British Virgin Islands settled into a quiet routine, until the 1960s when American financier Laurance Rockefeller developed Virgin Gorda tourism by building up the Little Dix Resort on the island. Rockefeller was one of the first to understand the appeal of eco-tourism and Virgin Gorda vacations, and he also developed resorts on nearby Saint John.

Despite the growth of a tourism industry, the main appeal of traveling to Virgin Gorda is that the island maintains its unspoiled and charming Caribbean appeal, a real change from some of the overcrowded and overdeveloped destinations nearby. There’s even a rule on Virgin Gorda that buildings are not allowed to rise above the level of the trees nearby, giving the entire island the appearance and feel of an untouched tropical paradise.

The best way to experience the island is with a luxury villa vacation, where you can have all the comforts of home, while still enjoying the stunning tropical setting. Both Hummingbird Haven and Oran na Mara, two of Tropical Island Retreat’s vacation villas, are located in Leverick Bay on the North Sound, the world famous ‘Sailor’s Playground’. Leverick Bay’s location on the North Sound provides easy access to Mosquito Island, Prickly Pear Island, the resort at Saba Rock, and both the Bitter End and Biras Creek Resorts.

Of course, the best thing to do on any trip to Virgin Gorda is to spend the day on a perfect powder-soft sand beach, playing in the surf or relaxing in the sun. There is simply nowhere better for a sun-drenched beach day, with many nearly deserted, pristine beaches just waiting to be explored. The most popular beaches can be found at Savannah Bay, Pond Bay and Devil’s Bay.

Visit Virgin Gorda now, and experience what life was like in a time when Caribbean islands were untouched, sheltering ships from the Atlantic and offering refuge for weary travelers from every corner of the world.