On the edge of the Caribbean Sea, the Virgin Islands is 140 miles northwest of St. Kitts and 40 miles east of Puerto Rico, lying closely clustered together. These islands are considered to be part of the Lesser Antilles, though they are geographically closer to the Greater Antilles in the west.

Although there are 50 islands, rocks and cays which comprise the British Virgin Islands, many of them are uninhabited. Most of the islands are grouped around the Sir Francis Drake Channel, named after the daring British adventurer who launched an attack against the Spanish from the islands in 1595.

Virgin Gorda is the second largest island in the British Virgin Islands, second to the island of Tortola, which rests at the extreme north east of the main chain of islands.