The British Virgin Islands, about 60 miles east of Puerto Rico, are a natural archipelago comprising more than 60 islands, from tiny islets that barely pierce the water's surface to volcanic mountains. Most are undeveloped, a few house small resorts and private homes, only a handful have sizable populations. Many are surrounded by reefs, which feed fish and shelter shipwrecks, making them a favorite for divers and snorkelers. Scuba diving, snorkeling, and sailing are in abundance at Cooper.
Cooper Island is not a place for those who require endless entertainment, fancy spas, freshwater pools, or even a daily change of towels. Rather, Cooper delivers the requisites of a Caribbean vacation -- sand, sun, palm trees -- without glitter, glare, or hype, and at a fraction of the price of the flashy, big resorts. British owners Toby Holmes, who maintains the resort's US office in Turners Falls, and Christopher Tilling, the on-site manager, are committed to keeping it that way.
Most guests arrive on the Beach Club's shuttle boat from Road Town, capital of the BVIs, on Tortola. Indeed, there's little on Cooper besides the Beach Club, a handful of private cottages, and a few dozen moorings used by charter boats that sail in each afternoon and usually depart the next morning. It doesn't take long for Cooper guests to get to know each other -- should they choose. Nor does it take long for guests to become very protective about the island. It's a loyal clientele, Tilling says: ''Some guests return two or three times each year."
That's no wonder, given the island's size and the resort's intimacy. Cooper Island Beach Club's six duplex cottages peer over a garden of palms, serape trees, frangipani, and other tropical vegetation to a sliver of beach edging turquoise waters. Paths connect the cottages with the beachfront bar and restaurant, a small boutique selling T-shirts and necessities, and a dive shop that rents sea kayaks, motorized dinghies, floats, and other toys, and offers scuba and snorkel trips. Behind the resort, the land is rugged and steep and covered with scraggly brush.
