Dead Chest Island National Park
British Virgin Islands

Dead Chest Island (also called Dead Man's Chest Island) is one of the most famous locations in the Caribbean, immortalized in song as "15 men on a dead man's chest, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum."

Blackbeard marooned these buccaneers with only a bottle of rum and a cutlass after they mutinied against him. It's not known how many survived.

Today, uninhabited Dead Chest Island National Park contains 3 dive sites that must be reached by small boat from Deadman's Bay.

Two include Coral Gardens, whose calm water makes it a good site for novice divers and snorkelers. Often bothered by heavy boat traffic, Coral Gardens received its name from the many heads of brain, star, and sheet corals.

The Dead Chest West site includes an archway, caves, bowls and mazes.

To BVI National Parks Home

To Tortola Homepage