Salt Island
United Kingdom · Europe
About
Salt Island is one of the islands of the archipelago of the British Virgin Islands located about 4.7 miles (7.6 km) southeast (151 degrees true) of Road Town, the main town on Tortola. It is named after its salt ponds, which were once an important resource.
Salt Island is most notable for the wreck of the Royal Mail packet steamer, RMS Rhone which sank in a hurricane on 29 October 1867 after she was driven back on Salt Island while attempting to head to safety at sea. Most of the ship's crew were lost, while recovered bodies were buried in a mass grave on Salt Island. It is a short walk from the main beach and can be easily seen today, with a wide circle of stones laid upon the grave.
The wreck of the Rhone is considered one of the premier scuba diving sites in the Caribbean. Some of the underwater scenes in the film The Deep were filmed in and around the wreck.
The island’s population has not exceeded three permanent residents since at least 1980. They pay an annual symbolic rent of one pound of salt to the British Crown, delivered to the Governor of the British Virgin Islands.
The island is often visited by yachts and the occasional smaller cruise ship. Where there were once twenty or more households, only a few derelict houses remain today.
Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.