"Nature's Little Secrets" is the name given to the British Virgin Islands by the host of loyal visitors who stake claim to these 50 or so islands, islets and cays. But just how long this secret can be safeguarded against mainstream tourism is uncertain. Singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett certainly has done his part to raise awareness of these sleepy islands. His late-seventies tune "Manana" is virtually an ode to one of the BVI's most popular anchorages. At packed concert venues across the U.S., Buffett's "Parrothead" fans have for years been belting out the words, "I hear it gets better, that's what they say, as soon as we sail on to Cane Garden Bay..."

Boaters have long been sailing the turquoise waters surrounding the British Virgin Islands, drawn to the sheltered anchorages, white-sand beaches and easygoing lifestyle of these islands. (In fact, history's ultimate sailor gave this island group its name-when Christopher Columbus landed on Tortola in 1493, he named the lush, mountainous islands surrounding him after the legendary St. Ursula and her 11,000 virgins.)

Tourist development in the BVIs has been limited by enlightened environmental policy, giving them a totally different flavor than their American neighbors. While the US Virgin Islands have pursued the tourist dollars, the British Virgin Islands have been happy to stay barefoot and limey (BVI-speak for chillin' out).

Once a hideaway for pirates and brigands, the BVIs have only 17,000 residents-in contrast to the 100,000 people living on the American islands. You won't find high-rises or fast-food on any of these islands, and you'll find only a few posh resorts mingling with the more casual villas, family-owned inns, and the funky beachfront bars and restaurants that are sometimes little more than three-sided shacks housing a cast of characters that seem pleasantly out of step with the 21st century.

Most of the islands line up on either side of the 18-mile-long Sir Frances Drake Channel, a watery thoroughfare named for the Caribbean's most famous privateer. Tortola, Virgin Gorda and Jost Van Dyke are the most developed and most visited islands. Cooper Island, Peter Island, Norman Island, Marina Cay and Sandy Cay are less developed but are popular with day-trippers. Except for Anegada, which is 15 miles to the north, the islands are all close to each other and close to the US Virgin Islands, making island-hopping the mode for the BVIs. (Anegada has a loyal following, but this flat island's hazardous coral reefs and its remoteness from the other islands take it out of the island-hopping loop.)

Tortola (Spanish for turtle dove) is the capital of the BVIs. This 21-square-mile island is the largest, most populated and liveliest of the islands. Road Town, on the southern coast, is Tortola's capital. The entire island centers around Road Town and its beautiful harbor-businesses, restaurants, shops, pubs and hotels wrap around the harbor and stretch up into the hills surrounding the town.

Visitors are drawn to the activities near the ferry dock, where they can eat, drink and shop among the historic red-tin-roof buildings of Main Street and Waterfront Drive. Some fairly celebrated establishments grace these streets-Pusser's Road Town Pub, a favorite watering hole for thirsty boaters, pours English Ale on draft and mixes up some tasty concoctions with its famous Pusser's Rum. And the restaurant at nearby Village Cay Marina is the undisputed home to Jimmy Buffett's "cheeseburger in paradise." Mr. Buffett himself cleared up the long-running dispute over claims to this honor when he wrote of "limping up the Sir Frances Drake Channel into Road Town after some serious boat troubleÖand finding a brand-new marina and bar that served American cheeseburgersÖthat tasted like manna from heaven."

Just a few miles from Road Town on Tortola's north shore is the busy but laid-back Cane Garden Bay. This popular anchorage with its crescent-shaped beach has seen increasing crowds but has managed to hold on to its tradition of family-run inns, bars and restaurants. Music is an integral part of Cane Garden Bay, and the friendly, open-air bars that line the water's edge host local musicians whose island tunes can be heard floating across the bay. The most well-known of these musicians is Tortola native Quito Rymer, who plays his mix of reggae and calypso at Quito's Gazebo, on the east end of the beach across the road from his family's inn.

On the opposite end of the bay is further testiment to the rich tradition of Cane Garden Bay. At Calwood's Rum Distillery, the Caldwood family has been producing rum for nearly two centuries and they're still making it the old-fashioned way-from sugar cane grown on the island (thus the name Cane Garden). Today, visitors of both genders can visit the distillery and watch the rum-making process. In the old days, only men were allowed into the boiling room because it was believed that women, fish and limes would turn the rum sour.

Near Tortola's West End is Soper's Hole, a colorful marina that serves as a port of entry for ferries and private boats from the U.S. Virgin Islands. The wharf at Soper's Hole is lined with pink and green shops and restaurants designed to look like a traditional West Indian village. Pusser's Landing is the centerpiece of this pastel community, with its two-story restaurant and pub, and a company store that sells its rum (same folks as Pusser's Road Town Pub). Across the water near the West End ferry dock is the Jolly Roger Inn with its outdoor restaurant and pavilion. A popular sailor hangout, this rowdy establishment hosts weekend barbecues and live music and dancing.

Five miles off the northwest tip of Tortola is an island named after a Dutch pirate, Jost Van Dyke. Known as the "party island" of the BVIs, Jost, as the locals call it, has only 150 residents, but it has six bars (you do the math!). Life on Jost Van Dyke has been described as "one long island-style happy hour," with pig roasts, beach bars and dancing in the sand. Jost native and local celebrity Foxy Caldwood can take much of the credit for the island's reputation. Foxy's Tamarind Bar, an open-air ramshackle restaurant and bar on the shores of Great Harbor, has become a landmark and is undisputedly the most happenin' gathering spot for boaters in the BVIs. Foxy plays guitar and sings calypso ballads that are sometimes made-up-on-the-spot melodies about his guests. Foxy is famous for his parties, none more so than his annual New Year's Eve party, which made Time magazine's list of "Top 5 Places to Spend New Year's."

In nearby White Bay, the Soggy Dollar Bar has its own claim to fame as the birthplace of the Painkiller. Pusser's eventually licensed the name of this notorious BVI cocktail from Soggy Dollar, but Soggy's original recipe is still served at this rusty beach bar. There's no dock out front, so the usual way in is to swim-hence the "soggy dollars."

Norman Island is the largest uninhabited island in the British Virgin Islands and is steeped in pirate legend. Locals call it Treasure Island because of age-old stories of buried pirates' loot. Blackbeard, one of the most famous and feared pirates of all time supposedly hung out here between raids.

A large sheltered harbor at Norman has been called The Bight since pirate days. At the western tip of the harbor is The Caves, a popular spot with snorkelers and swimmers. The far northern cave is the most incredible, extending 70 feet into the mountainside. A pirate ship replica, the Willy T, is anchored in The Bight. This floating restaurant and pub is known for its late-night activities.

Virgin Gorda (Spanish for fat virgin) is home to one of the Caribbean's most amazing sights-exotic pools and grottos formed by gigantic granite boulders strewn across white-sand beaches. Known as The Baths, this surreal natural wonder (and snorkeler's dream) is one of the most visited spots in the BVIs.

Also on Virgin Gorda's western coast is one of the island's best known man-made attractions. In the sixties, wealthy American Laurance Rockefeller built the first luxury resort in the BVIs. Today, the charming resort at Little Dix Bay does a good job of balancing luxury with the easygoing personality of the BVIs.

The island's other resort is located at the "bitter end" of the BVIs on the North Sound, and can be reached only by boat. The Bitter End Yacht Club began in the seventies as a small marina for sailboats and has slowly grown to a huge, self-contained complex that holds the largest fleet of recreational boats in the Caribbean. Visiting boaters can dock or pick up a mooring, go ashore and shop till you drop, or join in the festivities at the resort's bars and restaurants.

Jimmy Buffett isn't the only artist who sings the praises of these beautiful islands. The BVI "secrets" have been celebrated in song as far back as the Blackbeard days. Legend has it that the old mariner's tune, "Fifteen men on a deadman's chest, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum," was inspired by Blackbeard's marooning of 15 pirates with a bottle of rum on Dead Chest Island.

And in more recent history, native son Quito Rymer's ballads about his homeland are becoming increasing popular outside of the islands. You no longer have to visit Cane Garden Bay to hear Quito sing about his precious Tortola. Mainlanders around the world are hearing more and more from these beautiful, laid-back islands, and it looks like just maybe the secret is out!