Jost Van Dyke

We knew we wanted to hit all of the major islands in the British Virgin Islands on our Spring Break trip. We planned to spend a day or two exploring Tortola, at least a day on Jost Van Dyke, a day in Anegada, and a day at Virgin Gorda. Knowing all of that, we had to figure out which ferries went to which places and when. The most difficult one was Anegada because a ferry did not run there every day, only Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Due to that, we planned to go to Anegada on Wednesday. We planned Virgin Gorda on Tuesday and then we’d fill in the rest with Jost Van Dyke and Tortola. We had just spent Sunday at Cane Garden Bay in Tortola, so we decided Monday would be a Jost Van Dyke day.

We took a ferry from West End, Tortola to Great Harbour. We arrived very early to the ticket booth at the marina to take the 8:00AM (first ferry) only to find they did not even open until about 30 minutes before it left. We bought roundtrip tickets for $40 per person and we were off.

Once arriving at Great Harbour, we were greeted by taxi drivers. The drivers charge $20 per load, so it’s best to find a few other people to split the taxi with. If there are four people, it’s only $5 per person. If we are the only ones in the taxi, it’s $20. The drivers that have open air vehicles, will typically stop in the road at the highest viewpoint to let guests get a picture from the top. It is quite a view!

Our taxi driver’s mother just happened to own some vacation rentals and Gertrude’s Beach Bar, so he had the privilege of dropping us off on the beach. We were the first, and for a while the only, guests on the beach. The only other people there were those at Soggy Dollar bar. The bar was open, and we got the first drinks of the day.

We considered taking beach chairs from our VRBO but didn’t want to haul them all around with us. There are tons of chairs on White Bay Beach, but nothing these days is free. We asked the workers at Soggy Dollar how much it cost to rent the chairs. They said they didn’t know about the other areas of the beach, but in front of their bar, it was free. We took a chair and a lounger under a palm tree and had an incredible beach day. The beach filled up a little as the day wore on. We had painkillers to our hearts delights and for lunch we ordered some chicken roti from Soggy Dollar that was amazing!

We watched boats sail in and out, and the beach got a bit more crowded. Finally, we decided to make our way to Foxy’s. We had a taxi take us because we weren’t sure we would be able to walk it with the steep hills and roads. There is a short, walkable trail from White Bay to Ivan’s Stress Free Bar. If you want a less crowded area, that is a good place to visit.

Foxy’s was deserted when we got there! We walked around a bit and made our way to the bar. We tried a few of their drinks. I read to try The Dread Fox and The Sly Fox, and took a shot of Foxy’s Firewater. We ended up chatting with Shomari, the bartender, and ended up becoming friends with him. When it was getting close to time for the last ferry to load, we walked down to the dock and made the long journey back to Tortola.

We went back to JVD later in the week and had a much different experience. We arrived on the first ferry over, but it was already crowded when we arrived. There were cruises in port that day and that makes a huge difference. The beach just got more packed throughout the day. We never had a problem finding chairs, but we definitely didn’t get our perfect spot under the coconut trees this time.

I overheard someone talking to someone on the phone about the live webcam at Soggy Dollar. I had previously read about that, but forgotten. I sent the link to my parents and friends and they were able to see us and enjoy the same view we were seeing (sorta).

Even though the beach was more crowded, we did end up meeting a few couples that we enjoyed talking to. Shout out to Tim and Caroline from Alabama!

So for now, in the words of the great Kenny Chesney, “Adios to Jost.” It’s definitely our favorite spot in the BVIs so far. Hang on, we’ve still got Virgin Gorda and Anegada to Goforth and Explore!