Jost Van Dyke Trip - White Bay and Soggy Dollar Bar

White Bay, with Soggy Dollar Bar and beach at top right

After a relaxing morning walking around Great Harbour and talking with Foxy, Ken and I were ready to head to White Bay and the famous Soggy Dollar Bar.  We just happened to walk up on an open-air taxi that had two spots left on it.  We asked where the taxi full of people was headed, and they said the Soggy Dollar Bar ... how lucky was that?!  We jumped on, and soon learned that the entire group of people were on a tour, and I was sitting next to the tour guide.  We were going on the same "tour" as this group, but saving hundreds per person because we rode the ferry to Jost Van Dyke instead of a chartered sailboat.  While we would have loved sailing to the island, we were feeling pretty good about the savings.  After all, the ferry ride was a lot of fun and we enjoyed the same amazing views along the way.  The taxi ride was $7 pp each way.

The views from the taxi were amazing too!

We first saw White Bay from the taxi.  The beach at the front of the picture is where Ivan's Stress Free bar and campgrounds is located (would love to camp there), and the beach further down is where Soggy Dollar Bar and One Love Bar are located.  We walked over the hill that separates the two beaches to check out Ivan's ... a beautiful little walk!

The taxi dropped us off at the Soggy Dollar Bar ... how many people see this side of the bar?  It was beautiful, with so many colorful flowers and tropical plants!  That little cottage is for rent too!

We'd highly recommend this taxi company (Bunn's) ... the driver/owner was very friendly and informative, and he stopped along the way at just the right places to snap a quick picture!

Ken headed to the beach .. and the bar!  He's the one in the blue, not the purple .. LOL!

The day was still early and the beach was beautiful, so Ken and I walked down the beach to see what was further down.  There was the "One Love" bar and some little gift shops, where I found matching bracelets for me and my daughter.

We headed back to Soggy Dollar for some "refreshment" while watching the gorgeous sailboats pull in!

We then decided to walk over the hill that divided Soggy Dollar from Ivan's Stress Free bar.

Looking back to Soggy Dollar Bar

The bottom of the hill was a little rocky, but then quickly turned back into a sand beach.

Ken sporting the "wind-blown" look at Ivan's Stress Free Bar!  Still early, the only other people here were three guys that had chartered a sailboat.  They took our picture, and we took there's.  We told them about the walk over to Soggy Dollar, and later saw them there.  Ivan's looks like a great place to hang out, and even camp!  By the end of the day we could see this place was also packed.

After the walk back to Soggy Dollar, we were a little thirsty!  We had to get the famous "Painkiller", which was really good.  We also split a burger and onion rings ... also really good!

As the day progressed, more and more boats appeared and the beach filled up with people.  This really wasn't a surprise based on what I had read and anticipated, but it was still something to see.  We envisioned pulling up on Nirvana someday, and we had a really great time!

Every now and then we'd get in the water to swim and cool off.  Like St. John and St. Thomas, the water was the perfect temperature and so beautiful!

Before we knew it, it was time to catch a ride back to the ferry for its 4pm departure.  The same tour group that we rode with to the Soggy Dollar had just called a taxi ... talk about great timing!  Once again, we rode with them back to Great Harbour, where the ferry dock is located.

On the way back to St. Thomas, the ferry stopped at the island of Tortola.  We were able to not only get a glimpse of this island, but had a great tour around the islands!  We were so glad we chose to spend our last full day on Jost Van Dyke, and wished the next day wasn't our last in paradise!

Back at the resort for our last night, we enjoyed a great meal of steak and shrimp then played a few hands at the blackjack table.  We didn't win this time, but we only lost a few dollars and had fun playing.  After a few cocktails in the lounge, we ordered some pizza for a late-night snack in our room.

The next post is about our last day in St. Thomas, which we did not waste!  

Hasta luego ... until then.  Mid-Life Cruising!