Soggy Dollars and Painkillers

I would definitely recommend doing the BVI tour if you are down here in the USVI….it’s an all-day affair, but it kind our rounds out your experience. To me, the only thing better than doing a guided tour where people come around serving you drinks and snacks while you travel from location to location, would be to charter a boat for the day. However, given that there were only two of us, it wasn’t exactly cost effective. For larger families or people traveling down in groups, I think a charter would be the way to go. That way you are on your time and not the tour guide’s time. Back to our day….for lunch, we stopped at a beautiful little island called Marina Cay (see pic above). We had lunch at a really cool little restaurant right on the water called Pusser's. Afterwards, we snorkeled just 5 minutes or so off the island. A few people saw sea turtles, but neither Joel nor I did. I’d say the snorkeling was nice, but not amazing. We did see plenty of reef fish, but nothing really crazy.

Our last stop for the day was the famed Soggy Dollar Bar on Jost Van Dyke. According to the tour guide, who is supposedly quoting travel literature, Jost Van Dyke is the second prettiest beach in the world (feel free to verify, I didn’t feel like it). The beach is actually in White Bay. It was pretty, no doubt about it. However, many of the beaches on St. Johns would, in our opinion, give White Bay a run for its money. Here are the differences. White Bay has beautiful near white sand and you can walk out into the water without having to worry about stepping on rocks or seaweed (and who doesn’t appreciate that). You also have the added benefit of the Soggy Dollar, which serves up its famous Painkiller drinks for a reasonable $6/drink. The Soggy Dollar is aptly named because you cannot dock a boat in White Bay. You have to tie up in the bay and swim to shore. Back in the day (pre-credit cards) this meant that people were paying for their drinks with soggy dollars brought ashore after a quick swim to the beach. As for the beaches on St. John’s North Shore, particularly Trunk Bay and Cinnamon Bay, you get beautiful sandy colored beaches with rock/seaweed-free water as well. However, you also get the benefit of the beaches belonging to the nearly 3/4ths of the island that is protected as a US National Forest. This means no Soggy Dollar and no vendors peddling their many wares. While the loss of the Soggy Dollar might seem insurmountable, the peace and tranquility you trade for make up for its loss. You can still buy a cold beverage of your choice at a refreshments stand or you could think ahead and pack a cooler for the day and just hang out and enjoy the beach all day. I’d think it's debatable whether having to swim up to the beach is actually a pro or con. I personally liked it and thought it gave White Bay character. So as you can see, it is really all about personal taste. Given that I had to enjoy a virgin Painkiller, the whole Soggy Dollar experience just didn’t put Jost Van Dyke over the top for me, but maybe it would for you.