Author: Jenn Manes

Repeat island tour guests invited me to take the ferry to Jost van Dyke with them yesterday, and we had so much fun! It was such an easy process that I thought I would share the details with all of you.

Let’s start with logistics. Jost van Dyke is an island in the British Virgin Islands. It takes about 30 minutes to get there by boat. Because it is another country, you need a passport to visit and, upon arrival, you will need to clear through customs and immigration. Jost has numerous popular beach bars, including Soggy Dollar Bar and Foxy’s, as well as beautiful white sandy beaches. It is a great place to spend the day.

There are several ways to get to Jost. You can rent a private boat (Dulce Vita Sails, Flyaway Charters, Island Roots Boat Charters, Palm Tree Charters, or Sunshine Daydream Boat Charters are all great!), or you can hop on a group trip. If you simply want to go to Jost and back, the ferry is an easy alternative.

Inter Island Boat Services offers ferry service between Cruz Bay and Jost van Dyke every Sunday, Tuesday, and Friday. The cost is $120 for adults and $100 for children ages three to 11. Children two and under are free. There is an additional $30 per person for customs that you pay directly to the British Virgin Islands government upon arrival. Children five and under are exempt from this fee.

The ferry leaves at 8 a.m. They ask that you arrive 45 minutes early, which is rough for this island girl. We arrived at 7:40 a.m., and we were some of the last passengers on the boat. The ferry left promptly at 8 a.m., and we pulled into Great Harbour, Jost van Dyke at 8:30 a.m.

We waited in line for about 15 minutes before we handed our passports over to get stamped at the first window. We then paid $10 each at the next window. After that, we went outside and then back inside to a separate section of the building where we had to pay an additional $20 departure tax. We were told to keep the stamped receipt, which we needed to show when we left at the end of the day. By 8:53 a.m., we were walking down the street to Tipsy Shark for breakfast.

Mike, Dalton, and I sat for breakfast and enjoyed the view for about an hour before taking a taxi over to White Bay, home of Soggy Dollar Bar. We had a great breakfast at Tipsy Shark, and it was reasonably priced too. I would definitely go back.

The taxi from Great Harbour (where Foxy’s, Ali Baba’s, and Corsair’s are located, among other great spots) to White Bay (Soggy Dollar, Gertrude’s, and Hendo’s are a few spots here) took about five or so minutes. The cost for the three of us was $20.

The taxi dropped us off at Soggy Dollar Bar at 10:15 a.m. and we stayed there until 3:30 p.m. It was the perfect amount of time. Dalton made a ton of new friends throughout the day, so he was busy playing in the water and building sandcastles while Mike and I visited with friends and indulged in a cocktail or two. I was excited to see that Soggy Dollar now offers blended drinks. I tried the Buskwacker (two actually!), and they were delicious!

A taxi was waiting for us when it was time to head back to Great Harbour to catch the ferry back home. It left promptly at 4 p.m. and we were in line at US Customs & Immigration at 4:30 p.m. We were at the end of the line, so clearing in took about 15 minutes. We handed the officer our passports and were on our way within minutes.

Taking the ferry is an inexpensive option when you simply want to visit Jost van Dyke, but it in no way can replace the experience of hiring a licensed boat charter company. The ferry was simply a way of getting from A to B. I prefer booking a private charter when looking to get the real British Virgin Islands experience. Regardless of how you get there, I love a good BVI boat trip day. Yesterday felt like a vacation, and that was beyond lovely.

And for those of you who enjoy watching Dalton’s adventures, you can follow him on Instagram now at www.instagram.com/daltonsislandlife.

Have a great day everyone!

Looking to take a St. John island tour?

Learn more here –> www.explorestj.com/tour Full & half days available. Rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor.

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Hello all! I am currently on a plane back home, so forgive me for not posting a real story today. Please take a few minutes to check out our St. John webcams. Enjoy!

St. John Spice Cam – Overlooking the ferry dock & Cruz Bay

The Beach Bar – Bar Cam

The Beach Bar – Panoramic Beach Cam

The Beach Bar – Stage Cam (This webcam is only online when The Beach Bar has live music.)

The Windmill Bar

Coconut Coast Studios – Overlook Frank Bay toward St. Thomas – Sunset Views & Sound 

Mare Blu villa – Overlooking Rendezvous Bay

Villa Circe – Views of Tortola, Jost Van Dyke, Sir Francis Drake Channel & more

Calichi at Picture Point – 360 degree views!

Coral Bay Views – Located at Coconut Hill cottage, high above Coral Bay

Grande Bay Resort – Overlooking Cruz Bay

Fish Camp – Overlooking Turner Bay, Little St. James & French Cap

Great Expectations villa – Overlooking Hart & Rendezvous bays

Great Expectations – Sunset cam

La Jolla Caribe – Located in Catherineberg, high above Cinnamon Bay – northeast view

La Jolla Caribe – northwest view

Long Bay Beach Villa – St. John’s East End

Lovango Resort & Beach Club

Maho Bay House

Soggy Dollar Bar – Located over in Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands 

Villa Calypso – Overlooking Klein Bay with views of Ditliff Point

Windsong Villa – Overlooking Fish Bay & beyond

Windswept Point Live – Located on a point between Trunk & Cinnamon bays 

Coconuts villa – Located in Gifft Hill with views toward Pillsbury Sound & St. Thomas 

https://www.weather.vi/webcam.php

Esprit villa – Located on Bordeaux Mountain, above Coral Bay

https://espritstjohn.com/live-webcam/

Sunset Ridge Villas – Located above Cruz Bay with views toward St. Thomas 

http://208.84.193.93:88/popup.html

Hello everyone, and happy New Year’s Eve! I cannot believe that today is the last day of 2023! So many great things happened in St. John this year. Here is a little recap of some of the highlights!

We announced the opening of two great new spots in January – The Upstairs Bar & Grill and VI Wine Shop. Both technically opened in December, but thanks to island time, I let you all know about them in January. 🙂 The Upstairs is a great sports bar and the Wine Shop quickly became one of my favorite spots on St. John. I love wine. What can I say?! Sadly, it hasn’t been able to reopen after closing for off-season last August due to ongoing construction at the Wharfside Hotel. Soon come… I hope!

The National Park Service also announced its two options for the future of Caneel Bay Resort. It basically came down to all or nothing – rebuild the hotel and create open spaces or leave it alone essentially. They asked the public for feedback and said they would consider that when making their decision.

We had a pretty amazing thing happen in February. We had a flamboyant of flamingos visit! This is a rare occurrence these days, but a very welcomed one! They stuck around for several months, which made this “bird nerd” super excited!

Sadly we lost a business in February when the Coral Bay Fresh Market abruptly closed its doors. Nothing has reopened in that space since.

Ferry service to St. Thomas got even easier in March when the Charlotte Amalie ferry resumed. There are now three ferries that run between St. John and St. Thomas – Red Hook, Crown Bay, and Charlotte Amalie. A couple of new retail shops opened too. The Little Things opened in Cruz Bay and Pirate’s Cove opened out in Coral Bay. And rounding out the month, Lime Out began a new shuttle service making the trip out for tacos on the water even easier.

Even more businesses opened in April here in St. John. In Cruz Bay, we gained a great new coffee shop – Downtown Sips – as well as Dolphin Grab & Go, which is a quick-serve breakfast and lunch spot. Coral Bay gained a new sweet spot when Dazey Drive-In opened. It’s a great dessert shop that specializes in Hawaiian ice.

There will come as no surprise, but Trunk Bay was named one of the world’s best beaches in May. The Saharan dust arrived for the first time in 2023 in May, and Aqua Bistro closed out in Coral Bay. We also learned that Little St. James and Great St. James, the islands owned by Jeffrey Epstein, had sold to a St. John resident, who plans to open a luxury resort on the smaller of the two islands.

June is such a great month in St. John as the annual Carnival celebration began. This is such an important time of year on St. John as it truly celebrates the island culture, and without that, St. John wouldn’t be the amazing place that it is. We even had an actual carnival in June complete with a ferris wheel and everything. It was absolutely incredible, and I hope it returns in 2024!

St. John honored Emancipation Day on July 4th with a parade, music, and fireworks. It was a beautiful day that featured colorful troupes, music and so much more.

The Oppenheimer movie sparked a new interest in St. John for many, as Robert Oppenheimer lived here after he lost his security clearance. It’s an interesting connection that many people were not aware of. And lastly, in July, the National Park Service announced that it plans to rebuild a hotel on the Caneel Bay property.

August was an amazing month for me because I bought a house! I never imagined I would ever be able to own a home in St. John, but I now own an adorable little property out in Fish Bay. And I could not be happier!

September is a bit of a fog for me, as I was busy playing construction foreman out in Fish Bay. I do know that many of you stepped up to help our teachers at Sprauve School in Cruz Bay clear their supply lists. A big thank you to all who helped!

We quickly learned on October 1st that Caneel Bay would not become part of the National Park as it should have due to a frivolous lawsuit filed by EHI Acquisitions, the former operators of the Caneel Bay Resort. That lawsuit is ongoing, and no progress has been made since.

The island started to fill up in November, but not without some unexpected changes. Quiet Mon Pub announced it was forced to close after 26 years due to an astronomical rent increase. Lime Inn announced some restaurant changes too, and Midway opened a new breakfast and lunch spot on Centerine Road.

And here we are in December. We had our first cruise visit and a lot of superyachts too. The island is extremely busy and parking has been crazy. I escaped the crowds for a bit, and will be celebrating New Year’s Eve in New England with some of my best friends. But don’t worry, I have friends who are planning to celebrate in Cruz Bay tonight, so I should have some pics and videos to share with all of you tomorrow.

I want to end this by saying that I truly appreciate every one of you. Thank you for taking the time to read what I write every day. ExploreSTJ.com has been viewed well over a million times this year, which is absolutely incredible. And to those of you who took an island tour with me in 2023, I appreciate you all too. You all are helping me live my dream, and I cannot thank you enough.

Happy New Year everyone. xoxo

Looking to take a St. John island tour?

Learn more here –> www.explorestj.com/tour Full & half days available. Rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor.

Follow Explore STJ on Social Media

–> www.facebook.com/explorestj

–> www.instagram.com/explorestj