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Author: Jenn Manes

Island Tidbits: Updated Calendar including Halloween Happenings, Island Info & More

Jenn Manes 0 Comments

Hello everyone, and happy Thursday! Today’s story will be short, sweet and to the point. 🙂

I just wanted to let you know that I just updated the Island Tidbits Calendar to include several Halloween Happenings. This is a running list, and other events will be added, including the return of Halloween at the Parrot Club! You can check out the calendar at www.IslandTidbits.com/calendar or by clicking the Info tab at the top of this screen. On a mobile device? Click the three lines at the top of your screen to open the menu.

When you open that Info tab, you will also see that we placed information on how to get to St. John and details on the cruise ships under this tab too. This is going to be a handy spot for those of you planning a St. John vacation. Additional information will be added here in the upcoming weeks, so please check back often.

Island Tidbits navigation menu includes our calendar, info on planning a St. John vacation & more.

If you are checking out our main menu, you will also see a tab for my island tours. I’ve been offering island tours for more than six years, and I absolutely love sharing my love of St. John with all of you. If you are interested in familiarizing yourselves with the island during a first trip, this is a great way to do it. My island tours are also great for repeat visitors who want to see and do something new. I just received the 2022 Travelers’ Choice Award by TripAdvisor where I maintain an “Excellent” rating. Please email me at jenn@explorestj.com with any questions or to reserve your date.

(Click here to read my island tour reviews.)

Finally, you will see tabs for the Island Tidbits Webcams page and also our Videos page up in the menu bar. Keep these pages handy if you need to feel like you’re on the island when you’re unable to be.

That’s it, folks! Thanks for reading!

Offering full & half day island tours

It’s Like Being at the Beach Bar… When You’re Not :)

Jenn Manes 0 Comments
One of my favorite views on island…

Let’s be honest, we all love The Beach Bar. There’s something about strolling off of the ferry, walking down Cruz Bay beach, splashing your feet in the gentle waves and then parking yourself in a comfy barstool over at The “world famous” Beach Bar. Unfortunately we all can’t be there every day, but did you know that there is a way to feel like you’re at The Beach Bar while in the comfort of your own home or office, or both! It’s true!

So a couple of weeks ago, we posted The Beach Bar’s webcams over on our webcam page. Well today, I wanted to let you know that The Beach Bar also has its very own radio station… how fun is that??!!

The Beach Bar owners Reed and Sherry Compton launched the radio station earlier this year, because they wanted their friends and customers to be able to listen to the same exact music as those who are lucky enough to be lounging in a Beach Bar barstool. Not only can you log in to hear some great tunes, but you can also hear snippets from people on island including yours truly and our friends over at Palm Tree Charters.

You can currently listen to Beach Bar Radio online at www.beachbarstjohn.com/radio or by downloading the Beach Bar Radio app in the Apple App Store. (They are in the process of developing apps for Androids and Alexa.)

So, if you want to feel like you’re at The Beach Bar when you’re unable to physically be there in person, all you have to do is pull up The Beach Bar’s webcam and turn on Beach Bar Radio, and it’s almost like you’re there! Almost… 🙂

Happy listening! Cheers!

Tuesday afternoon view from The Beach Bar…




Keeping an Eye on the Cruise Ships

Jenn Manes 3 Comments
A ship docks at the Crown Bay marina on St. Thomas

St. John’s first cruise ship visit of the 2022-2023 season is scheduled for two months from today, so we figured this is a great time to start talking about the cruise ships.

The majority of the cruise ships that visit the USVI dock over in St. Thomas, either at the West Indian Company (Havensight) or at Crown Bay in Charlotte Amalie. St. John receives a small number of cruise ships each year, however these are much smaller ships that typically only carry a few hundred guests.

When a ship visits St. John, it anchors just off of Cruz Bay, and then it tenders guests ashore to the bulkhead area in the Cruz Bay creek. This is located between the Customs building and the National Park Visitors’ Center.

A cruise ship visits Cruz Bay (Pic from 2019)

Looking ahead at December, SeaDream2 is scheduled to make three stops (thus far) in Cruz Bay – December 11th, December 16th and December 28th. Roughly 110 passengers are slated to be on SeaDream2 each visit.

When ships anchor off of Cruz Bay, it doesn’t affect the island too much because of the small amount of guests onboard. When we have numerous ships visiting St. Thomas, we definitely feel the effects on St. John. On November 17th, for example, more than 20,000 people are scheduled to visit St. Thomas via a cruise ship stop. A good amount of those folks will likely venture over to St. John, often checking out Cruz Bay, Trunk Bay, Maho and more. These are great days to venture a bit further out if you don’t love crowds, like out to the East End or Salt Pond Bay, for example.

According to VINow.com, there will be more than 163,000 guests visiting the US Virgin Islands via 51 ships during the month of November. (St. Croix numbers are included in those figures.) Nearly 217,000 guests are scheduled to visit in December with similar numbers the following month. Click here to check out the current cruise ship schedule on VInow.com.

As of today, it looks like only the three Seadream visits have been added to the schedule for December 2022. It is very likely that there will be additional cruise ship visits in Cruz Bay for the rest of the winter months and into early spring.

So is today’s post exciting? Not really. But is it important when planning your St. John vacation? Absolutely. 🙂

Click the following links to check out the upcoming cruise ship schedules:

October 2022 USVI Cruise Ship Schedule

November 2022 USVI Cruise Ship Schedule

December 2022 USVI Cruise Ship Schedule

January 2023 USVI Cruise Ship Schedule

February 2023 USVI Cruise Ship Schedule

March 2023 USVI Cruise Ship Schedule

April 2023 USVI Cruise Ship Schedule

Reserve your island tour today at ExploreSTJ.com! Explore STJ island tours is rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor.

Iconic Hotel Returning to Soggy Dollar Bar

Jenn Manes 0 Comments

Hello everyone, and happy Monday! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I am ridiculously excited to share today’s story with you!

The iconic Sandcastle Hotel is returning to White Bay! How exciting is that?! For those of you who may not be familiar with the Sandcastle Hotel, it was the original hotel built over in White Bay on Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands back in 1970. The hotel was destroyed, unfortunately, back in 2017 when Hurricane Irma rolled through the islands.

Our friends over at the Soggy Dollar Bar announced last week that the Sandcastle Hotel is expected to reopen in late 2022. I don’t know about you, but I think the thought of waking up at the Soggy Dollar Bar in picturesque White Bay sounds pretty darn good to me!

There isn’t too much other information to share at the moment,. You can, however, sign up on Soggy’s website to receive hotel updates. Click here to sign up.

Want to get over to Jost van Dyke sooner than later? Cruz Bay Watersports now offers per person trips  every Tuesday. Click here for the details on that. You can also take the Inter Islands Boat Services ferry over on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. (There are a handful of St. Thomas boats that are currently able to bring guests over to the BVI too.)

Want to see Soggy Dollar in real time? Check out their webcam plus more than two others on St. John over on our webcam page at IslandTidbits.com/webcams

The view from Soggy Dollar Bar on Jost van Dyke

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Cafe Roma to Start Serving Lunch!

Jenn Manes 1 Comment

Well folks, there’s going to be another spot to eat lunch in Cruz Bay next month. And it’s air conditioned! With a full bar! It’s the little things in life sometimes. 🙂

Cafe Roma has decided to try its hand at the lunch game once again. And I have to say, I am pretty excited about it. Cafe Roma will begin serving lunch Sundays through Fridays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. beginning on Tuesday, November 1st. Cafe Roma serves dinner daily from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and is currently open.

For those of you who are not familiar with Cafe Roma, it’s been dishing up great Italian fare in Cruz Bay since 1980. It is located just one block from the ferry dock, upstairs from The Longboard. It consistently receives the top spot for Italian food and pasta dishes in the Virgin Islands Daily News Best of the VI poll.

Take a peek at Cafe Roma’s new lunch menu.

Lunch begins on Tuesday, November 1st.

Curious about dinner? Click here to see the full dinner menu.

That’s it for today, folks. Have a great weekend!

 

Go off the beaten path. See beautiful beaches. Explore centuries-old historical sites. Grab a cocktail or two along the way. But most importantly, have fun! Explore STJ island tours is rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor.

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Beach Break! Saltwell Bottom

Jenn Manes 1 Comment

Hello everyone, and happy Friday! Who needs a little beach break to start the weekend? Today we’re heading out to one of my favorite Explore STJ stops – Saltwell Bottom beach on St. John’s quiet East End. Turn up the volume, listen to the waves, and enjoy one minute of pure island bliss.

This video, and all of our videos, can be see at www.explorestj.com/videos.

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Go off the beaten path. See beautiful beaches. Explore centuries-old historical sites. Grab a cocktail or two along the way. But most importantly, have fun! Explore STJ island tours is rated “Excellent” on TripAdvisor.