The Soggy Dollar Bar, Jost Van Dyke, BVI
White Bay, Jost Van Dyke
Located in pristine White Bay on Jost Van Dyke, the Soggy Dollar Bar is known for inventing the "Painkiller" and has become a landmark BVI destination - who can resist the perfect beach, and one of the greatest beach bars to be found anywhere? It is consistently rated as one of the top 5 beach bars in the world.
The charm of the Soggy Dollar Bar comes from its laid back attitude - in fact you could easily miss it if looking for it from the water. It has a fairly small bar area, and a few cushioned seats in the shade. You can lie in a hammock, play "hook the ring" or just order your Painkiller and people watch - the locals have a reason for calling it "bikini beach". As the day progresses, especially on weekends, plenty of boats will pull up and a party will commence on the beach. These people are a happy and relaxed mixture of charterers, locals, and visitors from St Thomas and St Johns. All come to enjoy this beautiful, pristine beach, a few cocktails, and the marvelous BVI sun.
The Soggy Dollar Bar is famous for the Painkiller (which tastes better here than anywhere else in the BVI - we've tried many!), and no visit there would be complete without at least one. You won't be disappointed, but beware that they are more potent than they taste and are named appropriately. Other drinks of note are the Raspberry Therapy and Nilla Vanilla, served up by the delightful and pleasant "Mitch" at the bar.
The bar also offers food - primarily burgers and standard bar food with a few additions such as the flying fish sandwich. And if you want to remember your visit there, you will find plenty of tshirts and hats in the boutique behind the bar.
The anchorage on White Bay is easy, and once your anchor drops you are just a short swim away from the perfection of this gorgeous beach. Many use a stern anchor to hold their boats literally feet from the shore. There is no dinghy dock, so most people swim ashore. No need to worry about your money getting wet, there's a clothes line for drying out "soggy" dollar bills!
The recipe for the Painkiller, developed by Daphne Henderson (the owner of the Soggy Dollar) and commercialised by Charles Tobias (the founder of Pussers, on Tortola) is believed to be four parts pineapple, one part cream of coconut and one part orange juice -
adding Rum (Pussers, of course) as you see fit and a bit of nutmeg. But instead of mixing this on your boat, we recommend you try the original while relaxing in a hammock at the Soggy Dollar!
We highly recommend a visit to White Bay on any itinerary to the BVI, the beach is gorgeous, the bars fun, and if you choose to anchor for the night you'll find it very peaceful, as all of the partying is overby late afternoon.
More on Jost Van Dyke. Our BVI Bar Guide.