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January 9, 2012September 25, 2019

Foxy’s Tamarind Bar

18.43° N and 64.71° W – Great Harbour, Jost Van Dyke, BVI.

According to their website, this is the location of Foxy’s Tamarind Bar. For those of you, like me, who’d rather get an address you can plug into your smart phone, you’ll be hard pressed to find a street address. Just sail in to Great Harbour, go ashore and look for the party. There’s usually one of some size going on in this eclectic place that boasts one of the greatest “Old Years Eve” parties in the world.

Foxy Callwood is the man behind the name and has been serving food & strong rum drinks to sailors and visitors since 1966. He’s quite the storyteller and loves to talk with and sing to the many folks who wander into his bar.

Foxy’s is a great place to people watch and drink rum – lots of it. Foxy even has his own rum – Foxy’s Firewater Rum, which you can purchase from his gift shop. Foxy’s serves up some serious rum drinks and as hard as we tried to work our way through his Rum Drink Menu during our week on JVD, we fell short – just slightly. Darn. Guess we’ll have to go back.

Foxy has another bar on Jost Van Dyke at Diamond Cay called “Foxy’s Taboo” – named after his dog seen here.

You can listen to live music Thursday—Saturday and enjoy BBQ every Friday and Saturday night and there are many other fun events throughout the year.

We read somewhere that if dinghying in to Foxy’s for the Old Year’s Eve Party, you should bring a lock and chain for your dinghy, ’cause all dinghy’s look the same at night after some heavy drinking. Apparently revelers occasionally can’t even find their own boat, just pick another to pass out on and worry about finding their own in the morning. Must be that Firewater!!

Have you been to Foxy’s? Tell us about it!

Want to find out more about Foxy’s? Check out their website and Facebook page.

To see more posts on Jost Van Dyke and other islands, check out our Island Blog Directory

Copyright©Rum Therapy
Pictures and other content may not be re-used without written consent from Rum Therapy, LLC. All information is correct to our knowledge at the time of writing, but be sure to verify current information before your visit.

January 5, 2012September 25, 2019

The Soggy Dollar Bar

Our first visit to Jost Van Dyke was in 2010 on a BVI sail trip. We’d come close to landing on her shores in 2006 during another sail trip, but the seas were rough that trip and the Captain elected to head toward Tortola instead – so it remained on our “places to see” list.

During the 2010 sail, we made it to Jost for the first time. Sailing in to White Bay, our jaws dropped – the combination of spectacular white sand against some of the clearest blue water we’d seen…wow!In keeping with the Soggy Dollar tradition, we jumped in the water with drinking dollars in our pockets (hence soggy dollars) and swam ashore.

During a recent 8 day stay on Jost Van Dyke we had the opportunity to spend a lot more time, drink a lot more Painkillers and take a lot more pictures at the Soggy Dollar Bar.

You’d think we’d have our fill of it by now, but instead find ourselves thinking about going back time and time again to say hi to the good folks at Soggy Dollar and enjoy lazy afternoons of extreme Rum Therapy in the beautiful water, sand and sun of White Bay…The infamous Painkiller. Love the Nilla Killa’s too.

Mic doing his magic.

Owner Jerry O’Connell demonstrating the proper Ring Game technique.

White Bay filling up with boats of thirsty partiers in the afternoon.

In the evening, the crowds thin and the real relaxation begins…

Quiet morning at the Soggy.

To find out more about the Soggy Dollar Bar,
Check out the Soggy Dollar website
and Facebook page:
Soggy Dollar Bar

To see more posts on Jost Van Dyke and other islands, check out our Island Blog Directory

August 14, 2011June 6, 2019

The Beaches of St. Maarten/St. Martin by Antilles Treasure

We’ve had the pleasure of “virtually” getting to know the wonderful folks at Antilles Treasures through Facebook and email over the last several months. If you don’t already follow them, you should pop on over to their Facebook page and “like” them for daily pictures and other island related material. They also have a website at: http://treasures.beachjunkie.com/. Through conversations we realized they not only appreciate good rum, but they’ve spent a substantial amount of time on St. Maarten and Anguilla and have taken many wonderful pictures of their adventures. We will be spending some time on St Maarten and Anquilla this spring and asked for recommendations of – you’ve got it – the best beaches and beach bars!!! We wondered if they would be kind enough to do a guest post for us on this topic and here is what they had to say:

The good folks at Rum Therapy asked us to put together a guest blog about a couple of our favorite ST Maartin/ST Martin beaches. Since we love opportunities to discuss our favorite island, we jumped at the chance.

Island background: The island of ST Maartin/ST Martin is a 37 square mile land mass that anchors the northeastern corner of the Lesser Antilles. This island is split by two governments French and Dutch. Coincidentally, there are 37 named beaches. So for every mile that makes up this jewel of an island, there is a breathtaking beach.

First on most visitors list is Orient Beach, located on the French Side:
If you are looking for a beach that has it all, this one is for you. This is a great “ activity” beach with a plethora of beach bars, each hocking their own chairs, umbrellas and cuisines.

Wherever you choose to park on a thick cushioned chair for the day, you will be greeted by a breathtaking view including some of the small islands just off shore. Relaxing in your chair, you will be treated to the dance of the sun baked tourists being performed in many acts. This will range from the kids bouncing on the floating trampolines to parasailing boats and jet skis crossing to and fro in the bay that is just a few feet from your chaise. This is also a great beach for couples of all ages to stroll lovingly hand in hand from one end of the beach to the other.

The south end of the beach features Club Orient which is a clothing optional resort and beach area. You are on a French beach, so you will most likely see topless women but the only place that everything is optional is at Club O. No you do not have to participate but it is good to be aware.

Our favorite places on Orient are either Kakao beach or La String. Our tip for this beach is to visit the KO bar. This is a little Tiki Hut in front of Kakao. The bartender, GP, makes incredible drinks and if you are lucky enough to land a bar stool you are in for some enjoyable conversations.

This is one of the few beaches that have bathrooms and showers at almost all of the beach bars.

Our favorite venue is Cupecoy Beach; Dutch Side of the island.The sand on this beach is “ever changing”, it shifts with the tides. The backdrop is 20 + feet of sandstone cliffs dotted by several hollowed out caves. Lying on the beach, you will be treated to a view of the island Saba on the horizon, jumbo jets as they arrive in paradise and boats of all shapes and sizes cruising by. At this point, Cupecoy is a clothing optional beach. There are rumbling that this could change, but as of now, you will see sun worshipers displaying all options.

Beach tip. Stop in and say hi to Dany. He can rent you a chair for the day, but he also makes an awesome rum punch and some of the best ribs on the island. We give him our food order as we find our chairs and he will deliver food and drinks when lunch is ready.

Third on the list is Baie Rouge on the French side.

We discovered this beautiful long beach on our first trip, and now it has found a home in our hearts. The sand here is a bit coarse, and once you enter the water there is a fairly quick drop off. Views from this beach are breath taking, from the high cliff walls that glow red in the sunset to the multi million dollar villas that dot the cliffs and shoreline.

There are two permanent beach bars on this beach. One will signal happy hour by the sound of someone blowing thru a conch shell.

Our Beach tip, bring a couple of bottles of water with you and hike the length of the beach. It is a quite a walk but the far end of the beach is gorgeous and in our minds the best segment of beach on the island.

If none of these beaches tickle your fancy, there are 34 other beautiful beaches to explore, some which will be unpopulated. There are a few others with the amenities of umbrellas and chairs for rent but the three we described top our list of favorites and bring us back to them day in and day out over our many trips to paradise.
Rob and Mary/Antilles Treasure

A big thanks to Rob and Mary for putting together this informative and picturesque guest blog. Be sure to check them out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AntillesTreasuresLLC and at their website: http://treasures.beachjunkie.com/

April 2, 2011September 22, 2019

Seaplane Adventure

Years ago, sitting in the sun at Paradise Point at the top of the St. Thomas tram drinking my very first Bushwhacker (certainly not my last!) I saw a seaplane curve around Charlotte Amalie and gently splash down in the water. Quite cool, I thought – must put that one on the list.

Fast forward 10-15 years (wow, where does the time go?) and we find ourselves in St. Croix needing to get to St. Thomas. The two choices: 1. Ferry, cost $50.00, time 90 minutes 2. Seaplane, cost $80.00 (plus $1.00 per pound of luggage over 30 pds), time 20 minutes. A little more costly, but much shorter travel time and hey – it was on THE LIST.

We called and booked our flight on Seaborne Airlines for early the next morning and packed our suitcases. Unfortunately, both suitcases were over the 30 pd. limit (just the snorkeling equipment, I’m sure…), so there was an additional charge of about $10.00 each.

The next morning we headed down to the Seaplane Terminal in Christiansted. There were just a few clouds in the sky, but it looked like a beautiful morning. We were quite early, so we checked in and then headed over to Angry Nates for a warm cup o’ joe. The clouds began building and we had a quick 5 minute resulting in a beautiful rainbow over the harbor!

Sipping our coffee, we watched as our plane landed in the harbor and taxied over to the terminal. We headed over to the waiting area to board. It appeared that there were only 4 other people on our flight.

The pilots opened the doors and let the previous passengers out, then welcomed us on. All luggage was packed under the plane and we were allowed only to bring on our cameras (and a small handbag).

One of the pilots gave our safety briefing and then slid up in the cockpit and we were off!

Besides being a bit loud, I was amazed at how smoothly the plane zipped along the water during takeoff.

Once in the air, it was a beautiful sight looking back on St. Croix and the different hues in the water around it.

After about 10 minutes, we saw Water Island and St. Thomas in the distance.

As we approached St. Thomas it seemed we were going to fly right into the hillside around Charlotte Amalie – a little concerning, but then suddenly we took a sharp turn and a pretty steep dive right down into the harbor. We could see the cruise ships and mega yachts in port and the tram in the distance.

It was an odd feeling to set down in the water, but smooth once again. Nice ride, nice experience!

As I looked over towards the tram, I couldn’t help but wonder if someone was sitting up on Paradise Point drinking their first Bushwhacker and adding a seaplane ride to their list!

To see more posts on St. Croix and other islands, check out our Island Blog Directory

Copyright©Rum Therapy
Pictures and other content may not be re-used without written consent from Rum Therapy, LLC
All information is correct to our knowledge at the time of writing, but be sure to verify current information before your visit.

March 12, 2011June 6, 2019

Snorkeling at Buck Island, St. Croix

I’m scared to scuba dive. There, I said it. I thought about doing a resort course once, but when I learned that you had to be able to take the air tube out of your mouth and share it with someone else and that there is actually a chance that you could run out of air that many feet below the surface… I’m actually in awe of those who do dive, I mean, the pictures I’ve seen of their underwater world are stunning.

Anyway…John, the other half of this team likes to dive, but thankfully he also likes to snorkel – and I LOVE snorkeling.

Here we are, foggy lenses and all!

So we’ve been talking lately a lot about our awesome recent trip to St. Croix. On the list for this trip was a visit to Buck Island, an island just off of St. Croix that has been designated a national monument. Snorkeling there was purported to be amazing, and at the easternmost part of the reef there is an underwater trail – similar to the underwater trail found in Trunk Bay on St. John.

We’d snorkeled Trunk Bay several times – way back before it got so darned popular and crowded and so we were mildly interested in comparing the two trails, although we were more interested in seeing the vibrant coral and fish.

We found a charter recommended by Fodors and Frommers tour guides and booked a tour to sail, snorkel and explore on Teroro II the following day. The Teroro II is a trimaran and we boarded with about 12 other guests.

Teroro II

Carl was our Captain for the day. He was full of information and stories about Buck Island and St. Croix and did his best to make sure everyone was having a good time.

Captain Carl

We had a great sail out to the island and attached to a mooring ball offshore. We donned our gear and quickly jumped in.

The Buck Island Underwater Snorkel Trail consists of a series of underwater plaques indicating some of the flora and fauna found around the reef. After diving in, we soon found one of the plaques in the underwater trail showing the beginning of the trail.

We saw a rather large fish just a few feet away and began swimming after him to get a picture.

Then saw this plaque…

Thankfully he wasn’t interested in us.

We followed the trail for a while and then veered off on our own. The sun was out and the water was warm clear – although a tad choppy. Fish were abundant and the coral was colorful.

An hour flew by and we were signaled to come back to the boat for our short sail to the other side of the island for some beach time!

Find Buck Island on our St. Croix Map

To see more posts on St. Croix and other islands, check out our Island Blog Directory

copyright©Rum Therapy
Pictures and other content may not be re-used without written consent from Rum Therapy, LLC

February 26, 2011May 29, 2019

Coconuts on the Beach, St. Croix

When visiting a new tropical place, we always try to scope out the funky beach bars and the locals hangouts. Before visiting St. Croix, we asked the folks at St. Croix Lime for recommendations. They obliged and also reminded us to check the calendar on their website for live music and updates.

Coconut’s on the Beach was a bar we saw mentioned on the website and passed by it while driving through Frederiksted and thought we’d stop for some liquid refreshment.

There was a cloud looming overhead and no cruise ships in port that day so Coconuts was quiet, but looked like a great place to sit back and relax.

We ordered a few Corona’s, sat down and took it all in. From Coconut’s you can see the cruise ship pier at Fredriksted, you can catch a glimpse of the lovely Sandy Point Beach or you can stare out at the beach right under the bar.

Would have loved to have been there to enjoy the nightlife and some live music! By the time we left, a few more tables had filled up and as we walked through the Wall of Lost Soles, we figured we’d be back someday…

For another Corona, or perhaps a Cruzan Confusion!!

To find out more, visit Coconuts website here:
Coconuts on the Beach

More posts on St. Croix that you might be interested in:

Rum Therapy On St. Croix

Turtle Beach, Buck Island, St. Croix

Sandy Point, St. Croix

Cruzan Rum Factory Tour

Snorkeling at Buck Island

Mt. Pellier Domino Club, St. Croix

copyright©Rum Therapy Beaches, Bars & More, Tropical Travel Guide, 2013
Pictures and other content may not be re-used without written consent from Rum Therapy, LLC

February 22, 2011August 12, 2020

Bones Rum

As we prepared for a recent USVI adventure, we read about the Bones Rum shops in St. Thomas and St. John and had to add it to the list of places to visit. Little did we know, we would actually end up visiting both Bones Rum locations the same day!
(Note: the Bones Rum Shop closed in St. John in 2013, so be sure to visit Bones at their store in St. Thomas)

We weren’t able to find an address for the Bones Rum Shop in St. Thomas but read that it was located across from Charlotte Amalie, so we started walking. After searching a bit, we ran right into it. It’s located on Waterfront Drive just a little west of where you catch the ferry (from Charlotte Amalie) to St. John. (Find Bones Rum on our St. Thomas Map)

Bones Rum, St. Thomas

The store carries a variety of branded merchandise and features a bar with free rum tasting and “self pour drinks” – excellent concept! We eagerly agreed to the free rum tasting and must agree with the Bones Rum slogan “Smooth Rum for the Rough Seas”…

For $8.00 you can get a glass of one of the featured varieties of frozen drinks (including Painkillers) and then add the rum yourself! For an extra $3.00 you can get it in a Bones Rum glass that you can take home.

We sampled some of their tasty BBQ sauces along with our rum drinks.

At the time of writing, Bones Rum is only available in their store on St. Thomas, so be sure to bring a bottle (or two) home if you like it.

Here’s one of the recipe’s from the Bones Recipe Card

Pirates Grog
(makes one)

2. oz. Bones Rum
2 oz. water
3/4 oz. Lime Juice
1 tsp Brown Sugar
2 cloves
1 Cinnamon Stick

Heat in a saucepan and serve in a mug.

Find the Bones Rum Store on our St. Thomas Map

To see more posts on these and other islands, check out our Island Blog Directory

December 13, 2010September 21, 2019

Smallest Bar in Key West

Duval Street in Key West is on the to do list for most Key West vacationers. The street is lined with bars, live music, restaurants and shops and is a great place to pull up a bar seat and do some people watching. One popular activity for some visitors is the Duval Crawl, or bar-hopping on Duval Street. Upon inquiry, we were told that this means trying to visit as many Key West bars in one night as you can handle!

We were in Key West for several nights, so we took our time and sampled some of the best known bars while keeping our eyes open for the smaller, lesser known bars.

One very small, but not necessarily lesser known bar that we enjoyed was the Smallest Bar in Key West. Yes, that’s the name and for good reason. The bar is – at the most – 8 feet wide, has about 4 barstools, the bar and the bartender. Don’t come here looking for much more than a frosty beer, but do stop by if you want to enjoy some conversation with some instant friends! Everyone in the bar beckoned passer-bys to come in and instantly started up a conversation with whomever ventured in. We only hung around for about 20 minutes, but really enjoyed our time at the Smallest Bar in Key West.

Still room for a few more! It was chilly that evening….

Some of our new Smallest Bar in Key West friends!

Visit their website to find out more: Smallest Bar in Key West

Other posts on key West that you might be interested in:

Fort Zachary Taylor Beach, Key West

copyright©Rum Therapy
Pictures and other content may not be re-used without written consent from Rum Therapy, LLC
All information is correct to our knowledge at the time of writing, but be sure to verify current information before your visit.