Lime Out, St. John, USVI

We started hearing about a new floating bar/restaurant in St. John, USVI, in the Spring of 2019. It originally was anchored in Hansen Bay, on the East End of St. John. We were familiar with the area, having spent a bit of time at the old Angels Rest floating bar in Hansen which unfortunately was destroyed in the hurricanes of 2017.

As we planned our trip for Spring 2020, Lime Out was on the list of places we wanted to visit. Then suddenly we read that there was a problem with their location in Hansen Bay and they had to close for a while. We kept our fingers crossed that it would reopen in its new location by the time we got their, and fortunately, it did!

Lime Out now sits in Coral Bay – also on the East end of St. John. If you are visiting by boat, you can pull up and anchor close by. If visiting by car, you can no longer swim or kayak out to Lime Out. Instead, park at The Oasis in Coral Bay and take the boat shuttle out to Lime Out ( currently $13pp round-trip).

Oasis Restaurant, Coral Bay – great Southern comfort food!
Boat ride to Lime Out

The ride out takes just a few minutes and you have to swim/walk a short way (not very deep) from where the boat leaves you off to Lime Out.

Approaching Lime Out
Swimming in

We swam up and took a seat at the bar.

Beverages are served in tumblers

There are bar stools in the water next to Lime Out, or you can grab a seat on one of the vibrant rafts. Order your food and drinks and they’ll float it out to you.

Lime Out is known for its tacos and they are GOOD! We ordered the Rum Rib Tacos along with a couple of beverages and grabbed a seat on a raft.

A half eaten Rum Rib Taco. They were so good we forgot to take a pic until we were halfway done!

A family from Vancouver asked if they could join us and we had a great afternoon chatting and enjoying more drinks.

The shuttle runs every half hour or so and we reluctantly decided to head back.

We had a great day at Lime Out. Well worth a visit in our book. To find out more, check out their website, Facebook page and Instagram.

Read more about what to do on St. John, check out more posts here:
Destination St. John, USVI

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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.

The 10 Most Visited Rum Therapy Island Blog Posts of 2019

As 2019 draws to a close, we looked back to see which of our island posts were visited the most during the year. Although some we expected to make the list, some surprised us, such as #6! In case you missed any of them, here’s the countdown.

From #10 to #1, the 10 Most Visited Rum Therapy Island Posts of 2019 are:

#10

Apparently there are many of you out there that either love Barbados or are getting ready to visit, as this was the 10th most visited post of 2019. Have you been to Barbados? Find out more here:
Why You Should Plan a Trip to Barbados

#9

Puerto Rico – the rum capital of the world and the birthplace of the Piña Colada! Get some suggestions on Puerto Rican rum experiences in this post:
Rum Experiences on the Island of Puerto Rico.

#8

We loved stopping by to meet Troy Roberts and his lovely wife Nanci who own Siesta Key Rum in Sarasota, Florida. They have created a portfolio of award winning rums and offer tours at the distillery several days a week. If you plan to be in the area, we highly recommend stopping by, taking the tour and learning about these delicious rums!
Read the 8th most visited post of the year here:
Siesta Key Rum Distillery Tour

#7

Although there have been some changes in Cruz Bay, St. John since the hurricanes, many people visited this post this year to get some ideas on what to do while visiting. Check it out here:
What to See and Do in Cruz Bay, St. John

#6

We stumbled upon this Christiansted shop that rents scooters during the day and turns into a funky bar at night while staying close by on the boardwalk. We had so much fun talking with locals and other visitors that we ended up coming back the next night to have a beer and sing along with the one-man band.
Find out more here:
Cruzin Scooters – Scooter Rental & Bar, St Croix

#5

What are the 2 Best Reasons to take the Skyride to Paradise Point, St Thomas? One is obviously the amazing view! Click here to find out what the second one is!
The 2 Best Reasons to Take the Skyride to Paradise Point, St. Thomas

#4

An update to our original post entitled “Barhopping on Jost Van Dyke“. We wrote the update after visiting the island 6 months after being hit by hurricanes Irma and Maria. We were amazed by the spirit and resiliency of of the islanders who had just been through such a tragic and devastating event and the progress they had already made. Read more here:
Barhopping on Jost Van Dyke, Part 2 (after Irma)

#3

A visit to the Callwood Rum Distillery on Tortola is like taking a walk back in time. This distillery has been producing rum for over 200 years! Although Cane Garden Bay was hit hard by the hurricanes of 2017, Callwood Rum Distillery is open again and well worth a visit! Find out more here:
Callwood Rum Distillery, Tortola

#2

I’ve never been a big fan of sharks – it’s just those teeth! But, swimming with the nurse sharks in Exuma was…cool. I’d even do it again! Read about the experience here:
Swimming with Sharks on Compass Cay

#1

No surprise here – this list, compiled of suggestions from you, has been visited many thousands of times since we published it! Looking for songs to put on your beach playlist? You’ll find a wide variety of songs here!
The Ultimate Rum Therapy Playlist

Enjoy the rest of 2019 and wishing you Happy Travels in 2020!

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.

Craft Cocktails & Delicious, Innovative Dishes at The Longboard, St John

We make a stop at The Longboard in Cruz Bay whenever we are lucky enough to get to St. John. Simply put, we are big fans of their hand crafted cocktails and their delicious, innovative dishes. Our recent visit to The Longboard was no exception. Despite the fact that when we visited it had only been 7 months since “the hurricanes”, and despite the fact that The Longboard served several thousand meals for the Red Cross to hurricane victims for a month after the storms even though they sustained some damage themselves, The Longboard reopened for business again in January and is just as good as ever.

Check out a few photos of our recent visit, and be sure to stop by and check out The Longboard for yourselves during your next visit to St. John. Pretty sure you’ll become big fans of The Longboard too!

Longboard Sliders
Conch & Shrimp Lettuce Wraps
Frozen Painkiller
Tempura Fried Calamari


The Longboard, Cruz Bay, St John

LONGBOARD_MENU_WEB_FOOD
LONGBOARD_MENU_WEB_DRINK

The Longboard Website

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

Big Blue Excursions, St. John

We recently had the chance to meet Sharp & Margaret Kemp of Big Blue Excursions during our recent trip to St John and just love their story. Here’s the abbreviated version.


Sharp grew up on the coast of North Carolina on and around boats. As he grew, he developed an insatiable desire to be on the ocean and to travel. He began working and hopping around the Caribbean and Central America searching for perfect waves to surf and places to go fishing any chance he got. Once, while surfing in Costa Rica, he met a girl named Margie who had a passion for sailing, surfing, and traveling as well. She was living in the Virgin Islands.

Margie is a 100 ton master captain. Like Sharp, she grew up on and around sailboats and with her family, experienced incredible sailing adventures around the world. The longest leg was the four thousand mile intense journey across the Bearing Sea from Russia to Alaska. She also sailed across the English Channel in a tiny little boat with some old salty dogs at age 19. She said it was some of the gnarliest sea conditions she’s ever seen. At 26, when Sharp and Margie were married, she had been working as a sailboat captain for years in the islands.

They moved aboard their 46’ Pan Oceanic cutter to live, laugh, surf and sail their way around countless islands in the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean. In 2016 they sailed more than 13,000 nautical miles from their home on St. John through the Panama Canal and across the Pacific Ocean to Australia. They really enjoy creating new memories and meeting new people.

Upon their return to St John, they purchased a boat excursion company named Big Blue Excursions – a mere 2 months before not just one, but two Cat 5 hurricanes hit the Virgin Islands…

Even though they lost two of their boats in the storm, this couple exudes an infectious positivity, pleasantness and zest for life, possibly, in part, derived from the amazing things they’ve seen and experienced. Although rightfully a bit frustrated with the wait time for insurance reimbursement, Sharp and Margie look forward to re-building and expanding their brand and company on St. John and with the unique experiences they offer, I know they will. Even thought the tourism traffic in the VI is not yet back to where it was before the hurricanes, they are experiencing strong bookings and great reviews.

Your day, your way, your pace is Big Blue Excursions motto. We had the pleasure of spending a day on the water with them on their boat “Gypsea Girl”, during our recent stay in St. John. When asked what we most wanted to see and do, we said “everything”! We ended up requesting some time in Jost Van Dyke to check on the progress since the hurricanes and then asked Sharp – our captain for the day, to choose the remainder of the days itinerary.

We met Sharp at 9am on the St. John National Park Dock for our full day excursion. Margie was there to welcome us too, but was unable to join us for the day. After an introduction and safety tips, we were off to explore.

Honeymoon Beach, St. John

We headed out, passing the scenic St. John north coast as Sharp passed on interesting information on the different beaches and landmarks as we cruised by.

The rest of the day was spent exploring and enjoying beach and beach bar time on White Bay and Great Harbour Jost Van Dyke,

Great Harbour, Jost Van Dyke
White Bay, Jost Van Dyke
Gypsea Girl in White Bay

checking out beautiful Sandy Spit (even without any foliage!),

Waiting for lunch at Pizza Pi, Christmas Cove, USVI

and enjoying a delicious Blumin’ Onion pizza at Pizza Pi in Christmas Cove, St. Thomas (delicious pizza made on and picked up from a boat!). To top off the day, we spent some time snorkeling on the south side of St. John in Rendezvous Bay before heading back, sun kissed and full of the day’s adventures. Captain Sharp packed a lot into our day just as we had requested, and we enjoyed every minute of it.

If you’re heading to St. John or St. Thomas soon (Big Blue Excursions can arrange pick-ups in St. Thomas too), be sure to give Sharp and Margie a call. They offer full and half day excursions for your group of up to 11 people and will tailor a VI adventure just for you. Although all of the Big Blue Captains can take you to not only the well-known spots, they would absolutely love to show you the hidden VI gems that not everyone gets to see and experience. Want to snorkel all day? No problem. Island hop and catch a lobster? Check. Lounge on beautiful beaches and visit the local beach bars? Yep. Your day, your way, your pace!

Contact Big Blue Excursions to set up your perfect Virgin Islands excursion!

By phone: (340)201-3045
Email: [email protected]
Online (includes a 10% discount!) Click the Book Now button on the lower right of page: BIG BLUE USVI

 

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

Dinner at The Longboard, Cruz Bay, St John


The Longboard, a Caribbean-inspired coastal cantina located in Cruz Bay opened its doors in May of 2015, but we had yet to experience it – that is, until our trip to St. John last month.

The Longboard, St. John - copyright Rum TherapyPassion Pitted
The Longboard is easy to find – from the ferry dock, walk straight past Strand Street in Cruz Bay to the next intersection (King Street), turn left and The Longboard is on the right.

The Longboard, St. John - copyright Rum Therapy
Focusing on fresh, local and flown-in ingredients, The Longboard continues to innovate their food concept and bring a new approach to dining on St. John with a healthy menu inspired by coastal flavors around the world. We loved the extensive fish and seafood offerings on their new menu including local fresh catches such as rainbow runner, wahoo, conch and octopus as well as Pacific fish such as Hawaiian Opah (Moon Fish) and Hawaiian Ahi.  Non-seafood entrees include Island Wings (spicy mango glazed wings) and Grilled Portabella, Chimichuri Marinated and Grilled Skirt Steak or Spicy Jerk Braised Pork Tacos & Bowls. Delicious new bar offerings and house-shaped cocktails include a Passion Fruit Frosé.

 After being seated on the patio, we ordered a couple of rum drinks – a Rum Julep,

The Longboard, St. John - copyright Rum TherapyRum Julep
and a new offering called Stoked, a tropical concoction of aged rhum, Plantation Overproof Rum, housemade orgeat, blackstrap bitters, housemade pineapple shrub and lime juice – impressively lit afire at our table!

The Longboard, St John - copyright Rum TherapyStoked
Our appetizer consisted of a trio of ceviche’s served with yucca chips and tostones. We then sat back in our chairs enjoying the food, drink, view and the warm St. John air from The Longboards open aired patio.

Dinner at The Longboard, Cruz Bay, St JohnMixto (trio of ceviche’s)
After polishing off our appetizer, we moved on to our entrées, ordering the Longboard Sliders made with a coconut crusted fresh catch-of-the-day,

The Longboard Sliders

and an Ahi Tuna Bowl.


Each dish had its own special Caribbean flair and incorporated local spices, locally-caught seafood and locally-sourced herbs, greens and fruits. Mmmm – delicious!

Our only regret? After our satisfying dinner, we had no room to sample one of their famous Frozen Painkillers. Can you imagine how that would taste after spending a day on one of St. John’ beautiful beaches?


Find out more about The Longboard by visiting their website, and following them on Facebook and Instagram.

Have you enjoyed dinner (or at least a Frozen Painkiller) at The Longboard yet? If so, tell us about it!

A special thanks to The Longboard and Rebecca for arranging our delicious dinner!

Find The  Longboard on our St. John Map

To see more island posts, check out our Island Blog Directory

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

St. John Villa Rentals with Island Getaways

The island of St John, USVI has been making the TOP 10 Caribbean Travel Lists for years. It’s reputation for beautiful white sand beaches and fantastic snorkeling is well deserved and is the main reason for the island’s increasing popularity, although the island also offers excellent dining options, unique shops and miles of  scenic hiking in the Virgin Islands National Park, which makes up approximately 2/3 of the island.

Hawksnest2-(600)-OHawksnest Bay Beach

With just two resorts on St John, it’s easy to see why so many people rent vacation villas for their stay on the island. Guests will find that many villas have wonderful ocean views, private decks, pools, spas and amenities.

Have you ever considered a rental villa for a vacation? Read on to find out why it’s such an appealing option and to see a few photos of the amazing properties available on St. John through Island Getaways.

Just imagine relaxing on your own private patio while gazing over a sparkling pool to a breathtaking view of the turquoise water surrounding St. John…

mystic-ridge-pool
Although this may seem like a dream, it’s the view from Mystic Ridge, just one of the stunning St. John rental villas from Island Getaways.

Rendezview-bedroomWake up to an amazing view at Rendezview

Island Getaways offers a selection of upscale villas that can accommodate from 2 to 12 guests with amenities like pools, spas, ocean views, gourmet kitchens, WIFI and more!

We became fans of the rental villa experience several years ago when we were looking into accommodations for our group of 6 adults. We wanted to stay in a place that would allow us all to be close by so that we could interact with one another in a comfortable setting – almost like home.

ChateauMargot-gourmet-kitchenThe gourmet kitchen of Chateau Margot

After researching the possibilities, we decided to rent a 3 bedroom, 3 bath villa to accommodate our large party and it was a great decision. Not only did each couple have a comfortable, luxurious bedroom with bathroom, but we were able to linger and socialize over coffee in the morning, meals on the deck and lounge in the sun around our private pool.

ChateauMargot-st-john Poolside at Chateau Margot

And surprisingly, with the flexibility of preparing some of our food and beverages in our island home for the week, the per couple cost was approximately the same as a nearby resort we had priced!

Rendezview-villa-st-johnDining area at Rendezview Villa

Considering a vacation on St. John? Island Getaways specializes in luxurious villa rentals on the island. Island Getaways owner, Kathy McLaughlin, has lived, worked and managed some of St John’s top rental villas for over 20 years. Her knowledge of St John and why people visit St John sets her apart and ensures that you and your family will enjoy the perfect home-away-from-home Virgin Islands vacation.

Rendezview-pool-st-john-usviPrivate pool at Rendezview Villa

Island Getaways rental villas are located all across St John. Each captures the unique charms of that particular part of the Island, from Cinnamon Stones panoramic North Shore views of Tortola to Mystic Ridge’s cooling Tradewinds over Coral Bay. Enjoy locations convenient to Cruz Bay or Coral Bay. And all of the villas are a short drive to the beautiful North Snore beaches like, Trunk Bay, Cinnamon Bay, Hawksnest Beach and Maho.

Trunk-Bay4-(600)-OTrunk Bay

With 2 decades of positive reviews from hundreds of guests and repeat visitors – they’re confident that they can make your St John, Virgin Island vacation the relaxing island getaway you envision!

To find out more about the gorgeous villas available, visit the Island Getaways website,

Call Toll Free: 888.693.7676 or
Email: [email protected]

Follow Island Getaways on Facebook!

CasaLuna-st-john-usviFabulous view from Casa Luna

This is a sponsored post. Although we were compensated by the company who sponsored it, the views are solely our own and we only recommend products or services we believe our readers will enjoy.

The Longboard, a Coastal Cantina in Cruz Bay, St. John

How does a Conch and Shrimp Lettuce Wrap, an Ahi Tuna Tower or a Caribbean Spice Bowl (spicy jerk braised pork, sliced avocado, charred corn black bean salsa, shredded red cabbage, lime sour crème) washed down with a Rum Sangaree, a Heart and Sol or a Frozen Painkiller while sitting in a restaurant/bar with a cool coastal vibe in the heart of Cruz Bay, St. John sound?

The-Longboard, St. John
These are just a few of the delicious food and drink offerings available at a new establishment recently opened on St. John called The Longboard.

The-Longboard, St. John
The Longboard is the culmination of a long-time dream of owners Clint Gaskins and Tyler Beckstead who each bring years of restaurant and bar experience to their new venue. The Longboard opened in May of 2015 and has already garnered some very favorable reviews, an article in Coastal Living, and an upcoming spread in Islands Magazine!

The-Longboard, St. John
The kitchen is headed up by Chef Anthony Fossani, whose resume includes Michelin Star New York restaurant Oceana as well as Country Clubs and the Mega Yacht Industry. Fossani brings serious talent and an expertise in creating a balanced fusion of cuisines to tantalize your taste buds. The teams combined expertise brings a unique and innovative new restaurant/bar option to Cruz Bay.

The-Longboard, St. John
The Longboard serves fresh, healthy foods inspired by Southern California and the Caribbean. On their menu you will find a variety of delectable offerings, from small plates, tacos, quinoa/rice bowls and light, fresh fish based Caribbean dishes.

The-Longboard, St. JohnAhi Tuna Tower
To keep the ingredients ultra-fresh, they source as much as they can locally. Customer favorites so far? Ahi Tuna Tower, Island Guacamole, Poke, and the variety of fresh gourmet tacos and quinoa/rice bowls. Gluten free options are also available.

LONGBOARD_FOOD-9-(1000)-OMenu
The Longboard also offers an extensive drink menu with specialty cocktails.

The-Longboard, St. JohnDark & Stormy

Their specialty cocktails, many of which use housemade sodas and syrups, highlight delicious Caribbean flavors. Even their traditional drinks like the Dark & Stormy, are created with their own spin and fresh take.

The-Longboard, St. JohnHeart and Sol

Current drink favorites include the Sunshower (said to taste like sunshine in your mouth by one reviewer), Heart and Sol, Passion Pitted, and of course, their famous Frozen Painkiller.

LONGBOARD_DRINK-8-(1000)-O
Drinks

 Although the road to opening the restaurant of their dreams on St. John was not an easy one, Clint and Tyler were determined to find just the right location on the beautiful island that they love. Tyler lived on the island for a year in the 2000’s and Clint had traveled frequently to STJ over the last 10 years. They felt there was a unique opportunity in this unique location, so they went to work finding a space for The Longboard. They ended up with a building that needed some serious updating and TLC, but it had good bones and with the help of their great team, they were able to create their vision.

The-Longboard, St. John
The Longboard is a “coastal cantina” celebrating the adventurous yet laid back ocean lifestyle of the islands.  After an extensive remodel from the previous Joe’s Diner, The Longboard offers a bright, beachy and fun location with a focus on modern design and surf culture of which both Tyler and Clint were accustomed to, being surfers at one point in their lives (Tyler is still an avid surfer on his days off). The space has been expertly laid out to comfortably accommodate 60 guests with seating at the bar, bar tables and porch.

Bar 3 p.m. – Until…
Happy Hour is 3-6 p.m. daily
Bar Snacks 3 p.m. – 10 p.m.
Kitchen (full menu) 3 p.m. – 10 p.m.

Stop by and check them out on  your next trip to St. John!

The Longboard
1 Prince Street
Cruz Bay, St. John

Find The Longboard on our St. John Map

Visit their website for more information: The Longboard
 Follow them on Facebook for updates and specials.
Catch them on Instagram too!

Photos courtesy of The Longboard and www.photo.vi

The-Longboard, St. John
This is a sponsored post. Although we were compensated by the company who sponsored it, the views are solely our own and we only recommend products or services we believe our readers will enjoy. 

Love City Excursions and a Boat Named CatZilla

Imagine waking up and thinking “I get to go to work today!” and by work I mean running a charter business in St. John, US Virgin Islands. That’s the reality for Joe and Katie Zachary who own Love City Excursions, a full service excursion company based on the beautiful island of St. John. So just how did they do it? How did they relocate to a beautiful island and start their own business? Here’s their story.

Katie-and-Joe-(600)-O
Katie grew up in a small town in Colorado and after graduating from high school AND college in 6 years – she was burnt out! Two weeks after graduating, she packed up and moved to St. John for a bit of adventure and a different pace of life. She lived and worked in St. John for about a year, then left to travel through Europe. She ended up in Boston, but missed St. John so much she decided to move back.

Meanwhile, Joe, who had grown up in Nashville, Tennessee, graduated from the University of Tennessee. A year after graduating, he decided to move down to St. John, a place he had visited as a kid and loved. He immediately got a job working on boats and on the beach at the Westin and eventually started captaining To make a long story short, these two island loving adventurers eventually found love together and just got married this past summer.

They began to work together on their dream of owning their own business and opened Love City Excursions earlier this year. Starting a business in the islands was not without a bit of drama though. They encountered MANY trials and tribulations with purchasing a boat in the VI’s, but their new boat, CatZilla finally arrived July 13th.

Love-City-Excursions-(600)-OCatZilla (photo: Love City Excursions)

Katie said, “She was shipped down here the same day we got married. I was actually at our wedding rehearsal standing at the altar on the phone with the trucker because our trailer blew out 3 tires on the way from North Carolina to Florida where it was being put on a shipping container. Thankfully, my amazing bridesmaid took the phone and my credit card and took care of it so I could get through our rehearsal!”

CatZilla is a 33 foot world cat power catamaran. She is built for off shore fishing, so she handles the waves and rough weather that the area sometimes gets like a dream. She’s a very large boat, so the name “CatZilla” is fitting! Although Katie can also captain the boat, Joe usually takes the helm while Katie, whose degree is in marketing, runs the business end.

Love City Excursions offers completely customizable full and half day charters in the USVI and BVI. Charters generally leave from the National Park Dock in Cruz Bay. I asked what their most popular charter was and Katie said, “We seem to get a lot of requests for a trip called The Triangle, which is snorkeling at Norman Island, eating lunch over there and then Soggy Dollar.”

Soggy-Dollar copyright Rum Therapy
Every excursion is a bit different though as guests choose what they want to do from island hopping to bar hopping, and snorkeling to exploring.

Love-City-Excursions2-(600)-OSandy Spit (photo: Love City Excursions)

I asked what makes Love City such a highly rated excursion company – already! Katie said, “What makes our excursions great is two things. 1. We are a family run business so from start to finish. You’ll be dealing with Joe and I and we are both very happy when we make our guests happy. We use the slogan, The Best Day of Your Vacation, and it really, really is people’s favorite day while they are here! 2. Our Boat. CatZilla is the largest small powerboat on St. John and she can handle the weather like no other boat out there. It’s a dry, fast, and super comfortable ride.

Love-City-Excursions3-(600)-OThe Baths, Virgin Gorda (photo: Love City Excursions)

I had just one more question to ask before wrapping up our interview. What is the BEST and WORST part about living on St. John? Katie answered, “The worst. Ahhh. Island life challenges. The normal things: groceries are expensive (almond butter is $27.99), apartments are at a premium and very scarce right now, gas is expensive, our power goes out a lot, everything takes a long time to accomplish, our apartment floods when it rains, you’re always fighting mold and mosquitos, sometimes there are scorpions in your bed (or on your pillow,) I received mail last week from December of 2014, and things just don’t work the same here. We all joke that we’re about ten years behind the states. And the hardest thing of all is being away from our families. But on the flip side, the BEST part of living here. Easy. The community here. Everyone helps everyone else and anytime someone is in need the entire community bands together to help anyway they can. That’s also probably why it’s called Love City, or at least a large part of it. St. John is safe, beyond beautiful, and we are SO lucky to call it home.

Love-City-Excursions4-(600)-OTrunk Bay Overlook (photo: Love City Excursions)

Would you like to find out more about booking an excursion with Katie, Joe and Love City Excursions?
Call them at 1.340.998.7604 or email: [email protected]

Check out their website for more info: Love City Excursions,
and follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep up with all their latest news and info!

Finding Denis Bay Beach, St. John

 It was a Sunday and we had taken the car ferry over from St. Thomas for the day. Our mission? Well, we’d love to experience every single one of St. Johns beaches, so part of it was to find a few beaches that we hadn’t yet seen and the other was to find a beach to veg.

Gibney and Oppenheimer beaches were on our list, as the few parking spots for them have been full every time we’ve driven by. This time there were open parking spots, but there was a sign on the gate that said “Closed for a private event”. Sigh…still on the list. (Find Gibney Beach on our St. John Map)

Next stop? Peace Hill. We continued just a little farther on North Shore Road to the Peace Hill sign and a small parking area.

Peace Hil copyright Rum Therapy
We’d taken the short path Peace Hill and the sugar mill ruins before, and loved the terrific overlook of Gibney Beach, sigh, Hawksnest Bay, and Trunk Bay, but didn’t realize that a small unmarked path off to the right led to the rather secluded Denis Bay Beach until we got home and studied our map (I got low grades on my pre-trip research for that particular trip!). Anyway, we were here now and determined to find Denis.

Denis Bay Path copyright Rum Therapy
The path to Denis is a bit rocky and muddy after a rain storm and probably best done in sturdy shoes, but we of course were wearing flip flops. It had poured for a few short minutes prior to our arrival and so we slipped and slid down the trail but arrived with lower digits intact. The wooded trail opened up to beach at the end, where we ditched the flip flops and walked to the right, where the beach looked sandiest.

Denis-Bay copyright Rum Therapy
The beach is not large compared to neighboring Hawksnest and Trunk Bays, but it was deserted and the only person we saw was a lone fisherman on a rocky outcropping a few yards from shore in the bay.

Denis-Bay-copyright Rum Therapy
I imagine the beach is usually pretty quiet as it takes a little effort to get there, but we thought it was worth it. Denis Bay Beach found and we’ll be putting a check mark in front of one more beautiful St. John beach.

Have you been to Denis Bay Beach? Tell us about it!

Find Denis Bay on our St. John Map

To see more St. John and other island posts, check out our Island Blog Directory

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

5 Favorite Scenic Overlooks in the Caribbean

It was a challenge to select just 5 of our favorite Scenic Overlooks in the Caribbean – even after narrowing the criteria to those that included water views, but these are 5 of our favorites from our travels to date. Feel free to add some of your favorites in the comments below!


View of Magens Bay, St. Thomas from Drakes Seat.
Legend has it that Sir Francis Drake used this vantage point to keep an eye out for enemy ships.

Check out other island posts here: Island Blog Directory

Gustavia, St Barts copyright Rum Therapy
Overlook of Gustavia, St. Barts – one of the most colorful overlooks in the Caribbean. It’s well worth a short hike on a nice path to enjoy this view.


From this perch high atop Virgin Gorda at Hog Heaven, you can see the entire North Sound including Leverick Bay, Saba Rock, Bitter End Yacht Club, Prickly Pear Island, Necker Island and on a clear day, a very faint sliver of Anegada.

Trunk Bay, St John - copyright Rum Therapy
Overlook of Trunk Bay, St. John.
One of the most photographed overlooks in the Caribbean; the sight of Trunk Bay from this spot nearly takes your breath away and gives you a taste of the beauty that lies ahead.

White-Bay JVD, copyright Rum Therapy
The overlook of White Bay, Jost Van Dyke is absolutely picture perfect. It’s really rather hard to take a bad picture of this beautiful bay!

What are your favorite Caribbean scenic overlooks? Tell us about them!

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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.