Hi All!!
I wanted to give a report on my latest trip to STT/STJ. I recently had the opportunity to hit the Islands with 8 other friends to celebrate a few 3-O birthdays. Thanks to a friend working at the Marriott we were all able to stay on STT at the Marriott really cheap!!

I have been to STJ a few times and wanted to introduce my friends to the stress free style of the islands.

Our first night on STT we hit the Red Hook area where we located a couple of fun places; Carribean Saloon and Duffy's!!! The Carribean Saloon was the first stop for a really nice happy hour; all bar food was 1/2 price and they had a number of drink specials. Duffy's!!! Not sure I can express how awesome this bar is; it looks like a half shack and is located in a parking lot close to the Red Hook ferry. The atmosphere and drinks are great! Being a group that was down to celebrate, I think we managed to order every crazy drink (Shark Tank, Volcano, Dr Feelsgood) and come home with a lot of souvenir cups and random toys.

The first day we took the Red Hook ferry over to STJ and then headed over to Jost Van Dyke. Once we were off the ferry and checked in with customs there were taxi's waiting to grab you and take you over to White Bay where we hit Soggy Dollar, One Love Bar and just laid back on the beach. Talk about a relaxing day!! After spending most of the time here we made the walk over the rocks over to Ivan's Stress Free bar where we were fortunate enough to meet Ivan. If you have never been to Ivan's please add this to your must visit places. The bar is decorated in sea shells and it is a honor bar; no bartender, no problems, make your own drink and leave the money in the money box. Ivan insisted we make our own drinks and explained that he believed in a "flavor" line when you make your drinks -- 95% rum, 5% mixer! He also has a great hammock and tire swing! Foxy's was the last stop before heading back to the ferry and unfortunately Foxy wasn't there but the drinks are still strong and tasty! This was the end of the first day, lots of beautiful beach time and of course a lot of painkillers and rum drinks!!!

On day 2 we headed over to STJ where we rented two 15 foot dinghy's. We took the dinghy's up to Leinster Bay so that we could snorkel around Waterlemon Cay. As usual, there were tons of starfish out there and of course sea turtles. There were a number of colorful fish and a sting ray here and there. After lunch and a couple of drinks we headed over to Maho Bay, then Cinnamon Bay and back to Cruz Bay. This is the first time I have ever rented a dinghy and I can not be a better advertisement for this, this was probably my best day on this island, NO JOKE. We rented the dinghy's for 8 hours and just hit beach after beach; definitely put this on your itinerary for your next trip. Be sure to pack a lunch, snacks, drinks and just enjoy a day on the water at your pace!! You can rent the dinghy's at the little stand near the Beach Bar. After the day on the water we headed to a small local stand near the National Park office and found some of the best bbq chicken and ribs; I wish I could remember the name but its close to the Post Office and the Park office. After dinner, off to Woodys; pretty much the same at Woody's as Duffy's, great bar and great people!!

Day 3 found us back on STJ for a hike, we went back to the National Park office. We hiked the Lind Point Trail and I think visited the most beautiful and perfect beach I have ever seen!! Solomons!! When we arrived the beach was perfect in the respect that for whatever reason there were no foot prints on the beach and the color contrasting as the water gets deeper was picture perfect! We spent the bulk of the day just lounging on Solomon's and I would guess detoxing from the previous nights out 🙂 After a day of just relaxing, we headed back over to STT for a last visit to Duffy's.

We didn't do much on STT as you can see other than falling in love with Duffy's. We had a short amount of time down there and I think we were able to cram a lot into a short visit. I also now shown 8 others how great the islands are and I believe they will be venturing back!!!