Day 6: Jost Van Dyke
Juliet's uncle Chuck Handy spent many years sailing charters and doing carpenter work out of St. Thomas so when he declared, "You gotta go to Jost!", we obeyed without question. Jost (pronounced YOST) Van Dyke is a small island that sits just to the north and west of Tortola. The small island is famous for great beaches and great parties at the world famous Foxy's in Great Harbour. Getting over to Jost was easy as there's a ferry that runs daily from the West End ferry dock. We picked up the 10:30 ferry for the roughly thirty minute trip over. There were only three other people on the ferry with us. Before we know it we're on the ferry dock at Jost and take the three minute walk to the center of Great Harbour. Great Harbour town is made up of a sand path that runs along the bay with a number of beach bars, the Customs House and snack bars touting cures for the munchies...hmmm.
On the east end of Great Harbour lies Foxy's famous beach bar spread out among a number of small buildings and a large open air dining room. There's a guy barbecuing a large amount of chicken on a massive outdoor grill as wild dogs frolic in the sand. The first building you come to is the souvenir shop laded with t-shirts, swimsuits, hats, postcards and that kind of stuff. I think that Foxy knows a thing or two about sales and marketing. It's not even noon yet so the place is pretty quiet so we decide to hop a cab over to White Bay which is just on the west side of the cliffs from Great Harbour. The actual distance to get there is short, but like everywhere you go on these islands, the terrain necessitates a car ride. Finding a taxi is a bit of a chore on this sleepy island but we manage to pop into a store and find someone to drive us over to White Bay.
The ride over to White Bay took less than ten minutes and before you know it we were being dropped off at the sandy entrance to the Soggy Dollar Bar and Grill which is right on White Bay Beach. A few locals acknowledged that the Soggy Dollar is recognized as the original home of the famous BVI drink, the painkiller. We strolled passed the active bar and few people laying down on beach loungers to see a magnificent bay and white sand beach. We headed a hundred feet or so down the beach and set up a little campsite under a couple of palm trees. The water looked gorgeous and inviting so we immediately jumped in for a swim. After so many great beach experiences up to this point it was hard for me to believe that it could get better but it did. The weather was perfect, the water was an amazing turqouise blue and the beach was idyllic. We frolicked in our little island paradise for a couple of hours before meeting our cab driver, who took us back over to Great Harbour.
Once in Great Harbour we headed back to Foxy's for lunch where the quiet, laid back atmosphere was crushed by a large group of partiers from the Ritz-Carlton in St. Thomas. We waded through the rowdy crowd and found ourselves a table under the large wooden pavilion, (which Juliet's uncle Chuck helped build.) We had a nice lunch and greeted a couple of the local dogs who came up to scrounge a few morsels. Juliet had a nice conversation with Foxy's wife Tessa and before you know it the Ritz Carlton crowd was headed back to their catamaran. Like magic, serenity returned to the island paradise. We still had a couple of hors before ferry departure so we decided to enjoy the restored, laid back atmosphere and walked down the sand path to Ali Baba's, right near the new dock and the customs house. We sat in the sat, sipping painkillers, listening to a couple of locals talk (in very animated fashion) and watching the work crew put the finishing touches on the new dock.
As we sat there looking out at the harbor and Tortola in the distance I could swear that I felt my blood pressure drop to near zero. It was pure heaven. A little later we walked back over to the ferry dock and ran into our cab driver again. This time he had snagged a Barracuda with a line and had it writhing around on the dock. We hopped the 4:45 ferry back for West End Tortola. The only thought I had as I looked back at the island was this, "You gotta go to Jost!"
