US Virgin Islands: Water Island
The title of this one is a little misleading because unlike my St. Thomas guide, I am literally showing you zero food. When we visited Water Island, USVI it was all about the booze and the beach. Trust me, though, that’s not a bad thing. I mean:
Water Island isn’t as famous as St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John. It’s the tiniest island in the USVI and although you CAN rent rooms on Water Island, it’s generally more of a residential island. Less than 200 people live on Water Island and it doesn’t have any big commercial draws. The obvious upside of the lack of development? Glorious, pristine white sand beaches! Well, one beach in particular: Honeymoon Beach.
It’s super easy to get to Water Island from St. Thomas. Just hop on a ferry from the Crown Bay marina in STT. It costs $10 for a roundtrip and the trip only takes about 10 minutes. I’m from Seattle so I think of ferries like this, but this is more like a normal little boat with a canopy on the top liiiike this.
While the Water Island ferries run about every hour on the hour, you’re on island time, so don’t worry about being crazy punctual. If you have some time to kill at the marina, grab a cocktail at the chill bar right on the dock, Tickles Dockside Pub. I hate the word “tickle” but I looove a frozen beverage. Rob and I treated ourselves to some excellent Bushwackers (frozen, creamy concoctions full of rum, coconut, banana, kahlua, and a bunch of other random liquors. Don’t question the Bushwacker, just appreciate its glory).
After a round or two, our ship came in (literally) and we were off! So here’s the view pulling away from St. Thomas on the ferry…
And what the Water Island dock looks like after we disembarked. It’s not a full-fledged marina or anything, just a cute little drop-off.
Once on Water Island, to get to Honeymoon Beach, you have to walk up and over a big hill. OR DO YOU?!??! You probably don’t, because there are tons of friendly people in their cars (or in our case, golf carts) who will offer to give you a ride, especially the good folks from Honeymoon Beach’s bar, Dinghy’s Beach Bar & Grill. We hitched a ride from a lovely Dinghy’s staff member and before we knew it, we were in surf & sand paradise. Dinghy’s is the shit. It’s super chill, free chairs (I know that’s a weird compliment but a lot of beach bars make you rent chairs), inexpensive yet strong drinks, good music, awesome staff.
Look at it. Just look at it. How can you even compete with this little slice of heaven?
Oh yeah and Honeymoon Beach itself isn’t hurting anything, either.
Like a boss.
As far as food, Dinghy’s specialty is Lionfish, which turns out to be an invasive species that damages the coral ecosystem. I never realized Lionfish were such assholes, but apparently they are. I really wanted to try some fried Lionfish tacos, but I’m not gonna lie to you guys. I drank SO many rum cocktails that I was too full to think about actual food. When we got the ferry back to St. Thomas, we ended up grabbing some burgers at Tap & Still in Red Hook. I guess the beauty of Water Island (and the dangerous amount of booze in my system) was my nourishment that afternoon!
Seriously, if you want a piece of untouched paradise, make sure you add a day trip on Water Island to your itinerary. These photos don’t even do it justice!
