The inter-island ferry steamed along the east coast of Jost Van Dyke — the smallest of the British Virgin Islands’ four main islands, yet a longtime favorite of sailors and visitors. We disembarked at the Great Harbour dock and strolled past beachside shops and bars until we reached Foxy’s, a well-known bar and restaurant that has built an international reputation over the past four decades.
Rafters and open ceilings are decorated with bikini tops and memorabilia from raucous parties of years gone by. On New Year’s Eve, during Foxy’s famed Old Year’s Night celebration, Great Harbour fills with yachts and small boats, and the revelry often continues until dawn. We visited in the heat of midday, enjoyed a relaxed lunch of grilled fish and sampled a few of the bar’s potent rum cocktails, which went down easily in the tropical heat. Afterward I dozed in a hammock on the beach in front of the bar while my photographer took a picture that later appeared in a magazine feature on famous Caribbean watering holes.
The island’s laid-back vibe and Foxy’s lively character make Jost Van Dyke special. The shoreline, dotted with small businesses catering to visitors, feels intimate and unhurried compared with the busier ports on other islands. The combination of casual seafood, inventive rum drinks and the open-air atmosphere gives the place a distinctly Caribbean charm that keeps people coming back year after year.
Beyond Foxy’s, Great Harbour offers simple conveniences and colorful local life: fishermen bringing in their catch, dinghies tied together in clusters, and visitors wandering between bars, shops and beaches. The island’s small scale means that a short walk takes you through much of its social scene — a sequence of friendly greetings, music drifting over sand, and the steady presence of the sea.
For many travelers, the appeal of Jost Van Dyke lies in that unpolished authenticity — where a memorable drink, a laid-back meal and sun-warmed hammocks can turn an ordinary afternoon into a lasting memory. Whether arriving by ferry, private boat or charter, visitors usually leave feeling they discovered a place shaped more by people and stories than by tourist trappings.