Hot pot: Soggy Dollar Bar, Island Jost Vandyke
Its was once accessible only by water (
there is now a rough road, though most visitors still arrive by boat ). Do
thirsty sailors would brave the waters of the British Virgin Islands to make it
ashore, and pay with wet dollar bills. Many were on a pilgrimate to the
birthplace of the Painkiller, a dangerous cocktail that proliferated in the
area as speedly as the Caribbean plant for which it is named. Lunch is
perennnially busy, but things simmer down in the evening. Order the conch
fritters and roti ( a local favourite of flatbread topped with chicken curry ).
And prime yourself for competition. In these parts, Blackbeard is said to have
played ‘get the ring on the hook’ using hemp and bones; today, players at the
Soggy Dollar try to throw a steel ring- on- a- string onto a nail. Have a look
at the webcam on www.soggydollar.com.
Contact 00 1
284 495 9888
Vibe strings
of signal flags from visiting yachts establish a castaway mood
Days lunch is seved 365
Food bill mains
from US$7
On- site guest rooms six
Typical number of strokes to swim ashore
from a yacht 27
Hot spot: Tamboo Beside the Pointe, Island Puerto Rico
Tamboo
Beside the Pointe
Set out early with your snorkel gear or
join a game of beach volleyball to justify the hearty fare- baby back ribs,
grilled mahi- mahi- at this classic hangout in the twon of Rincon. Besides a
dusting of celebrities ( Kate Moss and Benicio Del Toro have stopped by ),
Tamboo attracts an array of friendly locals and surfers who come for the house
band and stay for the house speciality: an award- winning Mojito, the wildly
populat Cuban cocktail, made with locally grown mint.
Contact 00 1
787 823 8550
Vibe minimalist,
plywood party central
Food bill mais
from UD$7
Distance to beach 15- step stairway
Distance to nearest hotel a few feet ( Tamboo has nine simply decorated rooms and apartments )
Average wave size (infeet) four
Hot spot: Sonie Rican Restaurant, Island Puerto Rico
Sonie
Rican Restaurant
When Kitchen Confidential chef Anthony
Bourdain ate this Playa Jobos spot, he declared, ‘Food tastes better when your
are not wearing shoes.’ It is a common reaction to the Sonia Rican, which has a
smattering of tables, a salsa- pumping jukebox, and a view of locals shredding
the waves (and occasionally rescuing gringos caught in a rip tide). Work off
you meal with a stroll down the beach to EI Pozo de Jacinto, a surfside
blowhole where, according to local legend, a boy named Jacinto lost his cow.
Visitors are urged tp yell ‘Deme la vaca’ (‘ Give me the cow’ ) to make the
water surge.
Contact 00 1
787 872 1818
Vibe surt
shack, complete with a littering of boards
Food bii mains
from US$5
Most ordered Mofondo (fried green plantains loaded with shrimp or labster)
Distance to nearest hotel half a mile to the owners’ Sol y Arena hotel (phone numbers as
above)
Flying Fishbone, Aruba
Flying
Fishbone, Aruba
You will not many locals at this dinner-
only retaurant; it offers no activities besides world- class wunset- watching,
and it is a 30- minute taxi ride from the nearest resort. And yet the Flying
Fishbone is always packed. The reason are twofold: the seafood- platters of
calamari, sea bass and curry- spiced shrimp- is landed by the fishermen next
door ( literally ); and six tables are in the sea, so guests can dine with warm
water lapping at their ankles. Oo1 297584 2506; mains from US$24