--- title: "White Bay, British Virgin Islands: The Soggy Dollar's Beach" url: https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/white-bay description: "White Bay, British Virgin Islands, is the Soggy Dollar Bar's free beach on Jost Van Dyke, 7 minutes by car from the Great Harbour ferry dock." updated: 2026-10-22 source: https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/white-bay --- [British Virgin Islands](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi) · [Beaches](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches) · Jost Van Dyke · West of Great Harbour # White Bay White Bay is the Soggy Dollar Bar's beach, a long sweep of pale sand on Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands, where boats moor off the shore and their crews wade in for a Painkiller. It is free, calm behind its reef and at its best early. By late morning the day boats have filled the moorings. **Conditions:** Calm most days: the bay faces south behind a reef, by our read of the map, so a winter north swell passes it by and a south swell does not. Boats moor off the beach and swimmers wade in. No lifeguard listed as of October 2026. *Turquoise water and anchored boats off White Bay, Jost Van Dyke, seen past cactus* ## White Bay at a glance | | | | --- | --- | | Entry | Free; no authority posts a fee, as of October 2026 | | Hours | None posted for the beach; the Soggy Dollar Bar publishes no hours or season (its own site, as of October 2026) | | Parking | The road from Great Harbour ends at the sand, with room for a few cars; most visitors come by taxi or by boat | | Restrooms | Seasonal or limited | | Shade | Some | | Snorkeling | 3 of 5, Fair | | Crowds | Busy | | Drive from Great Harbour | about 7 minutes by car | | Lifeguard | No | Facts checked Oct 16, 2026. ## Conditions today at White Bay As of 7:00 AM on Oct 22, 2026, island time. Read each morning from Open-Meteo at the pin, the one feed that covers the British Virgin Islands; the bay opens south, by our read from the map. **Sea state** **Sheltered.** The swell is from the north-northeast at 0.9 m, period 8 seconds; White Bay opens south, so the bay sits in the lee. Open-Meteo wave model at the nearest ocean cell; the bay's opening is our read from the map. **Surf and water test** No forecast office writes a surf zone forecast for these beaches and the British Virgin Islands publish no weekly water test we can read, so the sea state above is our read from the wave model at the pin, and this page carries no water-quality line. Open-Meteo wave model at the pin; no BVI agency publishes a beach advisory. **Rain** Dry through the day; the chance of rain peaks at 8%. Open-Meteo hourly forecast at the pin. **The day** UV index up to 8; sunset 5:51 pm; sea 30 °C, 86 °F. Open-Meteo. ## Routes to White Bay About 7 minutes by car from Great Harbour. How to reach the British Virgin Islands: [British Virgin Islands map](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/map), [British Virgin Islands weather, month by month](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/weather), [Ferries between the British Virgin Islands](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/ferry), [Getting to the British Virgin Islands](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/getting-there), [Things to do in Tortola and the British Virgin Islands](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/things-to-do). ## Getting to White Bay from Tortola and St. John Every ferry to Jost Van Dyke lands at Great Harbour, and White Bay is the next bay west, over a short hill: 7 minutes by car from the dock, and walkable for anyone who wants the exercise. Taxis wait at the dock. Fares are set by the government's taxi tariff, so ask for the tariff fare first, and agree the ride back. From Tortola, New Horizon Ferry runs between the West End terminal and Great Harbour five times a day each way, the first at 8 am from West End, $30 one way as of October 2026. From St. John, Inter Island Boat Services makes the trip three days a week, out in the morning and back in the mid-afternoon. Coming from St. John, you clear customs and immigration at the Great Harbour dock, which keeps office hours, with a passport book, or for a US citizen a passport card. From Tortola there is nothing to clear: West End to Great Harbour is a crossing inside the territory. The times to hold on to are the last boats home: 5 pm to West End, and 3:30 pm to St. John on its three days, as of October 2026. ## White Bay beach and the Soggy Dollar Bar A long strand of pale sand with the island's [beach bars](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/eat-and-drink) strung along it, and one of them is the reason most people come. [The Soggy Dollar Bar](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/things-to-do/soggy-dollar-bar)'s own history page says it began as the bar of the Sandcastle Hotel beside it, where the Painkiller was created in the 1970s, and that it took its name from the wet dollars of guests who swam ashore because there was no dock. There still is none. By its own account it serves breakfast, lunch and evening appetizers, and it prints no hours or season. The other bars' published hours disagree with each other, so we print none. The beach is free and nobody runs it. The restrooms are the bars', for their customers, and the shade is under their palms and umbrellas. The tradeoff: this is the day boats' beach. By our read of the timetables, [charters from Tortola](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/experiences/boat-charters) and the US Virgin Islands fill the moorings from late morning, their guests wade in to the bars, and the sand empties again after three. Take the first New Horizon boat from West End and you have it nearly to yourself until then; stay late, and the last ferry sets the end of the day. ## Swimming at White Bay, calm behind its reef White Bay is calm on most days. The bay faces south behind a reef across its front, with a gap the boats use, so a winter north swell, the kind that runs onto Tortola's north shore, passes it by; a south swell is the one that reaches it. We rate the snorkeling 3 of 5: the rocks at either end of the beach and the reef across the bay are worth a look on a calm morning, but the middle of the bay is moorings, dinghies and swimmers, and nobody plans a day here for the fish. Keep to the swimming area near the sand when the boats are moving, and swim with someone; no authority lists a lifeguard. White Bay suits a long lunch, a first Painkiller where it was mixed, and a family who can make the early boat. ## Questions people ask about White Bay ### Where is White Bay on Jost Van Dyke? On the south coast of Jost Van Dyke, the next bay west of Great Harbour, where the ferries land. It is 7 minutes by car or 24 on foot from the Great Harbour dock by our measurement, and the Soggy Dollar Bar is on the sand. ### How do you get to White Bay on Jost Van Dyke? Take New Horizon Ferry from West End, Tortola, to Great Harbour, $30 one way as of October 2026, or the Inter Island Boat Services boat from St. John on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays, which clears customs at the dock. From there take a taxi 7 minutes or walk 24 over the hill. ### Is there a dock at White Bay? No. Boats moor off the beach and people swim or wade ashore, which is how the Soggy Dollar Bar got its name, by its own history page. The ferries all land at Great Harbour, 7 minutes away by car. ### Is there a fee at White Bay? No. No authority charges for the beach as of October 2026. What costs money is the ferry, $30 one way from West End on New Horizon, the border's $10 on entry and $20 departure tax if you come from the US islands, and what you buy at the bars. Written by Virgin Islands Villas. Facts checked Oct 16, 2026. Updated Oct 22, 2026. [Open White Bay in Google Maps](https://www.google.com/maps?cid=1141107797556852112) Facts checked against [the BVI Tourist Board](https://www.bvitourism.com/ferry-schedules), [New Horizon Ferry](https://www.newhorizonferry.com/schedule/), [the Soggy Dollar Bar](https://www.soggydollar.com/painkiller-history) and [the Government of the Virgin Islands](https://gov.vg/news/valid-passport-required-enter-virgin-islands). Checked October 2026. No villa listed with us is within ten minutes of White Bay yet. [See every villa in the BVI](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/villas), with its rates and dates. ## Other beaches near White Bay - [Smuggler's Cove West End · 8.6 km away · free entry](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/smugglers-cove) - [Long Bay West End · 9.2 km away · free entry](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/long-bay) - [Apple Bay Tortola · 10.0 km away · free entry](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches/apple-bay) [Every beach in the BVI, compared](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/beaches)