The best time to hit popular Caribbean beaches is in the morning. I met up with Big Kahuna at 8pm at the pool bar of Bolongo Bay Resort, our destination, the popular Magens Bay beach on St. Thomas.

Magens Bay is St. Thomas’ most popular beach. It’s a slightly crescent, mile long stretch of white sand that is postcard perfect. On the morning we were exploring the blue water was calm with only gentle waves that massaged your ankles as they washed by. Magens gradually deepens making it perfect for small children to play and adults to simply float away. The bay is protected by lush green mountains on either side and has a centerpiece island sitting out in front of the bay’s opening.

Magens Bay is the only beach on St. Thomas that has an entry fee; funds are used to maintain the facilities and the beach. What sort of facilities you ask. You can find a restaurant/bar that serves pizza, burgers, snacks and cold beer. I wouldn’t call Magens Bay a snorkelers paradise. The bay has mostly a sandy bottom but you can find some rocks on the left (west) side that might give you some snorkeling structure to explore.

Magens Bay, St. Thomas USVI

The beach is a popular stop on island tour itineraries and can get crowded on days when there are several cruise ships in port. Most beach goers pick a spot close to the restaurant area, so typically if you walk down the shore where the snorkeling rocks I mentioned are, away form the concession are you’ll find fewer people. But really, there’s never a bad time to go, it’s the freakin’ best beach on island! Go and enjoy.

Does it get any better than this? Magens Bay

Magens Bay, St. Thomas USVI

It was a glorious morning spent at Magens. My only regret, I’m going to sound like a broken record, was that I didn’t have more time to relax and perhaps do some floating around. Maybe watch the day charters pull up and anchor, or perhaps kick back at the bar and enjoy a couple Summer Ales. Just a little island limin’.

Cheers Castaways!
RumShopRyan

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After one sip, you’ll be building sand castles on the beach with Wilson.

Show of hands, how many of you want to be in the Bahamas right now? Ok, hands down, I can’t see you remember. I’ll take a salty guess and say about 99% of you had your hands raised skywards. That other 1% must either be somewhere in the islands already or have scurvy.

The Abacos Islands in the Bahamas are a boaters dream, gin clear water, hundreds of islands for exploring and some really great beach bars. One of those Bahamian beach bars goes by the name of Nippers. Sitting on a cliff-like sand dune on Great Guana Cay, Nippers is one of the most well known beachside watering holes in the Bahamas. Live music, a pool and a lot of fun loving beach bums; Nippers has earned its spot as a Bahamian hot spot. And as with other well known beach bars, it has a famous drink to go with it. Let me introduce you to the infamous Nipper Juice.

A combination of fruit juices, rum and sunshine; Nipper Juice will have you dancing on the decks and cannon balling into the pool in no time. Sunshine as an ingredient? You caught that huh. Yeah, I had to make it up. The actual Nipper Juice recipe is secret. I hate that! Sure I respect the original drink creation and understand the owners don’t want it copied, but as a blogger I’m all about sharing, and when I can’t share the best information with you Castaways it annoys me.

So after a little rum research, here is the closest recipe I could find that best replicates the Nipper Juice.

Nipper Juice Cocktail Recipe

• 2 parts rum
• 2 parts Pineapple Juice
• 2 parts orange juice
• 1 part cranberry juice
• Splash of Nassau Royal liquor (hint of vanilla)

Mixing Instructions: In mixing glass with ice, combine Pineapple Juice, Orange Juice, Light Rum and Cranberry Juice. Mix. Add splash of dark rum. Raise glass and toast.

You can also get the Nipper Juice frozen. Obviously just toss all the ingredients into a blender and with ice.

If you’ve been to Nippers Beach bar on Great Guana I would love to hear your stories. At least the ones you CAN tell. I know that place can get pretty wild.

Cheers to another infamous boat drink.
RumShopRyan

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A guest post by JC Perez, author of Heisting the Beard.

We’ve all heard of the Duval crawl. That famous street in Key West that immediately brings thoughts of rum soaked nights and partying at places like Sloppy Joe’s after a long day at Smather’s beach. Well, we could easily argue that the father of the crawl was Ernest Hemingway, the hard drinking, heavy partying, Noble Prize winning author; Papa himself. Hemingway was drinking hard and partying away the nights well before the crawl ever got its name, and Key West is not the only place he was doing the crawl back to his hotel room after a long raucous night of slinging down rum.

Havana was probably the first, well before Key West became famous for its partying nature. The tight alley type streets of the forbidden isle’s capital, Havana, was the home to the bohemian set, the intellectuals, artists and writers who had a predilection for the taste of rum and its effects on loosening up your inner being and wild side. The stars of yesteryear like Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, and Hemingway, the father of American literature, all did the crawl in good ole Havana. Maybe we all owe them a bit of gratitude for initiating that great tradition we enjoy today which allows us to let our hair down and enjoy our wild side. What goes on in Vegas stays in Vegas; HELL; what goes on during the crawl stays in the crawl should be the slogan.

Hemingway Relaxing in Havana - Photo from Wikipedia

Let me take you to some places you should crawl through if you’re ever in Havana. I’ll introduce you to Papa’s favorites and few that have come after. Sit back and enjoy, and slam down a few delicious rum drinks in the city that made rum famous.

The Havana Crawl

Let me start with the home of the Mojito, and the home of the Daiquiri, Hemingway’s favorite places in Havana and where he got sloppy and loose before staggering back to his room in the “Hotel Ambos Mundos,” where he wrote two of his classics, “The old man and the sea” and “For whom the bell tolls”, possibly under the influence of our favorite elixir, grog, good old rum.

A must see and a must, “La Bodeguita del Medio,” the home of the Mojito. It’s located in old Havana on Emperada Street and San Ignacio. It’s not the kind of place you want to hang out at all night long, but you do want to have a drink where Hemingway had his and made the Mojito famous, so don’t miss out. When I write anything about Cuba I always like to remind people of where they are, meaning, the revolution. The years of isolation have made it somewhat an eye sore, and Havana has suffered the wrath of years of neglect. But those years haven’t changed the taste of the rum or the nostalgic feel you get while you’re there. La Bodeguita is full of nostalgia with old photos of papa and the famous people of that era all over the walls. The place is small, touristy and always packed, but hell, if it was good enough for Hemingway its good enough for at least one drink and a great place to start your crawl.

Ready for a Havana Mojito? Photo from bar.lv

From there go Hemingway’s next favorite haunt, “La Floridita,” home of the Daiquiri. It’s located on Obispo Street and Montserrat Street, and it has been there since 1817. It’s a far cry from “La Bodeguita.” It’s much bigger, more elegant and very clean. The food is great, but expensive, and like “La Bodeguita” very touristy, but what the hell, have a Daiquiri, they’re great, and then continue your crawl. By then you’ll be a little numb and better able to handle Old Havana and the tight little streets. Remember, you went to Cuba to drink good rum and enjoy the beautiful beaches, not to go sightseeing in a city that has been in seclusion for 52 years, but then maybe you did, whatever, enjoy yourself, the rum, and the crawl, that’s what it’s all about for now.

La Floridita, Havana Cuba - Photo from panoramio.com

From there go check out the “Taverna la Muralla,” located in an 18th century building at number 368 Ignacio Street. It opened up in 2003 and for you beer lovers it’s the place to go in Havana. It’s owned and operated by Germans so you know the beer is good, and the food isn’t bad either. It’s a bit of a change from the rum, but maybe you want to wash some of that grog down with some good Bavarian brew, or maybe drop a shot of Havana Club in your stein and do some shooters. Whatever rocks your crawl, it’s all about good drinks and enjoying yourself.

Taverna de la Muralla, Havana - Photo by Davidlansing.com

Before ending your crawl or finding a few places of your own to crawl to in old Havana, check out the “Bar Museo del Ron. A bar called the museum of rum for some of Cuba’s own grog “Habana Club.” It’s located at Avenida Del Puerto down by the bay and enjoy a beautiful view of Havana Harbor and the old Morro Castle on the other side.

Bar Museo del Ron, Havana - Photo by Chericbaker via Flickr

Just one more thing, before you end your crawl go to “El Gato Tuerto”, the one eyed cat, and listen to some of the world’s finest salsa music played by some of Cuba’s most famous musicians. The place is small and tight but worth the time for the music alone, and hell, while you’re there slam another one down for the road, you’re on a crawl right, so enjoy.

El Gato Tuerto, Havana Cuba - Photo from Panoramio

After a night of crawling and rum drinking, if you’re not to groggy, (No pun intended) head a few kilometers east of Havana for what has been internationally recognized as one of the finest beaches on the planet, “Varadero Beach”, and if you’re up to it begin another day of the crawl right there.

If you want to know how to get to Cuba check out some other articles I’ve written for my buddy and fellow rummy Ryan. Remember, I’m not condoning anything, just recommending. Enjoy yourselves rummies; don’t hold back, life is too short. Maybe we’ll meet someday at one of rumshop’s tropical getaways, you never know.

To Gin clear water and plenty of rum drinks.

Your fellow rummy and island life lover,

JC Perez
(Lead photo from jungledrumsonline.com)

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Almost a week removed from the Castaway Winter Beach Bash at Bolongo Bay Resort on St. Thomas, I keep finding my mind wandering back. It was a great time and I have a lot of stories I want to share with you Castaways who couldn’t make it. One of those stories was the rum tasting they put on for us.

Who's ready for rum?

Rum tasting, on the beach, in the Caribbean, with a great group of people…sign me up. The sun was setting, coconut palms towered over us and bottles of Cruzan Rum sit on the table, unopened, taunting us. Luckily we didn’t have to take matters into our own hands, Lesley, the Cruzan Rum rep. was there to save the day.

Rum on the beach.

Lesley told us about the history of Cruzan and how important it is to the economy of the USVI. You are actually encouraged to take bottles of Cruzan home with you, customs allows you to take extra bottle of any rum home as long as one of them is Cruzan. Cruzan is made on St. Croix, while we could actually see the island (40 miles to the south of St. Thomas) and were encouraged to visit the distillery by Lesley, our focus was concentrated on the bottles in front of us.

Lesley giving us the Cruzan low down.

Lesley cracked open the bottles and the rum tasting commenced. We tried Cruzan Strawberry, Vanilla, Coconut, Aged and Rum Cream. There might have been one more flavor, but I can’t remember. Haze of the rum.

I’m not really a fan of drinking straight flavored rums, but for the sake of the tasting I endured. To me the flavored rums are meant for mixing and that’s about it. I could maybe enjoy a small glass of the Cruzan Coconut, but that’s if I was out of dark rums. The flavored rums mix well and create “boat drink” magic with cocktails like the Bolongo Bay VooDoo Juice.

My talented assistant pouring some rum.

I did enjoy trying the Cruzan Rum Cream for the first time. Almost tastes like chocolate milk, with a kick. I think a bottle of this stuff is needed for some boat drink research. Stay tuned.

After a few hours the rum tasting ended but the party continued. Our group of Castaways doubled in size as the evening turned into the early morning. A few of us closed down Iggies Beach Bar (2am) and then brought our own bottle of rum out to keep the fun alive. Jokes were told, friendships made and there might have even been some singing. I’ll save that little gem for another time.

Big thanks to Lesley and Bolongo Bay Resort for setting up the rum tasting for our group. You guys rock!

(Top photo by Old Mango)

Cheers,
RumShopRyan

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I only had five short hours to spend on St. John before having to catch the noon ferry back over to St. Thomas and jump on a flight. Is five hours long enough to spend on this Caribbean gem? Not by a long shot, but it was long enough for this island beauty to sink her hooks into me all over again.

It was my first time to Francis Bay. The first visit to St. John was five years ago, way to long for this castaway. During that past visit we hung a right at the T-junction where you have the choice to go to Francis Bay on the left, or Annaberg and Waterlemon on the right. Franics Bay was the choice this time, and a good one it was.

Soak in the Island Lime Video below and see if Francis Bay tugs at your island soul as it did mine.

Francis Bay, St. John – USVI

Francis Bay faces West, which gives it a calm shore line and stunning sunset views. The bay is home to great hiking, snorkeling and areas to set up a picnic. I’m a big fan of Francis Bay because it take a little bit longer to get to. Most the cruise ship passenger from St. Thomas and trucked over to Hawksnest, Trunk and Cinnamon Bays. All beautiful beaches, but paradise is best enjoyed in peace, and that’s exactly what Francis Bay delivers.

Francis Bay, St. John USVI

Cheers,
RumShopRyan

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Wait for me! I tell my girlfriend Erin, who has already beat me to the bar and half consumed a VooDoo Juice.

We walk in the door of the Bolongo Bay Resort on St. Thomas and no sooner can we put our bags down, a cold rum punch is thrust into our hands. It disappears in less than 3 minutes. It was a long flight, what can I say. While the rum punch definitely hit the spot, my mind was on the drink that Bolongo Bay is known for, the VooDoo Juice.

We take our bags to the room and stare out the window to the neon blue Caribbean sea. Mesmerizing. But no rest for this pirate, I meet up with Colleen who is the Advertising/PR Manager, and also part of the owning family. We walk the grounds and she gives me the history of the resort as I snap photos and make mental notes. During the tour I lost track of my assistant/girlfriend, whom I’m guessing was either seduced by a beach side hammock or eaten by the large iguanas that roam the grounds.

The tour ends and I go in search of Erin and the other Castaways. I find them all, sitting comfortably on the beach with buckets in their hands. The joy found in these buckets is the infamous Bolongo Bay VooDoo Juice. A cocktail so sweat, so delicious, it will have you committing crimes just to get another taste.

Erin had wondered off and beat me to the bar and now teases me with her half empty bucket of fun. Isn’t the dude with the name RumShopRyan suppose to be the first to finish a bucket of VooDoo Juice! It wasn’t so in this case.

Want to make you’re own VooDoo Juice? Check out this video that Castaway BigKahuna and I shot at Iggies Beach Bar at Bolongo Bay. Good times and lots of rum!

VooDoo Juice Cocktail Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1oz. Cruzan Pineapple Rum
• 1oz. Cruzan Banana Rum
• 1oz. Cruzan Coconut Rum
• 1oz. Cruzan Citrus Rum
• 0.5oz. Cruzan Dark Rum
• 3oz. Cranberry Juice
• 3oz. Pineapple Juice

Mixing Instructions: Fill bucket (or really large glass) with ice and pour in the Pineapple, Banana, Coconut and Citrus Cruzan rums. Then add the Cranberry and Pinapple Juice and top with Cruzan Dark rum. Raise bucket and toast.

Great VooDoo Juice photo by my friend Old Mango.

If you’ve had the pleasure of sitting on the beach at Bolongo Bay or cooling off at Iggies Beach Bar with a VooDoo Juice sitting in front of you, then I’d love to hear what you thought of the drink.

Cheers to Boat Drinks!

RumShopRyan

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I want to invite all St. Thomas, St. John and BVI readers to join us at Bolongo Bay for the party. I know quite a few Castaways call the USVI/BVI home, I want to meet you and share a story or two over a cold rum punch. Come out and lime with us at Iggies!

Friday night at Bolongo Bay’s Iggies Beach Bar we have the Slick Fiction band (local), great female vocalist, rock & Roll classics along with contemporary rock. Then on Saturday night we have the one and only ‘Barefoot Davis’ entertaining at Iggies.

Iggies Beach Bar, St. Thomas

Here is a story about Barefoot Davis from the St. Thomas Source

It looks like Davis Murray — or Barefoot Davis as he’s known in the Virgin Islands — is poised for musical stardom. With his happy-go-lucky beach bum looks, a recently produced music video, a New England tour, a CD and regular upcoming gigs at Ainsley’s and Latitude 18, Murray is going places. The Barefoot Davis Band’s songs are also getting airplay on Pirate Radio WIVI-FM 96.1. Read More Here

Here is a little taste of Barefoot Davis…

That covers the evening entertainment, but what about the rest of the party? I’m glad you asked!

The itinerary is out and it’s packed with plenty of fun, a lot of rum and a whole bunch of Caribbean sun.

Castaway Winter Beach Bash Schedule

January 20 – 23, 2012

Friday, January 20

• Guest arrival Castaway Welcome Bag provided at check in or in-room upon arrival
• 5 or 6 p.m. Castaway Rum Tasting Event, Iggies Beach Bar
• 6 – 9 p.m. Dinner available, Iggies Beach Bar and The Lobster Grille
• 8 – 11 p.m. Live entertainment by the Slick Fiction band, Iggies Beach Bar

Saturday, January 21

• 7:30 – 10:30 a.m. Breakfast available, The Lobster Grille
• 8:30 a.m. Discover Scuba Dive in-pool lesson, water sports clinics, beach volleyball, etc
• 10 a.m. Paddleboarding clinic
• 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. Lunch available, Iggies Beach Bar and The Lobster Grille
• 4:15 p.m. Meet at the dock for Sunset Cocktail Cruise on Heavenly Days
• 6 – 9 p.m. Dinner available, Iggies Beach Bar and The Lobster Grille
• Live entertainment, Iggies Beach Bar

Sunday, January 22

• 7:30 – 10:30 a.m. Breakfast available, The Lobster Grille
• 8:30 a.m. Discover Scuba Dive in-pool lesson, water sports clinics, beach volleyball, etc
• 10 a.m. Sailing clinic
• 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. Lunch available, Iggies Beach Bar and The Lobster Grille
• 1:30 p.m. Castaways Snorkel Booze Hunt
• 6 – 9 p.m. Dinner available, Iggies Beach Bar and The Lobster Grille
• (TIME TBD) Live entertainment by the Sun Kings Band, Iggies Beach Bar

Bolongo Bay Resort, St. Thomas

Looking forward to hanging out with everyone on St. Thomas. Cheers to a great time and a much need break from the cold weather.

Cheers,
RumShopRyan

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I’ve written about this artist before, one of the legends of the Caribbean, but this video pretty much sums up what he and his energy is all about. Bankie Banx, from the island of Anguilla, has been singing his brand of folk reggae around the Caribbean and the world for more than 30 years.

Why am I writing about Banx again? I’ve received quite a few emails lately about island music and what songs would make a great Caribbean vacation playlist. Of coarse I’m going to say Buffett, Chesney, Mishka, Marley, Zac Brown, Boat Drunks…there’s a bunch. But if you want some real island sound you need to look at Bankie Banx. He’s been doing it for so long and has been doing it so right. Tons of articles have been written and countless minutes have been recorded of him and his band performing. What can I do to spread the word, I don’t know. All I know is he’s on my island mix and I want to share it with you.

Here’s a great video of Bankie Banx describing his music and why he does what he does.

Bankie puts on one of the biggest music festivals in the Caribbean. Moonsplash which happens has his beach bar, The Dunes Preserve takes place Thursday March 8, until Sunday March 11, 2012. This four day music festival draws some big names not just in reggae but from all genres. Here’s is some more information on Moonsplash.

If you don’t have Banx on your island/chill/reggae playlist yet here you go.

Still In Paradise – Bankie Banx

If you’ve had the chance to catch Bankie’s act at his bar on Anguilla I’d love to hear you’re story.

Cheers,
RumShopRyan

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Key West is like a drug. You visit once and it grabs at you. You visit again and it becomes hard to leave. You visit again and it becomes part of your DNA. I’ve been to Key West dozens of times and it becomes a little harder to let go every time. During my visit this past weekend we visited bars and formed relationships to set up the Conched in Key West Charity Bar Crawl. Yes, it’s hard work, but I’m willing to make the sacrifice for all of you!

One of the places Shawn and I visited was the Smokin’ Tuna Saloon. A relative new comer when it comes Duval Street bars. Tucked into a courtyard just off Duval, the Smokin’ Tuna is high on our list for places to stop or finish the bar crawl at. Why? Because it’s bad ass! Watch this video of famous Key’s Trop-Rocker Howard Livingston and you’ll understand.

Livin’ On Key West Time – Howard Livingston and the Mile Marker 24 Band

See what I mean! Not lying, I’ve just listened to this song about 6 times in a row as I’ve written this post. Crazy? Yeah, Key Crazy!

If you want to soak up this addictive island atmosphere then join us in September for the Conched in Key West Bar Crawl. It’s for a great charity, Reef Relief. Who knows, maybe we can get Howard to join us for the crawl and play at the pre-party the night before! I’ll see if I can work some magic to make that happen.

If you want Livin’ On Key West Time by Howard Livingston song, you can get it on iTunes here.

Perfect song to start the weekend with!

Cheers Castaways!
RumShopRyan

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I was able to pay No Name Pub a visit for the first time this past weekend. My only regret was not being able to stay longer…and try their pizza!

It all started back in 1931 with the general store and bait and tackle shop. They remained that way until 1936 when the owners added a small room on to the main structure which became a restaurant. Thus the Pub was born.

In the late 1930′s in an effort to drum up business they turned the upstairs area into a brothel. Big Pine Key was full of fisherman spending their days on the water and their nights at the pub. Why not add a little rented female companionship! It was a good idea but the brothel was closed in the early 1940′s. Turns out the ladies of the night looked more like fish than tempting seductresses.

Sometime during the 1950s the general store and bait and tackle shop closed. The Pub was now 100% bar and restaurant and things were about ready to happen. No Name was added to the already Pub name and the bar became forever known as the No Name Pub.

No Name Pub quickly became a popular Keys hangout. The honky tonk atmosphere of beer drinking, pool shooting and great food eating became known from Miami To Key West. When the Pub got rockin’ it would get so smokey the customers would spill out into the backyard where dice, crap and card games would eventually break out. My kind of place.

I tweeted a message saying I was at the No Name Pub on Big Pine and had a few people tell me I had to have the pizza. Turns out they’re famous for mouthwatering pizza. The 1960′s was the era that the famous No Name pizza was born. Two great cooks from Italy brought their recipe with them when they worked at the Pub. For the past 40 years the Pub still uses the same great recipe. Why didn’t the recipe ever change? Rumor has it that when the cooks left they wrote the recipe on the kitchen wall so future Pub crew would never forget.

The 1970′s and 80′s was the rowdy time of the Pub’s history. Early Jimmy Buffett played on the juke box while people would drink, eat and dance to excess in the Pub. There was a lot of illegal money passing through the Keys back then and everyone loved to spend it. They had so much money in fact, they started hanging it on the walls!

No Name Pub is a living part of Florida Keys history. I know a lot of people jump on US 1 and head straight to Key West without stopping at small treasures like this. I’m guilty of the same crime. This was my first stop at No Name Pub and I have my buddy Shawn to thank for it. The Keys are filled with unique hole-in-the-wall places just like No Name Pub and deserve a visit. Next time you’re driving through the Keys, turn your trip into a bar hopping adventure and I guarantee you’ll fall even more in love with America’s little slice of the Caribbean.

Cheers,
RumShopRyan

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