I wrote an overview of St. John and posted about my beach recommendations, now I want to share my favorite haunts on the island. Cruz Bay is St. John’s main “town” and where we spent most of our time when not exploring the beaches. It’s a small area, but chock full of great bars, restaurants and shops.

The Longboard

The painkiller is the cocktail of the Virgin Islands. It’s made up of pineapple juice, a little OJ, cream of coconut, rum, and topped with grated nutmeg. It’s seriously yummy and was invented in the BVIs (more on that later!) My absolute favorite Painkiller on St. John can be found at The Longboard. The Longboard is a gorgeous open air restaurant in the main town, Cruz Bay. It has amazing food and the best frozen painkiller. We had multiple meals at The Longboard, and I seriously miss sitting on the deck, sipping a frozen painkiller, and watching the people of St. John walk by.
A favorite spot to watch the sunset is the restaurant Ocean 362. The restaurant has a large bar on the second floor that overlooks the water and it’s the perfect spot to end your day.  My photo doesn’t do it justice (anyone have sunset photography tips?!) Aside from the gorgeous view, Ocean 362 has amazing food and a creative cocktail list.
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Skinny Legs is a restaurant in Coral Bay on the east end of the island. It’s a laid back spot known for grilling up the best burgers on St. John.  It’s definitely worth a drive out east to check it out! Coral Bay is much less developed than Cruz Bay and it’s more of a “community” than a proper town. It was included in the New York Times list of 52 Places to Visit in 2016 and there are some plans in the works to develop the area, so now is a great time to go.Some other favorites… Cruz Bay Landing for amazing iced coffee and delicious breakfast, Sushi! for, well, great sushi, and Woody’s for a fun and rowdy dive bar scene. There’s no open container law so you can grab a painkiller and walk around the town window shopping or sit in the town center just soak up island life.