Jost Van Dyke is the smallest of the four main British Virgin Islands — about 8 km² with fewer than 300 permanent residents — but it punches well above its weight in the Caribbean party department. The Soggy Dollar Bar in White Bay, reachable only by swimming ashore (hence the name), claims to have invented the Painkiller cocktail. Foxy's Tamarind Bar in Great Harbour is legendary for its New Year's Eve party, which draws thousands of sailors every 31 December.
Beyond the bars, Jost Van Dyke is a beautiful, hilly little island with excellent beaches. White Bay is the star — a perfect curve of white sand with calm, clear water. Great Harbour is where the ferries dock and most of the restaurants cluster. The east end of the island, reached by unpaved track or water taxi, is wilder and quieter. Little Harbour has the best lobster on the island at Sydney's Peace and Love, and Sandy Cay — a protected national park islet a short dinghy ride offshore — has some of the best snorkelling in the territory.
Most visitors come by ferry from Tortola (about 25 minutes) or sail in on charter boats. There is no airport and no cars to rent, which keeps things pleasingly simple.