St. Thomas Bars & Nightlife Rums in the USVI
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The top places to drink and party in St. Thomas.
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The Bars of St. Thomas
The beaches and water activities of St. Thomas give way to its small bars by night. There are fine places and fun places, spots with live music and bars for tourists and joints for locals (of course, tourists are always welcome) But, of course, any discussion of bars and nightlife in the Caribbean has to start with the rum. After all, with juice and mixer more expensive than the alcohol, the drinks in St. Thomas contain a lot of rum. The Rum and Drinks of St. Thomas As one would have beer in Germany, tequila in Mexico and wine in Paris, so is it with rum in St. Thomas. Cruzan is produced locally and a bottle of 2-year-old (light or dark) is less than $8. The company also has spirits of different ages, flavored rums which are ideal for shots and the explosive 151. Paradise is a very inexpensive local rum; PubClub.com paid $2.79 for a bottle at KMart and it's better than the bland Bacardi white found on the mainland U.S. It's a fact of life here that rum is cheaper than other beverages and as such, it is poured it liberally in the bars. Expect more rum than mix. The Virgin Islands specializes in concoctions called the Painkiller and Bushwhacker, and every bar on every island has their own version of a rum punch (it's like gumbo in New Orleans, they are each a bit different and all good). Those seeking even more potent drinks need only to ask for it as a "number 4." St. Thomas Bars and Nightlife
With all that rum, there must be a bar or two on the island to enjoy it with other thirsty buccaneers, and that's what this article details. There's not much to Duffy's Love Shack that initially meet the eye – it's a small open-air building with a few tables outside in a small strip mall – but it's the one place on the island where the locals and tourists in the know go to party. It has a good Happy Hour that often doesn't begin until midnight, there's nightly food specials like all-you-can-eat shrimp (Wednesdays) and drinks with wacky names (and mixes) like Jaws, The Funky Money and Lime in Dee Coconut. In short, it's hang out and have a good time at Duffy's. It even has a Taco Tuesday, which may be common in Southern California but is not exactly a part of Caribbean culture. Across the street at the American Yacht Harbor are other bars, each with a unique identity Overlooking the bay, The Island Time Pub is an outside oasis which gets just gets better and better with each drink. It's the kind of place to kick off the sandals and have "one more." Then "one more." Then "one more" again. No worries here, mon, you're on island time! Next door is the best sports bar on St. Thomas, Caribbean Saloon. It has big screens showing multiple games. After midnight, this becomes more of a full-out bar with many of the island's sexiest singles downing drinks. And why not have an Irish bar in the Caribbean and for that there is Molly Molone's Irish Yacht Pub.
In the area known as Havensight, by Hooters, is The Rum Shack. It's just what it says – a shack that sells rum drinks. The $15 bucket of some type of concoction packs a powerful punch even by Virgin Islands standards. It's only open at the whim of the owner, so ask the taxi driver before departing. And yes, there's a Hooters. It's stocked with mainland girls who come down for three months to train in St. Thomas. Locals like Budda Sushi for its Happy Hours, 5-7 p.m. Order everything at the same time, for it typically takes 45 minutes to get a roll. So get on a roll by chatting it up with the friendly bartenders and other sushi seekers until the meal arrives. Betsy's in Frenchtown (a safe walk from the ferry terminal/Holiday Inn, even at night) is the wild child of St. Thomas. It's got pool tables, foosball, a big-screen TV and, most important to fun-seeking PubClubbers, a sometimes raucous local crowd. In short, it's a good drinking spot. It also has a late-night menu. Drink 'em if you got 'em in St. Thomas is 2 a.m. Or 3 a.m. Or 4 a.m. It really all depends on whether or not people are still in the mood to party. |
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The place with the most Caribbean character in St. Thomas is also the most difficult to find – a little past Red Hook, up a bouncy dirt road, around a curve, behind a few palm trees... It's Latitude 18 and it's nothing more than a roof over a bar and a small stage for local musicians such as the ever-popular 