Virgin Islands 2026 Day 7: Secret Harbour + Iggie’s!

Tuesday, March 31, 2026

The plan for Tuesday was to possibly go check out a couple other beaches, since I saw that Wednesday is supposed to have FIVE cruise ships in port (which means the most popular public beaches would get very busy with excursions/cruisers).

There are so many different beaches on St. Thomas, we’ll never see them all in the time we have. Some are farther away, some are better for snorkeling than others, some are more scenic, some have more sea turtles… It’s a little tricky, too, because we have a really great pool at this resort, whereas our St. John villa and our upcoming villa on Water Island do not. So we want to also prioritize pool/resort time, which the boys really enjoy, too.

It was a perfect morning yesterday, and I could see from the balcony that the pool area was literally EMPTY. I have been so thrilled with how not busy this place is. It’s a dream!! (I think many of the condos are privately owned, meaning it’s not all vacationers- some people may not rent, either.)

I was sort of envisioning hordes of people, being Easter week, but it has been amazing (here, at least).

Since it was a nice, calm morning and sunny, I also thought I’d try my hand at snorkeling earlier in the day, for a change.

The beach was nearly empty, too. I think many people go off to explore other beaches maybe, early in the day?

The thing is, there is truly EXCELLENT snorkeling right here in our Bay! It’s so good! It feels like a hidden gem.

Ethan went out with me and we snorkeled a long while. It was great!!! Felt so good.

We all spent a total of a couple hours at some combo of the beach/pool/hot tub. So wonderful and relaxing.

By 11 or so we went upstairs, gathered our things and set out to nearby Secret Harbour. It’s another bay with a popular resort, and there was supposed to be great snorkeling there, too.

Parking was an issue- the main lot was full and the only overflow lot was up a huge steep hill that then had MASSIVE pot holes at the entrance. The parking attendant that we asked for assistance was the most unfriendly guy ever, to put it lightly.

(One thing about St Thomas… the native island people are not friendly at all. It’s a bummer. I get that they probably get annoyed with all the tourists, but also, they are all working in tourism and it’s literally the island’s only industry…and we are very polite, nice, friendly people! I guess I’m comparing to Mexico, where everyone is always so friendly….even those working in low end jobs or tourism. It’s just a very friendly culture, and that absolutely does not seem to be the case here. It’s a bit of a turn off, unfortunately!)

Anyway, Ivan managed to get the van into this pothole lot and we went down to the restaurant- the Patio at Sunset Grille.

This is a very popular restaurant that I saw highly recommended for good food and killer views. It was fully booked at night for this week during sunset hours, but we were able to walk in at lunch! Score.

Got a great 6 person table overlooking the water:

I ordered this teriyaki chicken sandwich which was delicious, and also huge. I took half the bun off and only ate the bottom bun plus the rest or else I felt like I would sink to the bottom when trying to snorkel after lunch!!

Really enjoyed this yummy lunch and the views were so beautiful. As usual, the pics do not really capture what it looked like.

After lunch we moved to the beach. Now, this beach was beautiful, but also, at a resort. And it was not a super large beach- so it was crowded!

The main goal was to snorkel here, anyway, so I didn’t care that much about the beach set up.

Found a spot in the shade and relaxed for a while to let our food settle.

We also realized that this resort is where my parents stayed on St. Thomas the only other time they were on the island, for a few days after my sister’s St. John wedding! (They couldn’t remember the name and it was like 20 years ago.)

The water was so beautiful.

The boys and I snorkeled for a really long while. We swam ALL around the bay. There’s a really large, healthy reef out to the left/middle, plus a lot to see along both sides on the rocks.

We saw a huge sea turtle! And also another sting ray, plus dozens of fish.

I stayed out longer than the boys and went all around the right side, where I saw another turtle. It gets super deep, too. It’s just magical!!

I swam and snorkeled for a really long time.

Finally went back in. My mom had grabbed a table in the bar and got a Diet Coke, so I sat there by her and dried off and enjoyed the views a while.

It was later afternoon by this point, and the boys were ready to head back to the resort to have more pool time or play tennis.

We stopped off at a grocery store to refresh a few things. Food is so expensive! Here’s a basic Oscar Meyer family pack 1 lb of turkey, which I often buy at home… it’s $18.99 here! Yikes. We passed on the turkey and bought PBJ instead, lol. (not everything is as expensive- it kinda depends on the item, but overall, prices are VERY HIGH.)

Back at the resort, we totally just all relaxed and did our own thing for a few hours!! This was great.

We did not have dinner plans, and we honestly all still felt stuffed from lunch. I had an idea of a place we could go later (open until midnight)- a beach bar called Iggie’s with nightly live music that everything I read called a “do not miss” place on the island. The menu was casual and appeared to have various appetizer like things to share, which would be perfect since that lunch was really filling!

This also meant we had no real rush or deadline for our afternoon /early evening relaxation time. 🙂

I went down to our beach, alone, and just mostly sat there. Had a text chat with SHU for a while and then read a little.

When the sun went behind the trees, I moved to the hot tub! My parents were reading by the pool and at some point the boys finished their tennis game and Ethan and Ivan came to the pool too.

I stayed down there until after 6? 6:30? Not sure.

My mom took this pretty pic after the sun went down:

I showered and we got ready to go. The boys decided to just stay behind tonight- Ethan had various games he wanted to watch. Both the Brewers and the Bucks were playing, plus USA was playing Portugal in soccer! He wanted to just veg and watch those games and Asher was cool with a chill night, too.

Iggie’s Beach Bar is more of a “bar” vibe, too, though they definitely have family friendly tables on one side as well.

Drove 15 min to Iggie’s and found it busy but not packed. It’s located at the Bolango Beach Resort.

Pretty spot!

We had a fun night! Live music the entire time (these guys literally did not take a single break in the 2.5 hours we were there!) Lots of fun country music and other rock songs etc.

Great vibe and right on the beach.

Love this pic of us:

Ivan and I shared a chicken quesadilla + an order of spinach and artichoke dip with chips. I had 2 Coronas! (I’m usually more of a one beer girl but I guess the music talked me into another.)

Pic from outside:

We headed out around 10:30 pm, drove back, and called it a night! Really had a nice time at Iggie’s. My mom said it was kind of like “Nashville on the beach”. 🙂

Now today, Wednesday, is our last full day at this resort before we move on to Water Island tomorrow.

With all the cruise ships in port, we were planning to stay more around the resort, I think. I do want to venture out to at least one more off site beach, but we’ll see who all wants to join me! 😁

We also have a fun sunset dinner reservation tonight at a cool place up in the hills!