St. Thomas: Bongolo Bay Beach, U.S. Virgin Islands

Last updated: May 30, 2024

Whilst vacationing in the Virgin Islands with my mom for our birthday week, we opted to stay on Bongolo Bay, located on St. Thomas island. The view from our back door was beautiful. I’m not one to spend my vacations swimming in a pool, but this view had me tempted.

This little guy was a frequent visitor and seemed to always be waiting for me when I opened the back door. In fact, I ran into about 80 iguanas during my time on the islands and I’m just gonna say it; not a fan. They are quiet and constantly had me jumping out of my skin when I would notice them only inches from my arm, or foot, or face! Seriously, they startled me every time. This one was always ready to smack me with his tail when I would walk by. I loved the Virgin Islands, but I was sure happy to leave these guys behind.

We honestly didn’t spend a lot of time at our condo because we were out exploring the islands most days, which means we didn’t spend much time at Bongolo Bay, but we did walk the beach twice on our way to have dinner at Iggie’s Oasis (formally known as Iggies Beach Bar) located at the opposite end of the beach from where we were staying.

Bongolo Bay’s beach is the smallest beach I’ve ever seen (not counting Tellico Beach!😂). You can walk from one end to the other in ten minutes. I never saw anyone out there so if you wanted a secluded beach to hang out on for a while, you could take your chair and rarely see another person. Even though it’s not as impressive as other beaches on the island, you can’t really complain! Grab a chair and you can spend the day enjoying this view.

As we walked over to Iggies, I gave my mom a mini photo shoot and took a selfie for good measure. Just know, if you ever take a trip with me, I am like your personal photographer and videographer. You will think I have been hired to document your life. There will be so many photos and videos of you. Consequently, I do not ask permission to plaster said photos and videos to the world. You have been warned. BUT… I am an excellent travel companion. You will, beyond a shadow of a doubt, have the time of your life adventuring with me. 😇😉

This was our second time at Iggie’s and I absolutely recommend it. The Caribbean food is good, but the atmosphere is where it’s at. They have an upscale vibe that appeals the bougie in me without the luxury price tag, and that appeals to the tightwad in me. These two constantly argue, so it was nice to find a place that made them both happy.

Afterward, we walked Bongolo Bay Beach back to our Condo to prepare for the next days adventure.

I’m sure there are much more popular and impressive places to stay while visiting the Virgin Islands, but our main focus was visiting the island and the activities the island offered, so we opted to put most of our budget towards those things rather than a five star hotel. We were gone the majority of everyday and only slept and ate a quick breakfast each morning, so a high end accommodation would have been wasted on us.

All in all, I’d stay here again and would 100% walk Bongolo Bay Beach for a meal off Izzies’s menu!

Check out this short TikTok video of Bongolo Bay that I made to capture the experience. No TikTok account? Never fear… here’s the video. 😀

Let me know where you stayed and where you ate while visiting the Virgin Islands by leaving a comment at the very bottom of this page. I’d really like to know!