Ivan's History
From small beginnings with a little bar adorned in shells and a few tents, to a 2 story bar with simple tropical cabins, to a now cozy beach bar with villas and beach bungalows, Ivan’s has captured the hearts of many with its stress free, relaxed, friendly and tropical ambiance.
With nine days of torrential rain fall some years ago, the foundation of the first bar was damaged severely . The foundation got worse over the years, and in 2014 the difficult decision was made to have the bar taken down and rebuilt with a more modern structure, with an upstairs deck and also renamed officially “Ivan’s Stress Free Bar”. That structure was short lived after a hurricane named Irma came in September 2017 and completely destroyed the whole establishment. With many years of persistence and strong will and determination we rebuilt what is now Ivan's Stress Free 3.0. Operating now in full effect with No fluff, no frills, just pure relaxation, just as Ivan intended.
Before
![CMRI1772[1].JPG](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/41c3b4_270911cd032a46f0b3e29f8c6a34014b~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_301,h_255,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/CMRI1772%5B1%5D_JPG.jpg)
After
3.0
Ivan's
Story
![IMG_E4884[1].HEIC](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/41c3b4_d761b660671f4c9c8756fd9df6b8e95e~mv2.png/v1/crop/x_257,y_428,w_1940,h_2423/fill/w_239,h_305,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/IMG_E4884%5B1%5D_HEIC.png)
Mr.Ivan Chinnery was born on Jost Van Dyke on March 27th 1943. He grew up on Jost Van Dyke and then moved to St Thomas as a young man , where he joined the US Army and served for 9 years . He did most of his serving in Germany and Hawaii. He also was an musician, his instrument of choice that he loved playing was the guitar. The genre he loved and played most was jazz and blues that he performed in different bands when he lived abroad and in St Thomas.
Upon moving back to Jost Van Dyke, Mr.Chinnery made a living fishing, farming and cooking. He worked some years preparing pig roast buffets at his brother’s bar and restaurant when the barefoot cruises came in for their scheduled stops to the island. He also did work for the BVI government in Agriculture and as well as Conservation and Fisheries. He had his own farm where he would do nature walks with tourists showing them his crops and also introducing them to the different medicinal herbs, educating them on the names and uses, hence earning the name “The Bush Doctor . After years had passed he decided to try a new adventure by starting a campground.
He began development in 1990 and in 1991 he got it going , officially naming giving it the name White Bay Campground. The business started out as an honor system self serve bar, and quickly grew over the years with the help from the local St John boating community that frequented the little bar and campground . Mr. Chinnery also made a friendly acquaintance with an up and coming country artist named Kenneth Chesney (Kenny Chesney) . Mr. Chesney’s debut with his song “No Shoes No Shirt No problem “ video was partially filmed at the bar of Mr. Chinnery’s White Bay Campground and then followed by his next hit song " Somewhere in the Sun" which gave the establishment even more popularity . In 2025 Mr. Chesney made tribute to the beloved bar by creating a replica of it for past and present fanbase during his residency in Las Vegas. In 2011 Mr. Chinnery retired after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and turned the Business over to his 2 daughters Darlene and Sharlene.
Ivan now lives at his home in Jost Van Dyke. Even with his ailments, he spends most of his days relaxing and staying stress free as he taught so many to be.
![IMG_4518[1].JPG](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/41c3b4_3fc355d43f5f4a889c131708db1fb254~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_405,h_252,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/IMG_4518%5B1%5D_JPG.jpg)