Article written by Mark Stevens. Photos by Sharon Matthews-Stevens.
I love beaches. I really love beaches boasting beach bars.
I’ve visited more than forty Caribbean islands and I have yet to meet a sun-kissed watering hole I didn’t like.
In the process I’ve discovered some standouts.
Add them to your own bacchanalian bucket list – or discover one that speaks to your heart – then prepare to party hearty.
Dune Preserve (Anguilla)
Both rustic and eclectic, Anguilla’s Dune Preserve has been rated the world’s best beach bar.
CNN Travel once rated Anguilla’s Dune Preserve the world’s best beach bar.
Given its fame, Dune Preserve is surprisingly rustic. Much of its construction material – and a big part of the décor – was actually salvaged from stuff that washed up on the beach. Case in point: an overturned sailboat hull serves as the foundation for the bar. The beach itself – on Rendezvous Bay – offers fantastic views of the voluptuous distant hills of St. Martin, views you can enjoy from any one of the four or five decks of varying heights.
Its owner, international Reggae star Bankie Banx, is an important reason for Dune Preserve’s reputation. Live music all weekend every weekend or visit in March for a multi-day music festival called “Moonsplash.”
Come for the ambiance, stay for the music. And discover why CNN Traveler called it the “world’s best.”
Nipper’s Beach Bar and Grill (Great Guana Cay, Abacos, The Bahamas)
Don’t miss the popular Sunday pig roast at Nipper’s on the Bahamian island of Great Guana Cay.
Despite its relative solitude, the Abacos’ Great Guana Cay is reputedly home to The Bahamas’ best beach bar. Visit on a Sunday afternoon for the pig roast and you’ll experience Nipper’s Beach Bar and Grill’s popularity first-hand. This establishment lies at the top of a stairway descending a steep slope to a windswept wave-lashed but gorgeous beach on the island’s windward side.
It occupies the highest ground on this laid-back cay, another establishment that boasts multi-leveled wooden decks offering great views. Come Sunday the place fills up, people lounging on the beach below, crowding the pastel-painted picnic tables, filling up the pool, noshing on the roast pig, washing it down with a house specialty called the “Nipper,” a concoction one server describes as “rum, rum, rum, orange juice and Grenadine”.
Nippers’s is known as a haunt of celebrities. Johnny Depp’s been sighted here and (admittedly pre-Dorian) Justin Bieber supposedly celebrated his engagement here. If you do get to the Sunday afternoon bacchanal take a look around.
Even if your neighbours don’t recognize you, you may well recognize them.
Kon Tiki Bar (Antigua and Barbuda)
Kon TIki, just off the beach at Antigua’s Dickenson Bay, is a must-do floating party spot!
Though it’s not actually located on the beach, a floating bar called Kon-Tiki still deserves a mention on my must-do list. This Antigua watering hole isn’t far from the sand, it’s only two hundred metres off the beach. Its décor is admittedly minimal – a thatched-roof-shaded wooden bar lounging on a weather-beaten raft with an area no bigger than some people’s living rooms.Maybe that’s part of the appeal: limited seating and you can only get here by boat.
The ultimate in exclusivity.
Its location – on the water, just off Dickenson Bay’s beach, one of Antigua’s most popular destinations for sun, sea and sand – is also another reason it’s so popular. I discovered it during a recent sailing trip, driving over in our sailboat’s dinghy. Once aboard I order their rum punch. The strength of that cocktail alone is sufficient to earn Kon Tiki a place on this list. This is a rollicking (and sometimes rolling) destination where hearty partying is a must-do.
Even if it’s not actually a beach bar.
Big Bastard’s Beach Bar + Patio (Philipsburg, Sint Maarten)
Canadian-owned Big Bastard’s is ideally located on Sint Maarten’s Great Bay!
Sint Maarten’s Big Bastard’s doesn’t quite qualify as a “beach” bar either. It’s located across Philipsburg’s “boardwalk,” from the beach itself though they maintain a prime section of sand on Great Bay, offering “chaise-service” to your beach chair shaded by a teal umbrella. Having heard that it’s owned by two Canadians, Steven McBride and Marcel Berube, I make it a point to stop by. I ask them about their claim that Big Bastard’s is Sint Maarten’s best beach bar.
“We’re the only ones who offer an all-inclusive day package that includes the variety of beach games, access to the chairs and drinks,” says Berube.
My second question is more pragmatic.“Signature cocktail?” A “Guavaberry Colada”, a Sint Maarten version of the Piña Colada, almost immediately appears before me. Sipping this irresistible drink, I chat with McBride and Berube, discovering they once served poutine here. I feel like bursting into a chorus of “O Canada.”
And maybe ordering one more “Guavaberry Colada”.
Soggy Dollar (Jost Van Dyke, British Virgin Islands)
Soggy Dollar bar on Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands is best-known for an infamous drink called the ‘Painkiller’.
I fell in love the first time I visited Soggy Dollar bar on Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands. My affection grows with every return trip. I even like its name. Cruising boaters used to anchor inside the nearby reef then they’d swim ashore and pay with soggy dollars. This place really comes to life on Sunday afternoons. That’s when the beach turns into a veritable motorboat parking lot courtesy of a regular crowd from nearby St. Thomas. They come for the crystal waters, the view, an iconic cocktail invented right here.
First “Painkiller” I ever had was here at Soggy Dollar. I’ve since sipped Painkillers on at least four different islands.
Here’s more proof of my weakness for this laid-back beach bar: I named my last sailboat “Soggy Dollar.” Even so, the Soggy Dollar is but one in a veritable panoply of Caribbean watering holes. Do your homework and find a Caribbean watering hole with your name on it or check out one of these iconic spots.
Then prepare to party hearty.
Article written by Mark Stevens. Photography by Sharon Matthews-StevensFor twenty-five years the writing/photography team of Mark Stevens and Sharon Matthews-Stevens has provided editorial and photographic Caribbean content to a multitude of publications.
They’ve worked with newspapers from The Washington Post to The Globe and Mail, magazines from Travellife to Caribbean Business and Travel, and online publications from ATasteforTravel.ca to VacayNetwork.com. They have hiked the rainforests of St. Vincent in search of the Vinci parrot, sailed the waters off countless islands and traversed Jamaica in search of the world’s best jerk.
In addition to numerous other writing and photography awards, they have been recognized for their writing and photography fifteen times by the Caribbean Tourism Organization during their Canadian Media Awards events. Mark and Sharon are true Caribbean specialists.
