The Caribbean has no shortage of places to drink with your toes in the sand, but a new roundup from Caribbean Journal narrows it down to 25 beach bars that justify the detour — bars you take a ferry to, swim ashore to, or find at the end of a road you'd never otherwise drive.
Topping the list is the Soggy Dollar Bar on Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands, the White Bay institution where the Painkiller cocktail became a Caribbean legend. The name says it all: most arrivals come by boat and wade the last few metres through clear water, arriving with soaked bills. The drinks get fresh-grated nutmeg on top, and the bay is calm enough for a swim between rounds — with accommodation available right behind the bar if you never want to leave.
The full list stretches across the region. It includes a rum shack on Cat Island in the Bahamas, one of that country's quieter out-islands, and a bar off Guadeloupe that you reach by boat. Elsewhere there are stops in the US and Spanish-speaking Caribbean, each with the same pull: a plate of grilled fish, shade under a sea grape tree, or in one famous case, the chance to hear Anguilla's Bankie Banx play at the beach bar he built himself.
What makes this list useful is the theme running through it. These aren't hotel pool bars. They're destination bars — the kind travellers build a day, or an island-hopping itinerary, around. Some require a ferry crossing, some a dinghy ride, some a bumpy drive down an unpaved road. That effort is part of the appeal: the best ones tend to sit on stretches of sand the crowds haven't fully found yet.
For anyone plotting a winter sun escape, this is a ready-made route planner. Pick one anchor bar — Soggy Dollar is the obvious starter — then string together a few others on nearby islands. It works just as well for a sailing charter crew as for a couple staying put and doing day trips.
