You can find the perfect island. You can book the perfect hotel. But your vacation hasn’t really begun until you pull up to your chair with an ice-cold cocktail at the perfect Caribbean beach bar. For all of the wonders and charms of this region, nothing manages to so easily access the hearts of travelers as a toes-in-the-sand shack or a rum punch under a palm tree. There’s just something romantic about it, something enchanting. The beach bar is more than just a table or a menu; it’s an idea, a fantasy, a distillation of all of the things we dream about on cold winter nights. We’ve been to more Caribbean beach bars than just about anyone, and the 2025 edition of our annual guide to our favorite beach bars is a curation of diverse establishments across the many islands of the Caribbean.
So how did our editorial team choose this year? It’s never easy to whittle the choices down to 25. But we do have some conditions: there has to be sand (no floating bars, unfortunately). There has to be good service, quality cocktails and, perhaps most importantly, good food. Because a great beach bar should ideally be a place where you can spend all day. Today’s beach bar patron is demanding more, and the Caribbean’s top beach bars are adapting, with more creative cocktails, better rum selections and food that can stand all on its own. Here are the best beach bars in the Caribbean for 2025, with a number of new entries on the list this year.
#1 Catherine’s Cafe, Antigua We have a new number one beach bar in the Caribbean: Catherine’s Cafe, the outrageously good beach bar and restaurant on Pigeon Point Beach in Antigua. Everything here is done meticulously, exquisitely. The cocktails (including the rather clever on-draft rum punch) are superb, the service splendid and the setting just magnificent. But the biggest story might just be the food — the best of any beach bar in the Caribbean, period. If you haven’t been here yet, it’s time to plan your visit.
Le Petibonum, Martinique This is one of the Caribbean’s true beach bar pilgrimage stops. Set on the volcanic sands of Le Carbet on the northwestern coast of Martinique, it’s the brainchild of the island’s most famous chef, Guy Ferdinand, who has cultivated a toes-in-the-sand gourmet eatery that doubles as one of the region’s greatest rums bars.
Karibuni, St Martin Take the quick ferry from Cul de Sac (or, if you’re staying at its eponymous hotel, your private boat) and you’re instantly transported to paradise: the pristine, almost mystical sands of Pinel Island, the endlessly lovely little island off the coast of Saint Martin. The food here is as good as you’ll find on an island filled with world-class restaurants, with the cocktails to match. The perfect amalgam of European-style beach club and Caribbean castaway fantasy. It’s just sublime.
Sunshine’s, Nevis The Killer Bee. It’s a staple of the Caribbean beach bar circuit. It’s a drink we’ve called (rightly, in our opinion), the best rum punch in the Caribbean. It is also not a drink to be trifled with. That means we recommend only having several. But the Killer Bee is just part of the story at this iconic Nevis beach bar expertly guided by the larger-than-life Sunshine, one of the Caribbean’s greatest personalities.
Bikini Beach, St Martin Orient Bay is an all day party. There’s always something to do, something to see, something to eat on the French side of St Martin’s most famous beach, and the epicenter is this fantastic bar and restaurant where you can find exquisitely good French Caribbean fare (including the best accras on the island) and a cocktail bar that would be perfectly at home in New York or London.
Gyp Sea, St Barth Ah, St Jean. It’s the postcard-perfect, original stretch of sand in St Barth, the celebrity favorite and the people watching paradise. It’s also now home to a destination beach bar of its own: Gyp Sea, The story here is the barbecue, which has some role in just about everything on the menu. But when you’re not eating, you’ll be imbibing on an unmatched menu of wines and spirits, all best served right in the water.
Harbour Pointe on the Beach, Eleuthera Cape Eleuthera is one of those legendary places in the Caribbean. It’s set at the far southwestern end of the island of Eleuthera, a blissfully uncrowded, endlessly beautiful peninsula. And it’s now home to fantastic beach bar and restaurant: Harbour Pointe, home to some of the best sunsets you’ll ever experience with the sundowners to match.
Reggae Beach Bar, St Kitts The southwestern peninsula of St Kitts is the island’s party piece, a sprawling, spectacularly scenic stretch of green hills and beautiful beaches crowned by Cockleshell Bay, a beach we’ve long loved for its impressive surfeit of bars. But our favorite has long been Reggae Beach, the uber-popular spot with the island’s best rum punch and a plum perch at the end of the coastline. (Make sure you have some of the panko-crusted mahi fingers, too).
The Hut, Little Jumby Island, Antigua It’s one of the newest beach bars in the Caribbean, and it’s an instant hit: The Hut, set on the tiny Little Jumby island off the coast of Jumby Bay, a lovable beach shack with high-level food that you can only reach by boat. If you’re going to spend the day, go for one of the cabana-style “beach huts,” which come with their own private bar and a bottle of rosé.
Da Pink Chicken, Cat Island, The Bahamas It’s what you imagine when you dream up a beach bar on a cold winter day: a tiny beach shack, fresh fish, ice-cold Kalik. And this beloved Cat Island watering hole turns it into an art form.
Tippy’s, Eleuthera They won’t reveal the recipe for the rum punch at this beach hotspot in increasingly popular Governor’s Harbour in Eleuthera, but after a day at Tippy’s you’ll be convinced you’ve figured out all the ingredients. A lovely bar on an even lovelier stretch of pink sand.
Shellona, St Barth One of the coolest scenes on St Barth is this Mediterranean-style beach lounge on the intoxicating pebbles of Shell Beach on the outskirts of Gustavia. Whether you’re downing wine in one of the elevated tables or sipping on ti’ punch bobbing in the water, an afternoon at Shellona is one of the region’s truly memorable experiences.
Calmos, St Martin It’s back. And while the post-Irma version of Grand Case’s most famous beach bar is different than it once was (a bit more sophisticated, and more tables) it’s retained its carefree, irreverent take on French Caribbean chill. And the food is better than ever.
Deia Beach, Barbados We love everything about this chic beach lounge on the increasingly cool South Coast of Barbados, from the setting to the service. But the biggest story here is the quality of the cocktails, with some seriously cool ingredients ranging from seamoss bitters to ginger miso syrup. Make sure you try the Cacao Daiquiri.
The Naked Fisherman, Saint Lucia When you make your way down the cliffside here you feel like you’ve single-handedly discovered the place, a magical, gourmet beach spot on Smuggler’s Cove with outrageously good seafood, some good rum and non-rum (we allow it) cocktails and a menu from the team from the celebrated Cliff at Cap restaurant just up the hillside.
Loose Mongoose, Tortola Just a short walk from the Beef Island airport, the Loose Mongoose has become an essential stop for travelers both to Tortola and those jumping off to other places in the BVI. The fare is Caribbean comfort food, from roast pig to baby back ribs and the cocktails, from the Vi Breeze to the Bush Goose, are worth the trip.
Maho Crossroads, St John Maho Bay just might be our favorite beach in St John, an island filled with heavenly beaches. And it’s also home to this deliciously rustic, no-frills bar anchored by its famous “paddle in tiki bar.”
Jellyfish, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic This strikingly designed, thatched-roof structure has no real analog anywhere else in the Caribbean, but it’s long been our favorite place in all of Punta Cana, thanks to impeccable service, bountiful Brugal and surprisingly outstanding seafood.
Soggy Dollar Bar, British Virgin Islands There are bars, then there’s Soggy. No list of beach bars is complete without it, and no self-respecting Caribbean aficionado can say he or she hasn’t been here. It’s a tried and true outpost, a place that’s somehow transcended being a beach bar and become an idea, a feeling. It doesn’t hurt that it’s set on some of the most impossibly white sand you’ll ever set foot on. Order a painkiller, find a hammock and enter the universe of Soggy.
Kokomo Beach, Curacao Head to the west coast of Curacao and you’ll discover that there really is a place called Kokomo. This is arguably the most beautiful coastline on the Dutch Caribbean island, and Kokomo is a full-service, always-energetic beach bar that also has some terrific live music on the regular.
Arashi Beach Shack, Aruba Aruba is one of the friendliest places in Aruba, but somehow the staff at this beach bar Mecca are somehow even friendlier than you’d even expect. This is just a lovely place to be, filled with palapas, beautiful sand and always-fun cocktails like the Aruba Ariba (a mix of vodka, rum and fruit punch).
Kaibo, Grand Cayman Cayman Kai is one of our favorite parts of Grand Cayman: it really has its own distinct vibe from the rest of Grand Cayman, with a breezy, salt life sort of ambience. That’s anchored at the exceptional Kaibo, the only beach club of its kind in Cayman, home to a pair of eateries, a beautiful patch of sand and some truly impressive cocktails.
SandBar, Anguilla We’ve always loved the Veya restaurant, easily the most charming place to eat on the island. What you may not know is at the Veya team also has a beach bar: SandBar, a gourmet, sharable-bites beach spot that takes Vera’s famous gastronomy (sausage-stuffed mushrooms, anyone?) and puts it right on the beach in Sandy Ground.
Coconut Club, Exuma, The Bahamas If you’ve read Caribbean Journal before, you know how much we love Stocking Island off the coast of Great Exuma. Even by Exuma standards, it’s home to out-of-this-world beaches, with magnificent, sparkling turquoise water and brilliantly white sand. It’s also the home of an exciting new destination called the Coconut Club, a throwback beach bar that’s all about the essentials, including some fantastic tacos and some inspired new Bahamian cocktails (including its own take on the Goombay Smash).
The Beach Club at Calabash, Grenada We love Calabash. It’s serene, it’s elegant and it’s one of the best hotels in Grenada. It’s also the setting for this wonderfully tranquil, relaxing beach club, where you can dine on lobster wontons and steak tostones, grab a Westerhall rum and sit right at the edge of the gentle waves.
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