As you can imagine, in an area of fantastic beaches and small and charming islands, there are some excellent beach bars dotted through the islands of St Vincent and the Grenadines. Some are quiet and simple sheds under the palms on remote bays. Others buzz with activity from tourists, islanders and with the many yachtsmen passing through the excellent sailing grounds. Their settings can be quite different according to the island on which they are, so there is good variety too.

St Vincent has handful of beach bars, some in the main tourism area around Villa (including the lovely floating bar off Young Island) and Indian Bay. However, there are also a couple of bars in the very pretty coves along the western coast of the island.

Bequia has some superb beach bars around which you can base yourself for the day. In Lower Bay there are a couple of bars right on the sand, and then there are others in the remote coves in the east of the island, such as Industry Bay. The bars in Belmont in Port Elizabeth are not strictly beach bars because there is no sand there, but they are worth noting because there are so many of them and they have a delightful location along the waterfront and an excellent atmosphere.

In Mustique there is a beach bar at the Cotton House Hotel. In Canouan you will find a lovely beach bar at the Raffles Hotel and one (Pirate's Cove) on the main bay in Charlestown. Mayreau is so quiet that the bar on its main beach (Sandy Feet on Saline Bay) only opens on public holidays or when a cruise ship has come in. If you either want to avoid this or it is closed you can head over to Saltwhistle Bay, where there is a hotel with a bar.

Union Island is quite undeveloped outside the two towns but there is a beach bar where you can linger for the day at Richmond Bay. There is also a lively bar on a (man-made) island in the main harbour at Clifton. There are no bars as such in the Tobago Cays because nothing is (theoretically) permitted to be built there. You will find the Sunset Bar, especially set aside for yachtsmen, on Palm Island. On Petit St Vincent the beach facilities are reserved for guests of the hotel on the island.

See our complete Guide to St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Best St Vincent Beach Bars

Petit Byahaut, Caribbean coast
A deck set among the shorefront palms and sea grape trees of an extremely pretty cove on the island's western shoreline. There is a small and simple hotel, so there are a few guests among the yachties. Can only be accessed easily by boat.

Beachcombers Restaurant & Bar, Villa Beach, t 458 4283
Bar and restaurant set on a deck above the sand at Villa, part of a family run hotel. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, occasional themed jump-ups and party nights.

Young Island, t 458 4826
Floating bar just off the sand at Young Island, overlooking the Villa strip on the mainland of St Vincent. The island is private (there is a hotel there), but they may allow you across for the day. A boat service runs regularly from Villa.

Best Bequia Beach Bars

Crescent Beach Inn, Industry Bay, t 458 3400
Delightful simple setting under palms on a usually deserted beach in the east of the island. Views across to Battowia, Baliceaux and Mustique. Good spot for a quiet day out. Full moon beach barbecue.

Dawn's Creole Beach Café, Lower Bay, t 458 3154
A simple building right on the sand with tables and chairs on a terrace. Lovely welcoming atmosphere and a nice mix of locals and visitors. Serves coffee, excellent homemade cake, snacks, lunch and drinks. Beach party on Sundays.

De Reef, Lower Bay, t 458 3958
Informal beach bar and restaurant set right on the sand of Lower Bay, with live music every other Saturday night and 'jam' sessions on Sunday afternoons.

Keegan's, Lower Bay, t 458 3530
Small beach resort with seafront restaurant and bar set above the sand on their 'beach patio' - a couple of picnic tables and wooden sun shades. Open for breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner, gets very busy on the Sunday beach parties.

Best Mustique Beach Bars

Beach Bar, Cotton House Hotel, Endeavour Bay
Simple meals (relatively) and drinks right across from the sand in Endeavour Bay, the island's liveliest.

Basil's Bar, Britannia Bay, t 488 8350, VHF 68
Not strictly a beach bar, but a bar and seafood restaurant on a deck and stilts above the sand of Britannia Bay. A laid-back air with a certain raffish charm and a world famous watering hole of the rich and famous. Wednesday barbecue and jump-up with live music. Also home to Mustique Blues Festival.

Best Canouan Beach Bars

Pirate's Cove, Tamarind Beach Hotel & Yacht Club, t 458 8044
Pretty bar built with a huge palm-thatch 'palapa' roof on pillars, nice retreat from the bay. Live music and entertainment several times a week.

Godahl's, Raffles Resort, t 458 8000
A building seemingly from the South Seas with a very attractive thatched roof set over a hardwood deck right on the sand of Godahl Beach. Some sports by day, barbecues several evenings a week in season, with food grilled on braziers on the sand, where the tables are lit by flaming torches.

Best Mayreau Beach Bars

Salt Whistle Bay Club, Salt Whistle Bay, t 458 8444
Set on a superb curve of blinding white sand, the club's beachfront bar is a popular stop-off for yachtsmen and sometimes attracts a lively crowd. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner (reservations required for latter, also a dress code).

Sandy Feet, Saline Bay
Simple set-up on this fantastic strip of sea and sand. Open on public holidays and when a cruise ship is in the bay.

Best Union Island Beach Bars

Janti's Happy Island, VHF 16
A very original bar set on a man-made island built (recently) of discarded conch shells out in the harbour in Clifton. Popular with the yachts in harbour. Call for a water taxi or ask around the Clifton waterfront.

Whispering Waves Beach Bar, Richmond Bay, t 458 8447
Attached to the Bigsand Hotel, a nice spot to while away a day on a deck looking onto the huge bay. Sea kayaks, snorkelling equipment and mountain bikes available for rent. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and serves Belgian beer. Occasional live entertainment on evenings, beach barbecue on Sundays. Closed for renovation at time of publication, due to open for the 2008 season.

See our complete Guide to St Vincent and the Grenadines.