St Vincent and the Grenadines / Beach bars

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.

Of course they get part of their character from the lovely beaches on which they are set. There are half-moon curves of deserted sand backed by palms, a couple of quite lively anchorages in the Grenadines and some very pretty, steep-sided coves on the mainland of St Vincent.

St Vincent

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.

Best St Vincent Beach Bars:

Beachcombers Restaurant & Bar, Villa Beach - 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 - 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.

Bequia

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.

Best Bequia Beach Bars:

Dawn’s Creole Beach Café, Lower Bay - A simple building right on the sand in Lower Bay, with tables and chairs set on a terrace. Lovely welcoming atmosphere and a nice mix of locals and visitors. Serves coffee, excellent homemade cake, snacks, lunch and drinks, with a beach party on Sundays.

De Reef, Lower Bay - 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 - 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.

Canouan, Mustique and Mayreau

In Mustique there is a beach bar at the Cotton House Hotel. In Canouan you will find a lovely beach bar at the Canouan Resort 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.

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 - 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 - 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.

Best Mayreau Beach Bars:

Saltwhistle Bay, Mayreau - 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.

Union Island

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 a new beach bar and restaurant caters for visiting yachtsmen and resident hotel guests. 

Best Union Island Beach Bars:

Janti's Happy Island - 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.