Keegan’s Beachside

An institution parked almost dead-center on Lower Bay, De Reef is a family-run, blue-and-white fixture with a raised deck overlooking a long, thin stretch of sand. Simple and unpretentious by design, with a soundtrack that punches above its weight. Hairoun and the standard Vincentian lineup at fair prices, a well-balanced house rum punch, and a food menu that’s better than the modest setting suggests – spicy island favorites alongside solid sandwiches and salads. Lower Bay draws its share of cruise-ship traffic, so expect company. What you see is what you get, and what you get holds up.

Technically the small bar attached to the hotel’s fine-dining Bagatelle restaurant, but close enough to the sand and charming enough to count as a proper beach bar in its own right. Funky bamboo-and-dark-wood construction, a soundtrack of gentle reggae and lounge, and a compact footprint that fills fast at lunch and pre-dinner. A short walk delivers you to the hotel’s excellent white-sand beach. The crowd skews toward hotel guests and dinner visitors – a bit more polished (and priced) than the typical beach-side joint – with regular evening entertainment that makes it worth a return visit after dark.

Not technically a beach bar since it floats just offshore in Port Elizabeth harbor, but Bequia’s self-described ‘first floating bar’ earns its spot anyway. A five-minute water taxi ride delivers you to a compact, solar-powered platform with swing seats and benches around a simple bar. Owner and bartender Ivor Simpson punches well above the venue’s modest size with genuinely well-made cocktails. Deliberately low-key, favoring locals, yachties, and island residents over the cruise-ship crowd – ‘Sip. Float. Relax.’ is the motto, and it delivers exactly that against the backdrop of picturesque Admiralty Bay.