Right on Lower Bay, across the road from its small attached guest house, Keegan’s is a well-shaded, efficiently run local favorite with both locals and tourists in steady rotation. It’s not a big space, but the kitchen and service keep pace regardless. The standout move: an all-day full English breakfast served under the name ‘Full Messenjah,’ a genuinely unexpected find on a Caribbean beach bar menu. Rum cocktails lean on local Sparrow and SLR, backed by Hairoun and the usual island beer lineup. Cruise-ship traffic through Lower Bay means lunchtime can get busy. Comfortable, no-nonsense, and reliably good.
Kelleys Island is the largest American island on Lake Erie and a National Natural Landmark for its glacial grooves, and this brewery serves the quieter crowd who want the island experience without the Put-in-Bay party scene.
Thatched roof, tropical landscaping, live Hawaiian music, Keoki’s has been the Poipu ritual returning visitors plan their trip around since 1988.
Dungeness crab season turns this Princeton-by-the-Sea harbor into a proper spectacle, and the Ketch has been feeding the fishing fleet and everyone who finds their way here for years.
Thursday nights here have been a town-wide event since 2008, live rock and reggae that turns Kika into the place everyone in Santa Teresa eventually ends up anyway.
Florida Keys waterfront bar at Mile Marker 28.5 — live music nightly, cult Ahi Tuna Nachos, free boat docking, and resident bull sharks patrolling the pier.
St. Augustine’s fresh-fish purist since 2005, uncompromising sushi and never-frozen fish.
Fire shows and DJ sets right on the waterfront, one reviewer admitted going back three days straight, and once you see the sunset here it is easy to understand why.
Named for the Beach Boys song, Kokomo’s limestone bluffs and electric turquoise water make the setting genuinely spectacular, weekend parties that have made it one of the island’s most popular beach clubs.
Connecticut does not usually get credit for tropical beach bar energy, which makes finding Kokomo’s frozen drinks and reggae vibes feel like an actual discovery.
The Big Island brand that put Hawaiian craft beer on the map runs an Oahu outpost right on Koko Marina. Longboard Lager tastes better with an actual marina view attached.
This is where Kona Brewing actually started, the production brewery pub pouring Longboard Lager and Fire Rock Pale Ale as fresh as Kona craft beer gets anywhere on Earth.
One of Orient Bay’s most established clubs, Kontiki runs full lounger service and a strong cocktail program on the same long, brilliant stretch of sand that made this beach famous in the first place.
A polished Treasure Coast waterfront spot on the Indian River, upscale without the stuffiness.
L Street is the real Hampton Beach, the one that exists past July and August, cold cheap beer and pool tables for the community that actually lives here.
The Cheval Blanc pedigree shows in every single detail here, impeccable service on one of St. Barth’s most secluded stretches of white sand.
The shell-shaped mid-century building alone is worth the visit, one of the Caribbean’s most recognizable architectural landmarks with Condado Beach and the San Juan skyline doing the rest of the work.
The Cannes original built the reputation, and this St. Barth outpost carries the same French Riviera pedigree, every detail imported along with the formula.
The only true beach bar on quiet Playa Pelada, La Luna turns the Pacific sky pink and orange every evening and somehow makes Mediterranean wood-fired pizza feel completely at home in Costa Rica.
The famous beach clubs chase glamour, and La Petite Plage skips straight past it, cold cocktails and unpretentious charm in the heart of Gustavia.
La Plage brings genuine French beach club polish to Grand Anse, sun loungers and cold rose for visitors who want their Grenada afternoon with a European accent.
Solomons Island usually looks to the Bay for flavor, but La Vela looked to Italy instead: handcrafted pasta and wood-fired everything on a waterfront that mostly does crab houses.
Part hotel, part beach restaurant, part genuinely hip standalone bar, La Zebra sits on a stretch of Tulum’s Mayan-coast sand with a sexy, unhurried energy that pulls double duty as a family spot. The small beach bar near the water is the liveliest seat in the house, run by cheerful, capable bartenders; step a few feet further for quieter sand. Tequila and mezcal dominate – around 25 tequilas and 30-plus mezcals on the list – though classic rum drinks are well covered too. Balinese-style beach beds, a daily mezcal-margarita happy hour, and a beach menu of ceviches and tacos that holds its own against the main restaurant next door.
New Orleans’ 1722 bar where Jean Lafitte ran his privateering empire — candle-lit, crumbling, and completely ungentrified. The Voodoo daiquiri is mandatory.
Wrightsville Beach’s consistent surf and genuine local character come through completely at Lagerheads, laid-back and fully committed to the beach without a hint of performance.
One of Key West’s only true beach bars, toes in the sand with Captain Tony roots.
When everywhere else on the island closes, Bob is still going, neon lights, no cover, and a bayside perch for SPI’s summer fireworks.
The Hawaiian theme here is the genuine article, not a costume, fresh poke and tropical cocktails on the Pacific Beach oceanfront channeling actual Lahaina energy.
Jimmy Buffett’s LandShark brand lands on the southernmost beach bar town in the continental US, and the Margaritaville formula fits this particular stretch of Texas-Mexico border coast better than you might expect.
Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville formula lands on the Grand Strand oceanfront, cold LandShark on draft with the Atlantic in view, exactly as good as it sounds and not a bit more complicated.
Locals point every visitor here first, and Las Olas backs up the recommendation with beach volleyball, a sushi bar, and 2-for-1 happy hour that keeps the place packed nearly every night.
A ferry-only island escape with upscale beachfront dining and some of Key West’s best views.
Lava rock torches and swaying palms on Kauai’s coconut coast, this Lava Lava location trades the Big Island lava fields for the mountain-backed east side and loses nothing in the swap.
An ancient fishpond and actual petroglyphs sit right next to this bar at Anaehoomalu Bay, live Hawaiian music at sunset over one of the Kohala Coast’s most historically loaded beaches.
A barefoot-casual Islamorada waterfront spot famous for its Lazy Days-style fresh catch sandwich.
Up in the hills above the breaks, the Lazy Parrot has been the social center for Rincon’s year-round surf and expat community through decades of sunsets over the Mona Passage.
Mt. Pelee rises directly above this black sand beach bar, Ti Punch and Creole cuisine served with a view unlike anything else in the Caribbean.
Jimmy Buffett reportedly wrote Cheeseburger in Paradise about this exact bar, cold Corsaire beer poured on the same open-air terrace since 1949, more interesting conversations per square meter than almost anywhere else in the Caribbean.
Grand Cul de Sac’s protected bay is perfect for swimming and snorkeling, and Le Sereno Beach Bar is perfect for recovering from both with a cold glass of rose.
The Toiny coast is so remote and so beautiful that simply arriving feels like an actual discovery, cliff-fringed and about as far from a typical beach club as St. Barth gets.
Reedville got rich on menhaden fishing, and the Victorian mansions on Main Street still prove it. Leadbelly’s keeps the working-harbor character honest with good seafood and zero pretense.
Bar Harbor’s tourist season is short, and the bars that earn year-round loyalty are the ones that feel genuinely Irish rather than just decorated that way, Leary’s clears that bar easily.
Tucked into the granite bluffs where the Susquehanna squeezes toward the Bay, Lee’s Landing pours cold beer and steams crabs against river views that have no equal on the East Coast.
This is the kind of bar where the person next to you is a regular and happy to explain exactly why, Manasquan’s local character fully intact despite decades of Shore development around it.
Since 1981 Leilani’s has watched Lanai and Molokai across the channel every single evening, a Kaanapali ritual reliable enough that returning visitors plan their trips around it.
Every island community needs one proper local bar where the beer is as cold as the welcome is warm, and Lelo’s is Port Aransas’ answer.
Neptune Beach, FL
The World Famous Lemon Bar delivers! Don’t miss this long-time beach bar; it’s a keeper.
The central Bahamas’ mangrove coast draws fly fishing enthusiasts from around the world, and LeoRose gives that quiet corner of the archipelago a proper sunset bar to match.
Liar’s Saloon is tucked behind a boatyard at the Montauk marina — dollar drafts, fishermen, karaoke, and zero interest in what the Hamptons crowd is doing.
Kent Island has more going for it than gas stations and Bay Bridge traffic, and Libbey’s is the proof, a serious cocktail program right off Route 50 for commuters who never knew they should stop.
Cameron Parish has rebuilt itself after multiple major hurricanes with the kind of determination only people who truly belong to this land have, and Lighthouse Bend pours drinks for exactly that resilient Cajun coastal community.
Bright green and impossible to miss, Lime sits a bit back from the water on Pinney’s Beach with a rooftop deck that gives it away from a distance. First impressions matter here: a cool, mint-infused towel arrives before the menu, and the welcome only gets warmer from there. The newer ‘Beach Club’ wing puts cabanas and loungers right on the sand near the water, built around its own compact, funky bar – cruise-ship groups from St. Kitts often claim the prime real estate, so plan accordingly. Solid beer selection, a genuinely good top-shelf rum collection, and hearty plates from burgers to fresh lobster. Split your time between the Beach Club buzz and the calmer main restaurant.
You swim or paddle out to order, then float in warm Caribbean water eating tacos. Lime Out anchored in Salt Pond Bay is one of the most photographed and most genuinely unique bar experiences anywhere in the USVI.
On Federal Hill’s waterfront, Little Havana brings salsa music, mojitos, and plantains to the Inner Harbor’s southern shore, a Baltimore institution for date nights and group nights alike.
Speightstown is Barbados at its most genuinely local, a former sugar port with Georgian architecture the tourist circuit regularly skips, and Local & Co pours cold Banks beer for the community that actually lives there.
The Sanctuary’s poolside grill puts the Atlantic right behind every drink, and Kiawah’s pristine beach makes even a basic cocktail feel like a genuine splurge.
Folly Beach, SC
Classic beach bar with lots of local flavor, and a peekaboo view of the ocean to boot!
Don’t be fooled by the ‘Lone Star Garage’ sign – this west-coast Barbados institution started life in the 1940s as an actual garage before cycling through furniture repair shop, bus depot, and nightclub on its way to becoming one of the Platinum Coast’s original chic beach bars. Lone Star basically invented the neighborhood’s now-crowded upscale scene, and it still shows the way: breezy covered seating over a gorgeous beach, a corner bar with automotive prints and imaginative cocktails, and a genuinely excellent kitchen. It’s a place to see and be seen, and it knows it, but the welcome is warm enough that the Kir Royales go down easy either way.
South Padre’s consistent Gulf swells built a real surf community, and Longboard gives it a bar that actually understands the culture instead of just borrowing the aesthetic.
Poke nachos so good one reviewer devoured the whole plate against her own instincts, ocean views and live music on weekends at the Marriott Ko Olina Beach Club’s signature bar and grill.
Norfolk locals guard East Beach the way Virginia Beach visitors guard the strip, and Longboards fits the quiet, uncommercialized vibe with cold drinks and a longboard-lifestyle attitude that never feels forced.
Islamorada’s mandatory sunset stop since 1952, giant mermaid included.
The Upper Keys’ beloved dock bar and swimming hole, clear Florida Bay water and cold drinks in hand.
Reachable only by ferry, Tangier Island runs on its own accent, its own culture, and complete isolation from the mainland, and Lorraine’s soft-shell crab sandwich is reason enough that boaters and Bay devotees keep making the crossing.
Ocean Springs across the Back Bay from the casino strip built one of the Gulf Coasts most genuinely creative small-city scenes, and Lost Spring Brewing is its liquid version, arts-town craft beer with the Walter Anderson Museum crowd in mind.
Caribbean and Mexican flavors meet at Louie & Nacho’s, the kind of personality-driven bar that only happens when the community behind it is completely genuine.
Forty-five years anchoring Laguna Boulevard, an all-you-can-eat prime rib buffet, and Tuesday fireworks over the bay, Louie’s somehow keeps getting better despite selling more booze during Spring Break than anywhere else on the island.
A brick gate, a gnarled tree, and the Atlantic beyond, Key West’s best-kept not-so-secret bar.
Boat access only, private-island snorkeling, and an exceptional rum program, Lovango Rum Bar is about as private and as good as a Caribbean waterfront bar gets.
Down Harris Creek toward the Choptank sits Lowes Wharf, a marina, inn, and bar combo that has fed Tilghman Island’s watermen and boaters for generations and has the view to justify the drive to the middle of nowhere.
Lucys built its whole brand around retired-surfer energy, and this Biloxi location keeps the formula exactly as consistent and welcoming as every other stop on the Gulf Coast chain.
Perched on a pier at the western edge of the Nassau waterfront, Lukka Kairi overlooks the beach at the British Colonial Hilton closely enough to count. It swapped its old name for its current one when it relocated here in the mid-2010s. The compact octagonal bar delivers harbor views without the boardwalk crowds – a step up in style and price that keeps cruise-day chaos at bay. Kalik and local Pirate Republic craft beer on the beer side; a genuinely creative, Mexican-leaning food menu that outperforms most waterfront spots. Best for a sunset cocktail once the ships have cleared out.
Lucy Buffett’s Destin Harbor playground, Gulf Coast party energy with fun as the whole point.
Lucy Buffett’s legendary Gulf Shores waterfront bar since 2003 — cold Bushwackers, fresh Gulf seafood, zip lines over the water, and live music at the Intracoastal Waterway.
Not one bar but an entire institution, a row of open-air kiosks serving mofongo and cold Medalla Light in the same spot for generations, the definitive Puerto Rican beach snack experience just outside one of the island’s most beloved public beaches.
Tucked on the docks off the downtown bayside, M.R. Ducks serves its signature Chug-a-Duck cocktail in a plastic duck decoy, because of course it does, alongside steamers and famous wings with real waterfront character.
Built right over the water on Grand Cayman’s western tip, Macabuca has earned its reputation as one of the island’s most photographed bars purely by getting the sunset math right every single evening.
Turkey’s first beach club, opened in 1977 by the ‘Queen of Spades’ on Türkbükü Bay.
At 54th Street on the bayside, Mackys pairs an open-air bar and private beach with crab-stuffed shrimp and Rum Runners, a warm, community-anchored spot that has hosted generations of returning families.
Occoquan’s cobblestone streets already do most of the charm-work, and Madigan’s just adds the part that matters most: a proper waterfront bar worth sticking around for after you have walked the historic district.
Upper King Street is Charleston’s most competitive bar corridor, and Madison Maision has carved out genuine loyalty with quality spirits and an intimate, well-run room.
Mount Constitution rises over 2,400 feet above the water here, and Madrona pours cold Washington IPAs for an Orcas Island community that clearly built its whole identity around that view.
Clearwater Beach’s unpretentious waterfront hangout, cold drinks and boat traffic at your own pace.
Magics belongs to its Kona waterfront community the same way the palm trees do, fresh grilled ahi and genuine Big Island aloha without a hint of performance.
Virginia Beach’s largest oceanfront sushi bar also happens to serve CBD cocktails and a Florida Orange Roll, which is a lot of ways to be different from the standard boardwalk seafood shack, and Mahi Mah’s pulls off every one of them.
A veteran-founded 1969 dive bar reviewers call the best in America, bras on the ceiling and a resident iguana out back.
The Pink Palace of the Pacific has been serving mai tais on its pink terraces since 1927, and hosting everyone from royalty to Hollywood in the process, Diamond Head to the left, the Waikiki surf directly ahead.
One of the last great Grand Polynesian Palaces of Tiki, Mai-Kai has served original Don the Beachcomber cocktail recipes and staged its Polynesian Islander Revue since 1956, a National Register landmark that reopened in 2024 after a 20 million dollar restoration.
The legendary hangover cure here is an authentic Costa Rican seafood soup, and the pina coladas come served in frozen pineapples, which is honestly all the information you need.
Onancock has been a working colonial port since before working ports were a novelty, and Mallards gives the town’s last regular Tangier Island ferry stop a waterfront bar worth detouring off Route 13 for.
Mamita’s is the actual social center of Playa del Carmen’s beach scene, DJs and fresh ceviche with turquoise water close enough to touch from the lounge chairs.
Manchester built a proper pub because its Kitsap Peninsula waterfront community deserved a real gathering place, cold pints and zero pretense, exactly as advertised.
Mandala brings design-forward polish and electronic music to Cancun’s Hotel Zone, the most internationally recognized version of a Mexican Caribbean beach club.
Vegetarian and fresh fish by day, Dominical’s hottest nightspot after dark, Maracatu somehow runs both shifts convincingly.