Best-of list · Bar Guides
Discover the world's best beach bars. Tropical cocktails, sand-floor venues, and coastal lounges from Bali to Sydney. Find your perfect beach bar.
The short answer
10 ranked rooms follow. How we picked is at the end of this guide.
Sand between your toes and a cold glass in your hand. That's the promise of a good beach bar, and it's a promise that separates the great ones from the ordinary. I've chased that promise from Bali to the Côte d'Azur, from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, and I can tell you this: the best beach bars understand that the sand isn't a liability to overcome. It's part of the drink.
What makes a beach bar exceptional isn't just proximity to water. It's intention. It's knowing that a tropical storm means the cocktail becomes more important, not less. It's understanding that a coconut-thatch roof has character that air conditioning never will. The bars on this list get it. They've built something worth seeking, not just something convenient to find.
Beach bars sit at a curious intersection. They need to serve tourists who stay one night and locals who've been coming for years. They need to be casual enough for morning drinks but sophisticated enough for evening affairs. The best ones don't compromise—they expand. They're whatever you need them to be when you arrive, and they're still excellent when you leave.