The Best Bars in Antigua and Barbuda

This thatched, open-sided tiki bar tops a floating pontoon a few metres from the shore of Dickenson Bay Beach. You can swim to it or catch the little boat that runs back and forth from the sand. Cold Carib beers and extra-strong rum punches are the most popular drinks here. On livelier days, the bar staff turn the music up and serve shots in test tubes.

Antigua’s very own craft brewery, 2SIX8, has a tap room in Falmouth, a 10-minute walk from the catamaran marina. This is the place to try beers such as Pigeon Point Pilsner and Honey Bee Lager – made with local Antiguan honey – as well as seasonal specials. If you’re not into beer, don’t worry – the brewery makes refreshing hard seltzers, too. Try cucumber and lemon flavour, or pomegranate and grapefruit for that Caribbean zing.

The cocktail lounge of this French Creole restaurant in English Harbour is set in gardens shaded by mature palm trees and scented by tropical flowers. Cocktail flights are the speciality here: served on cricket bat-shaped boards, they feature five different takes on drinks including bloody marys, mimosas and house-made infused rums. There are some great non-alcoholic options too, such as the cucumber fauxito and the hibiscus punch.

A walkway lined with ballet shoe-pink bougainvillea leads to this clifftop bar on the west coast of Antigua. At the top, four-poster day beds look out over the sea. The cocktail list is eight pages long. If you can’t make up your mind, go for the cocktail of the month – it’s usually something inventive, like smoked mango margarita. Bring your swimming costume and you can sip your drinks from one of two cliff-edge infinity plunge pools.

Crowning a hilltop 150m (490ft) above sea level, this bar-restaurant serves wide-angle views of the English and Falmouth harbours. Thursdays and Sundays are the best days to head here: the bar puts on a barbecue from 4pm, the rum punches flow, and the sound of live steel band music fills the air. If you’re feeling energetic, follow the Lookout Trail up here from Galleon Beach. Otherwise, just hop in a taxi.

The beers, classic cocktails and house special rosé wines are served “colder than a banker’s heart” at Jacqui O’s. They need to be, because this bar-restaurant is set on a private beach and much of the seating takes the form of hammocks and day beds in the direct heat of the sun. If you prefer to sip in the shade, there’s a beach club-style gazebo lounge and plenty of indoor seating, too. Visit at dusk to catch the cinematic sunsets.

The seats spill out onto the sand at this beachside bar near Fort James, so you can sip your drinks in view of Fort Bay. The bar offers a number of speciality cocktails, such as the Tropicocomokoloco. BeachLimerz serves food, too. If you’re feeling really hungry, tackle the signature burger, the Nyamburger. Made with three beef patties, bacon, fries and mac and cheese, it’s a Jenga tower in food form.

Floor-to-ceiling wine racks line the walls in this wine bar in Redcliffe Quay, St John’s. The place specialises in punchy South African and Argentinean wines, which you can enjoy alongside something simple such as a bowl of olives or a bigger meal. Try to get a seat on the patio: there’s a tree sculpture made from wine bottles at the centre of it and it’s lit by fairy lights at night.

Close to Pink Sand Beach on the south coast of Barbuda Uncle Roddy’s is a beach bar and grill. Pull up a chair on the wooden veranda at the front and watch the Caribbean Sea waves dissolve into the sand as you sip. The bar puts on regular happy hours, where beers and cocktails go for a song. Try the Tropical Heat, made with crème de banane, pineapple juice and blue curaçao.