Top Places To Have Boat Drinks By Sailboats & Powerboats
With that in mind, PubClub.com presents our list of World’s Top 10 Boating Destinations For Dockside Bars. Credit for this post comes from GetMyBoat.com, which lists people’s boats for rent when they are not in use. PubClub.com received a press release from the company listing its Top 10 boating destinations.
And hey, they should know but it gave us the idea to make our own list, one that includes one key element for us: places with the best dockside bars.
So here’s our list, followed by the one from GetMyBoat.com. Our list does include year-round places while GetMyBoat.com’s is for the summertime.
PubClub.com’s Top 10 Boating Destinations
1.) British Virgin Islands. When it comes to dockside bars, no place is as loaded as the BVIs. Well, not all the bars are technically dockside and at one of the most legendary, you have to jump off your boat and swim to it. But the Soggy Dollar Bar is worth it for the Pain Killers. Then there’s Foxy’s, which is legendary in its own right, the Bitter End Yacht Club, Myette’s Beach Bar in Cayne Garden Bay which inspired Jimmy Buffett’s “Manana,” and the ultimate dockside bar, the floating ship off Treasure Island known as Willie T’s. What sets the BVIs apart from all other destinations is that the islands are so close together you can sail to two or even three in a single day.
2.) Greek Islands. This is the biggest party place in the world – in the summer months, anyway. Here, you have to toss out the anchor at a destination for a while because the islands are so far apart. Do so in Mykonos and you won’t likely leave for a week. The Caprice Bar in Mykonos Town is the place to go for sunset and for the casual crazy party there’s only one place, Scandinavian Bar. Another must-do destination is Santorini, one of the most beautiful places in the world. Have your sunset drinks from the Tropical Bar in Fira.
3.) San Diego. This is one of the best party cities in America with the dynamic Gaslamp downtown and the beaches of Pacific Beach and Ocean Beach. But there’s also places like Shelter Island, which has a number of bars right off its huge harbor. One is Bali Hai, a tiki bar of sorts that has a VERY strong Mai Tai. Don’t leave the dock until the next day after having a couple of those things.
4.) Ft. Lauderdale/South Florida. This is a huge boating community and we’ve actually included not just Lauderdale but the entire area. That’s because there are so many locations with bars right off the dock that pulling up on a weekend afternoon in a boat is part of the culture. There’s the Banana Boat in Boynton Beach, Singer Island, The Square Grouper in Jupiter, the Cove in Deerfield Beach and even the Elbo Room across from the fishing charter docks in Lauderdale. But our favorite – especially on Sundays – is the large tiki bar called Waterway Cafe in Palm Beach Gardens. It’s awesome.
5.) Newport, R.I. The king of mega-yachts in the USA has several great bars. The ABC (Johnny’s Atlantic Beach Club) is right on the beach, but on the dock there’s the West Deck, or simply “the deck” to locals, which has a band playing songs from Buffett, the Eagles and Pink Floyd.
6.) The Florida Keys. Just down the coast from all those great dockside bars in South Florida is dockside bar heaven, the Florida Keys. There’s more marinas here than types of rum drinks. For instance, there’s the Holiday Isle Tiki Bar in Islamarada (it’s not as good as it used to be but they have rum runners), Lorele’s just across A1A, Dockside Tropical Cafe in Marathon which has the best live music in the Keys (and, as the name says, it’s right on the dock, just off A1A at Sombrero Marina) and all the way to Key West where the sunsets at Mallory Square are not to be missed.
7.) Austin, Texas. This is a rocking party town to begin with, and throw in Lake Travis and Lake Austin and it’s like hitting the full throttle of fun. For starters, there’s the Hula Hut on Lake Austin and on Lake Travis the three-level Oasis, where people clap the sunsets each night, and each level sees the sunset at different times. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, this is America’s top boating party destination.
8.) Waikiki Beach. Right off what locals call the “Gilligan’s Island harbor” – which is where may locals keep their sailboats after safely returning from their three-hour tour – is a classic harbor pub called, appropriately enough, the Harbor Pub. It’s a dive with cheap beers ($1 for a light drafts from 4-7!) and drinks srong enough for salty sailors. Above it is the Chart House, which has a great Happy Hour for drinks and food. And not far away, on the edge of Fort DuRussy Park (across from the post office) is a must-see tiki dive bar called Arnold’s. Down the beach there’s the best Mai Tais in perhaps the entire South Pacific at the Royal Hawaiian and, of course, Duke’s Canoe Club.
9.) Wellington, New Zealand. Queen’s Wharf has four dockside bars and a huge sailing and boating community. The next America’s Cup, in fact, was probably THIS close to being held here. Then the Americans came back and won in San Francisco.
10.) Hilton Head Island, S.C. This place has one of the best dockside bars PubClub.com has ever visited, the Quarterdeck. Of course, it all has to do with the timing; during the Heritage PGA golf tournament it’s an absolute zoo. There was also another time we walked in and the place was buzzing because, just the previous day, Jimmy Buffett paid a visit. And get this – upon hearing the guitar player stumbling through one of his songs, he got up on stage and said “THAT’S not the way you play ‘Margaritaville,’ and became the house band.
We’ll drink to that, and to all these places, and to all great dockside bars around the world.
GetMyBoat.com Top Summer Boating Destinations:
1.) Miami, Florida
2.) St. John, US Virgin Islands
3.) San Francisco
4.) San Diego
5.) Ft. Lauderdale
6.) Austin, Texas
7.) Chicago, Illinois
8.) New York, New York
9.) Annapolis, Maryland
10.) Boston
Link: GetMyBoat.com
Ha, because they have rum!? Cheers mate! – PubClub.com
How come I’ve been in most of the bars in the BVI? The devil made me do it. Tony’s Welcome Bar at Cane Garden Bay should be on the list.