10 Cool Floating Bars Around the World, Including a Caribbean Taco Shack and a Wine Spot in Montenegro

This article was originally published in 2018 and most recently updated on July 28, 2026, with current information.

Is there anything better than getting out on the water, the wind in your hair, drink of choice in hand? Sounds like a dream to us. But when renting a boat isn’t an option, get to a floating bar. Some are truly floating (anchored) in the sea, so you can splash in between sips. Others are docked but still offer water views—and the convenience of being able to take the subway home after. From a Seine-side perch in Paris to a taco shack in the Virgin Islands, here are 10 places to have a drink while (gently) bobbing in the water.

Floating bar in the Pacific Islands

Cloud 9: Mamanuca Islands, Fiji

The azure and turquoise water of the Roro Reef off Malolo Island, Fiji (part of the country’s Mamanuca archipelago), is staggeringly clear. And anchored there is Cloud 9, a two-level,solar-powered bar/restaurant where DJs spin each weekend and the kitchen serves colorful cocktails and wood-fired pizzas.

The surfer-chic platform is outfitted for R&R with daybeds, beach chairs, and plenty of other shaded places to sit. It’s a family-friendly space, open all day, with the last return at 6 p.m. Go for a dip with your own snorkel kit or rent one on-site for approximately $7 but they have a limited supply.

Floating bars in the USA

Shore Thing: Pittsburgh

Courtesy of Riverlife

A 4,800-square-foot floating platform in Pittsburgh’s Alleghany River, Shore Thing is a pub and family-friendly free community space run by local nonprofit Riverlife. Shore Thing hosts activities all summer, including concerts, DJ nights, and yoga classes. Beer on draft, like a summer ale made with cucumbers, comes from BG Brewing in nearby Braddock, which is also in charge of the food. And while a river in Pittsburgh may not quite be the Pacific in Hawai‘i, let yourself be transported by the gentle lapping of waves and bites like poke rolls, Spam musubi, and hot dogs dressed with rice vinegar and spicy mayo.

Frying Pan: New York City

Courtesy of Frying Pan NYC

On sunny days from April through October, New Yorkers flock to the Frying Pan, a historic barge–turned–bar permanently docked on the Hudson River. It’s not a dive nor is it too fancy. The food menu is solid: raw bar staples, carnitas tacos, lobster rolls, and a few nonseafood options and, to drink, nautical- and tropical-leaning cocktails by the glass or pitcher. (The watermelon agua fresca or mint lemonade mocktails are super refreshing.) Because the barge faces west, you’ll have wide-open sunset views.

The Honorable William Wall: Jersey City, New Jersey

This bi-level bar-restaurant named for William Wall (an 1850s mayor of Williamsburg, Brooklyn) is anchored in Manhattan Harbor just across from Ellis Island. The Willy Wall, as it’s better known, offers views of the Manhattan skyline and front-row seats to the sun melting into the Hudson River each evening. The bar serves wine, canned and bottled beer, and cocktails. Tipplers are encouraged to bring their own picnics (no food is sold on board).

The downstairs deck is enclosed, and the upper deck is covered but open on the sides. When you book a ticket on the Admirals Launch speedboat shuttle, which you’ll need to reach the bar, you can reserve a table on the upper level for four to six people ($100 per table).

Floating bars in the Caribbean

Captain Oak’s Tiki Bar: Providenciales, Turks and Caicos

Courtesy of Visit Turks & Caicos Islands

Captain Oak’s, anchored just off Long Bay Beach in the warm, calm waters off Providenciales, Turks and Caicos, is a day bar—aka a restaurant where people get tipsy and dance from noon to sunset. Expect tropical cocktails, grilled seafood like shrimp kebabs, fish, and lobster when in season. The floating bar is scarcely a 10-minute ride from shore but is still too far to swim to, so come with your own (rental) boat or Jet Ski or book a round-trip ferry ($20).

Casa en el Agua: San Bernardo Islands, Colombia

Courtesy of Casa en el Agua

This floating eco-lodge and bar is in the Corales del Rosario and San Bernardo National Natural Park, 50 miles off Colombia’s Caribbean coast and two hours from Cartagena by speedboat. Unlike the other venues on this list, Casa en el Agua is adults-only.

If you don’t have your own boat, you’ll need to stay over for a night; the lodge’s boat leaves Cartagena daily at 9 a.m. and makes the return at noon ($44 each way). The ride can be a little bumpy and is always windy, so take precautions if you are prone to seasickness. Once you arrive at the lodge, though, you’ll be bobbing in the ludicrously warm, gently lapping Caribbean, with a deep pink papaya juice or tropical cocktail in hand. Dishes are prepared simply with the day’s catch from local fishers (ceviche, grilled fish, or lobster) with vegetarian options, such as empanadas and roasted eggplant and rice and beans.

Be sure to bring plenty of cash, reef-safe sunscreen, water, and fully charged electronics (the resort runs on solar power).

Lime Out: St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands

Courtesy of Visit USVI

Liming is Trinidadian slang that’s spread around the Caribbean for hanging out with friends, and you’ll be liming and using lots of limes at taco shop Lime Out. The green, solar-powered structure sits on a pontoon and serves tacos and cocktails to blissed-out vacationers floating in the warm bath that is the Caribbean.

Order a spiced tuna taco and a tamarind juice, go for a dip, and repeat, working your way through the menu of 8 tacos and 11 cocktails (plus nonalcoholic options to keep you hydrated). The tiny floating restaurant is accessible by boat only (arriving by swimming, paddleboard, or kayak is prohibited); rent your own or book its shuttle at $30/person. Note that the bar is closed for hurricane season, from roughly late August to the third week of October. A second Lime Out opened in November 2025 in Lindbergh Bay, on the west end of St. Thomas, and it delivers the same dreamy experience.

Floating bars in Europe

Underwater Wine Cellar Kraken: Kotor, Montenegro

If sipping wine on a shaded, floating wooden platform in the deep blue Bay of Kotor in Montenegro sounds like a dream, it’s not: This can happen every day at Underwater Wine Cellar Kraken, where white, rosé, and red wine are aged not in barrels but in bottles 66 feet underwater for 365 days. Try a light, floral glass of Tamjanika (a variety from the Muscat family) with a plate of local cheese and charcuterie, fragrant mussels or grilled shrimp, and whole grilled fish.

Between bites, go for a swim and learn how owners Đuro Jankovic and Nemanja Božović came to be aging wine underwater. There are only a dozen-odd seats at Kraken, so be sure to book ahead of time on the bar’s site.

Tamesis Dock, London

Photo by Roserunn/Shutterstock

Tamesis Dock, a double-deck boat bar, is permanently docked on the Thames between Lambeth and Vauxhall bridges, with the Palace of Westminster (the Houses of Parliament) and Big Ben in the background. The 1930s-era Dutch barge now lives a second life as an eclectic neighborhood pub and hosts live music nights, stand-up comedy events, and showings of sports matches (football, Olympics, etc.). Tamesis Dock is open year-round but, given the rarity of warm, sunny days in London, this is an ultra-popular spot when the weather is welcoming; get in early for your pizza and pint. (It also has a good selection of wine and cocktails and mocktails.)

Les Maquereaux, Paris

Courtesy of Les Maquereaux

The Seine is used for more than cooling off during Parisian heat waves; it’s also home to a handful of barge-bars, including Les Maquereaux. There are two outposts in the capital, one on the Right Bank and one the western edge of Paris in the 16th arrondissement.

Les Maquereaux Rive Droite sits right next to the Pont Marie, one side facing Île de la Cité and the other facing a row of poplar trees shading the pedestrian path. It’s open year-round—enclosed and heated in winter—serving more or less anything you could want to drink and shareable plates of oysters, burrata, and mackerel rillettes.

The larger La Marina Les Maquereaux in the 16th arrondissement, which is two barges combined, has a tiny outdoor pool and a menu similar to its Right Bank sister, plus raclette in the colder months.