The Pelican Bar is a one of a kind place to visit when you are on a trip in Jamaica. It is definitely one of the “coolest” bars you can ever go to.

The Pelican Bar in Jamaica is a rustic wooden bar built on a sand bank about a quarter of a mile out to sea. It is about a 20 minute boat ride to get to.

It is a popular spot to just hang out an relax, have a Red Stripe, swim in the clear shallow water, each some fresh fish or even go swimming.

The background story of The Pelican Bar is that local fisherman named Floyd had a vision of creating a bar built in the sea, resting on stilts for him and his friends to hang out.

After some hard work and lots of trips transporting large planks of wood on his fishing boat, in 2001 the bar was completed an named “The Pelican Bar”  because of the large Pelicans that rested on the sand bank.

The original intention of the bar was for Floyd and his friends, not as a tourist attraction. But eventually the local hotels saw lots of potential for this bar and starting promoting it as a local attraction.

Then devastation struck in 2004 when Hurricane Ivan hit the island of Jamaica.

As you can imagine, the bar was completely destroyed. But at this time, the local hotels realized how important it is for their area as an attraction they all pitched in and donated wood and labor and within about 1 month, it was back up and open for visitors.

To get to The Pelican Bar, guests need to take a short boat ride to the bar, which many are accessible locally.

Most tourist combine a trip to The Pelican Bar with other things to do in Jamaica around the south coast such as Black River Safari, Appleton Rum Tour and/or YS Falls.  For more information on a South Coast Tour, click here.