It was a Saturday, a few days before my 42 nd birthday and I was going to Pelican Bar. This is a bar at sea, located off the south coast of Jamaica, near to Parottee Bay. To get to Pelican you go by boat.
The drive to the spot where we would meet our boat driver Ted was filled with amazing photo ops along the South coast of Jamaica.
Ted is a local fisherman in the Treasure beach area, he does trips to and from Pelican Bar, so if you need a boat he is your guy.
This is the spot where we met Ted, Frenchman’s Bay. It is a bar and restaurant with great food and drinks. It is set right on the beach, a cozy hang out spot. Before heading to Pelican Bar I ordered a jumbo hotdog and fries from this restaurant. This small meal did not disappoint.
The type of boats that take you to Pelican Bar
The awesome boat ride to Pelican bar took about 30-35 minutes. I kept looking in the distance for as far as my eyes could see to spot this bar on the sea, but I saw nothing.
On board and ready to go
Then as we made a sharp turn north along the coast there it was looming in the distance. It was a completely wooden structure jutting out of the sea on stilts with a thatched roof. Quite a rustic look. As we approached the bar we could hear vibrant music playing, other patrons were chilling on the open-air deck to the front of the bar on the right side and other boats were docked around the bar to the left side.
Our boat parked right next to the steps at the front of the bar so we could disembark. As we got off the boat you just felt even more of that salty, refreshing sea breeze. I was finally at Pelican Bar.
Inside the Bar
As we entered the bar, we chose a spot, placing our backpacks, speaker and board game on the table. Yes! We brought our own speaker and music. We headed straight to the bar and ordered Heineken and Red Stripe beers. I had the sorrel flavoured Red Stripe beer, my favourite. We got a beer for our boat man as well.
Many tourists were at Pelican that day, sitting, relaxing, chatting, drinking and enjoying the endless refreshing sea breeze and island vibes. Others spent time in the sparkling blue sea which surrounded the bar. Even though out to sea you could stand in the water as Pelican is surrounded by a sand bar.
After getting the beers we stood on the open-air deck and relaxed for some time. Next, we returned to our spot and played Ludo, that’s a local board game.
For the next few hours, we played Ludo, drank more beers, chatted and listened to music. I observed that more boats kept coming at intervals bringing more and more patrons.
Hanging inside the bar from the ceiling are T-shirts, caps, flags, flip flops, vehicle registration plates. These items were placed by previous patrons who had visited the bar from all parts of the world over the years. The registration plates were the tell-tale sign of visitors from Canada, USA and Europe.
Another way to leave your mark so to speak is to carve your name in the wooden floor. There is a guy who does the carving for you, just tell him what you want carved and he does it. How cool is that?
Carving
Leaving Pelican Bar
So alas all good things must come to an end. It was time to leave unfortunately. I wasn’t ready to head back to shore. Soon we boarded our boat. We got farwell waves from the other patrons as our boat pulled away and sped off.
The ride back was a little longer and bumpy because it was now high tide. Our driver was expert at handling these waves as he meandered through them to lessen the boat jumping out of the water.
The day at Pelican bar was absolutely cool and relaxing. A great vibe. If ever in Jamaica you must check it out. No other place like it.