The Boatyard is a beach bar on Carlisle Bay, about a kilometre south of the historic centre, and it has been a fixture of Bridgetown nightlife for decades. The setup is simple: a wooden bar on the sand, a pontoon platform in the sea, a DJ most evenings, and a crowd that gets progressively livelier as the afternoon becomes evening. It draws a mix of expats, visitors, and Bajans on a night out.
Carlisle Bay — a wide sweep of calm, turquoise water — is a better beach than anything immediately adjacent to the city, and the Boatyard is the most accessible way to use it. The drinks are tourist-priced but not outrageous. The food (burgers, fish, jerk chicken) is good enough and better than you would expect of a bar on a beach. Go for the late afternoon: swim, watch the pelicans work the bay, get the first Banks of the evening while there is still light.