About the Online Beach Bar

The Online Beach Bar is a source of inspiration and information about the Caribbean islands: the hotels in which to stay, places to eat, the most rewarding activities and places to visit and of course the best places - many of them beach bars – in which to relax. It is the creation of James Henderson, a travel writer who has been visiting the Caribbean islands for more than 30 years to write guide books and articles in the British national press.

Travellers invest more than just their money when they have a Caribbean holiday. The islands are so beautiful that many visitors find themselves falling in love with the place and then returning year after year. Our aim is to help them find places that are most suitable for them and to make sure they have the best possible visit. The Caribbean islands have amazing variety, so there is something for everyone.

The information behind the Online Beach Bar is powered by the Online Caribbean Guide, a guide which covers around 30 Caribbean islands, approaching them with a detailed and rigorous - rather than purely inspirational - view. The Online Caribbean Guide is the culmination of 30 years of research and study of the Caribbean, for guide books and newspapers. You can visit the Online Caribbean Guide here.

A disclaimer - some of the content on the Online Beach Bar is sponsored. It does however present the Caribbean in a fair and representative way. James Henderson has written in the UK national press for more than 30 years, so while he would be the first to say that he loves the Caribbean, he also has a trained critical eye and believes in a policy of independent judgement.

If you would like to contact us at the Online Beach Bar, then do please visit our Contact Page. However, if you are looking for current information about the Caribbean you might like to join our facebook and Linked in groups, where there are open discussions about the islands and the Caribbean tourism industry.

For the second time in a month, giving life and use to often underloved salt and pepper sellers. On Virgin Atlantic to Grrenada. This time the silver version, at the sharp end of the plane a nice surprise. Note the 787 lighting in reflection.
Heat and boat you can just about feel the swelter of the sun and the baking sand as the edges of the image curl in the heat. Anguilla, not sure which beach... But there'll be a bar not far away. #anguillabeaches #Anguilla #onlinebeachbar #caribbeanbe
I always felt a bit sorry for salt and pepper sellers on airlines - a life unrequited, often unused at all - but these two look rather jolly and happy with their lot. On Virgin Atlantic to Barbados
We all love a brightly painted chattel house - jangling pastels like fuschia, lavender and canary - but trad Barbados was more muted. Love the window hoods like eyelashes.
 
 
 

About James Henderson

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James Henderson has been travelling around and writing about the Caribbean since June 1989, when he first set foot on Seven Mile Beach on Grand Cayman. He cut his writer’s teeth foot-slogging around the islands researching guide books – The Cadogan Guide to the Caribbean and the Bahamas (six editions, 1990-2003), the AA Explorer Guide to the Caribbean and others.

At the same time he has written for the UK national press, including the Financial Times, the Telegraph, the Times, Conde Nast Traveller, Elle magazine and plenty of others. In 2003 he co-founded, edited and wrote much of DefinitiveCaribbean.com, a huge Caribbean website, until its sale in 2010.

The Caribbean has been an incredible office. James Henderson has visited more than 100 islands, cays and sandbars in 30 different political denominations. He has ‘played mas’ (danced in the carnival parade) in Trinidad, attended voodoo pilgrimages in Haiti, kayaked (almost) the length of the Exumas in the Bahamas and bathed among the ghostly green whorls of the phosphorescent lagoon in Vieques. And he has spent countless sunsets watching for - and seen twice - the Green Flash. He travels to the Caribbean as much as possible to keep up to date and to provide the most in-depth critical knowledge of the area for the UK consumer press. There have been a few notable moments, among them a prediction that on a bad day at work James Bond would eventually end up on Arecibo Observatory. It came about in Goldeneye (see Pierce Brosnan vs Sean Bean at the culmination of Goldeneye).

Unfortunately James Henderson doesn’t look great in a bikini, so the world of social influencers has rather passed him by. On the other hand he really knows his stuff and through the web he is able to share this knowledge at the Online Beach Bar and the Online Caribbean Guide. 

For what it is worth, James Henderson is also a (mostly former) extreme sportsman who, when he wasn’t dozing in a hammock or counting grains of sand on Caribbean beaches, used to run across deserts, mountains and jungles (often to write about it in the UK papers). He ran the Marathon des Sables before most people realised it was a thing, kayaked the Greek Islands in the trail of World War II raiders and he competed in six Eco-Challenges, top finish 5th (Morocco 1999). He still just about puts himself out there: in 2019 he became painfully acquainted with the new vogue of bikepacking, by partaking in a 1040km non-stop Bikingman ‘sprint’ in Oman. He has followed the cycle tracks of the youthful Lawrence of Arabia and has plans for many more adventures. If you like an adventure, check out his other website, ALifeofAdventure.net