The Online Beach Bar

05/10/2026

Retracta-Belt Limbo... Tired of the walk of stupidity at the airport, when you are forced to go left and right through the maze of empty webbing lanes...? Well dance it instead. Read more on Substack, at the Coconut of Damocles.

The Terror of Arrival in Nassau

05/09/2026

The early marine biologist that moved to Guadeloupe after being ridiculed for his claim that corals were animals rather than marine flowers... https://theonlinebeachbar.substack.com/p/pity-poor-jean-peyssonnel

17/08/2026

My latest tale from 40 years of Caribbean travel at the Coconut of Damocles - The Cow and the Cattle Egret. A touching scene followed by a moment of horror

https://theonlinebeachbar.substack.com/p/the-cattle-egret-and-the-cow

10/08/2026

The Coconut of Damocles in Jamaica, where weird things happen in the ether - Irie FM undergoes the Doppler Effect. Only in the Caribbean!

06/08/2026

My Magical Moments of Caribbean Travel have moved to the Online Beach Bar's new Substack. Expect more regular posts, full of Caribbean silliness

The revelation came on slowly - dazed as I was, prostrate under a palm tree - but from inception it felt inevitable, unstoppable, freighted like a juggernaut.

06/08/2026

Musings from 40 years of Caribbean Travel. Click to read The Coconut of Damocles, by JamesHenderson'sOnlineBeachBar, a Substack publication. Launched 2 minutes ago.

25/06/2026

Signs seen around the islands - it rains a lot in the Caribbean and so they have plenty of words for the gulleys through which the water drains to the sea. Dip, ghaut and here in Nevis, the delightfully named swale...

22/06/2026

Hi, Thanks for dropping by. The Online Beach Bar is all about the Caribbean, information and ideas about which island to visit and where to stay, how best to get there (with a travel organiser or independently) and, when you are there how to have best time – eating out, trips and activities, in bars and of course, specifically, beach bars. See below for colour and inspiration.