SC beach bar named one of 10 best in nation by USA Today. Here’s why it’s great
The votes are in from the USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards for the best beach bar in the United States, with a South Carolina spot ranking among the top three.
Hilton Head’s Tiki Hut Beach Bar at Beach House was voted the third best beach bar in the nation in this year’s ranking.
Hilton Head’s Tiki Hut Beach Bar was the only spot from South Carolina on the list and was noted in the nominations as Hilton Head’s only beachfront live music venue that has been serving visitors and locals since 1977.
Located in the heart of the Coligny Beach area, Tiki Hut offers a variety of meals, shareable plates and drinks. With a blend of classic Southern favorites and coastal-inspired dishes, Tiki Hut offers an ideal space for locals and visitors alike.
Tiki Hut is located at 1 South Forest Beach Drive and is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
Here’s a rundown of the other top beach bars from the 2025 competition:
First and second place winners
First and second place were granted to two Florida locations:
No. 1: Ocean Deck Restaurant and Beach Bar in Daytona Beach, Florida
No. 2: Flora-Bama in Pensacola, Florida
What are the other top bars from this year’s ranking?
Other top spots from the 2025 ranking are:
No. 4: Reunion Kitchen + Drink in Santa Barbara, California
No. 5: Copper Bar at Mauna Kea Beach Hotel in Waimea, Hawaii
No. 6: Mai Tai Bar at The Royal Hawaiian in Honolulu, Hawaii
No. 7: Sloppy Joe’s on the Beach at Bilmar Beach Resort in Treasure Island, Florida
No. 8: The Crow’s Nest in Santa Cruz, California
No. 9: House Without A Key at Halekulani Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii
No. 10: Edge of Waikiki at Sheraton Waikiki Beach Resort in Honolulu, Hawaii
To view all the nominees for the 2025 10Best beach bars, click here.
How does voting and winner selection work?
The USA TODAY 10Best Reader’s Choice Awards is an award program that is designed to highlight top locations across various travel and lifestyle categories, including destinations, food, drinks and attractions.
The selection of top locations for readers to cast their vote is curated by a panel of travel experts, with the final set of nominees selected through editorial review by USA TODAY 10Best editors.
The travel experts who selected the nominees for the 2025 10Best beach bars include:
Andrea Richards
Jamie Davis Smith
Jeremy Clement
Kristen Lummis
Laura Sutherland
Marla Cimini
Melissa Curtin
Nicky Omohundro
NikkyJ of Theme Park Hipster
To learn more about this panel and their backgrounds, their information can be found at the bottom of the 10Best beach bars webpage.
Once all the nominees are selected and announced, the public is invited to vote for their favorites over a four-week period.
To vote, participants must:
Be 18 years old or older
You can only vote once per category, per day
Use of script, macro or any other automated system to vote is prohibited and all such votes will be void.
Businesses/nominees cannot obtain votes by any fraudulent or inappropriate means.
Any fraudulent votes or votes cast by any form of automated system are disregarded and disqualified, according to the USA TODAY 10Best Rules webpage.
Once all votes have been cast and counted, USA TODAY reviews the list and announces the winning locations the following week.
This story was originally published June 5, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
