Tucked inside the Ocean Resort on Fort Lauderdale Beach, the Wreck Bar is more than just a place to grab a drink, it’s a portal to another time where Tiki Bar goodness, nautical nostalgia and underwater fantasy swirl together beneath the waves, but what truly makes this place unforgettable is the mermaids of course.
Originally opened in the 1950s when the hotel was known as the Yankee Clipper, the Wreck Bar was designed to look like the inside of a sunken Spanish galleon. Dark wood beams, porthole windows and maritime relics gave the place a cozy shipwrecked charm, but the real magic lies behind the bar– huge underwater windows that peer directly into the hotel’s pool.
In the early days the bar was a hotspot for celebrities, sailors and snowbirds, seeking that signature Florida escape. Rumor has it that everyone from Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio, to The Beatles, The Monkees and even Jimi Hendrix made their way into the dimly lit lounge, but it wasn’t the decor or the tropical drinks that kept people coming, it was the mermaids…