Inlet Harbor Marina & Restaurant, Daytona Beach

Inlet Harbor is a marina on the southern tip of the barrier island, just across Ponce Inlet from New Smyrna Beach. The restaurant is a rowdy, raucous party palace with visitors arriving in boats, on jet skis, astride Harleys—we’ve even seen a couple of gray hairs extricating themselves from a Lamborghini. They leave the way they came, just a lot more intoxicated. The food is pretty good—not great—but the atmosphere is second to none. Grab a table outside if you can; there are live bands most nights and you could hear anything from ska to Sinatra depending. The seafood is fresh and good, but don’t come for a leisurely sit-down meal. Order yourself a frosty adult beverage and a selection of appetizers—the angels on horseback (oysters wrapped in bacon, breaded and deep fried) or conch fritters—then kick back and watch the sun go down as the tide runs out of the inlet. There’s a little sandbar right in front of the restaurant called Disappearing Island (because you can only see it when the tide’s low) that attracts hordes of boaters and the deck is a great place to watch from.

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