Beach bars of the week

If the only chill you fancy is the ice in your cocktail glass, join Andy Lynes for a drink at the water's edge

It's going to be a long cold winter, they say, so take the hint and book a ticket now to somewhere hot. Imagine the sun beating down on your factor-15 face, the sand between your sock-free toes and the chilled rim of a cocktail glass between your oh-so-parched lips. Just try not to laugh too hard when you think about poor old frozen Blighty - you might spill your drink.

The young, the beautiful and the deeply tanned gulp ruinously expensive Cristal champagne cocktails at Nikki Beach, 1 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach (00 1 305 538 1231; nikkibeach.com).

The Bondi Crush at the first-floor bar at Icebergs, 1 Notts Avenue, Bondi Beach, Sydney (00 61 2 9365 9000; idrb.com), is made from Pimm's, gin, watermelon, fresh mint and ginger and is as exhilarating as the ocean views.

Robert Plant and Tracey Ullman are among the celebrities who have enjoyed a Killer Bee cocktail made from passion-fruit juice and rum under the thatched roof at Sunshine's, Pinney's Beach, Nevis in the Caribbean (sunshinenevis.com).

Set on the dazzling white sands and deep-blue lagoons of Yancuna Island, the Bilo Bar at the Shangri La, Cuvu, Sigatoka, Fiji Islands (00 679 652 0155; shangri-la.com), is so popular that a club has been set up which aims to "create a bond among the regular visitors".

The Moroccan lounge at The Blue Parrot Beach Club, 12th Street North and 1st Avenue North, Playas del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico (00 52 984 87 30083; blueparrot. com), features Middle Eastern rugs strewn across the sand and a giant palm-leaf thatched roof.

Camps Bay is transformed into Notting Hill-on-Sea by Eclipse, The Promenade, Victoria Road, Cape Town, South Africa (00 27 21 4380882), sister to the chain of trendy London bars.