The Oar is the island’s boating living room: a deck aimed straight down the Great Salt Pond, a mooring field of sailboats below, and a happy hour timed to the only show that matters out here — the sun going down over the far shore. Which means it’s one of the best places on the island to be at 6 p.m., whether or not you know a cleat from a clam rake.
What it’s like
More chill than rowdy, and deliberately so. While the town bars turn the volume up, The Oar pours a good wine list and proper craft cocktails for a crowd that’s half salt-crusted boat people, half smart visitors who timed their evening right. The view does half the work: everything on that deck turns gold for an hour before sunset.
And then there’s the mudslide. The Oar sits permanently in the island’s mudslide argument — it was runner-up material in the island’s Best on the Block voting, and plenty of people won’t drink one anywhere else. Ordering one on the deck at golden hour is a Block Island ritual with real seniority.
The move
Sunset happy hour, but arrive an hour early — everyone on a boat in the pond has the same idea, and the rail seats go first. Golden hour over the mooring field is one of the island’s genuinely great free shows, even if your drink isn’t free.
New Harbor logistics: a short taxi or an easy bike ride from Old Harbor. Pair it with the sunset-spots tour, or end a pond paddle at the dock and call it excellent planning.