My wife and I had went to Crystal beach for the day. Decided to stay the night. We were looking for something to do for the eve. I remembered seeing on Tic Tok story time with Dale at the Ships Wheel. So we decided just to go by and see if Dale was there. Dale was there and he told us one of his jokes and signed a T-shirt I bought there for me. Really nice guy and neat experience. Decided to stay and have a few drinks. Everyone was super nice. There was a bachelorette party there and everyone was dancing and having fun. So much fun we ended up staying for 4 hours. Time got away from us. Great small time atmosphere with really nice people. Definitely would go back. read more

Ship's Wheel - Story time with Dale at the Ships Wheel - Bars Near Me - Port Bolivar, Texas

I went to Crystal Beach outside of Galveston on vacation because my dad has a beach house there. My sister-in-law recommended this supposedly dive bar to go for drinks because it was T-shirt night. I Didn't think it was a guy bar at all. It had a cute Dancefloor, a nice expensive bar, and a wonderful bartender. We started at 5 PM and only wanted to have a quick cocktail. The bartender explained T-shirt night was if you walked in with one of the T-shirts, you would get your drink at half price. we wanted to buy one of their T-shirts but they didn't have any in stock lol. So we ordered our drinks with top shelf liquor. Hers was Grey Goose and cranberry and mine was Patron margarita. Since she was still honoring T-shirt night even though we didn't have one, she charged us half price. Where the heck can you get two awesome drinks in tall glasses for 12 bucks for both? wow!!!! They don't serve food here but gosh, I wish I could have stayed there later on in the night when they had music and people. Erica (or Erin?) was a wonderful bartender and this place is awesome if you happen to go to Crystal Beach!!! Ten Stars!!! read more

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I love this bar! Been going here for years and this year's Mardi Gras was no exception. I went here with my best friend after the Mardi Gras parade to order a few drinks. First off, I know thst cuz it's a "holiday" the drink rates maybe a little higher, but $7.50 for a shot?! This ain't Vegas honey, or anywhere close to it. 2nd of all these folks where only accepting cash...I mean come on, it's 2022, get with the times and let people use their credit and debit cards. I don't wana use your ATM that charges some fee to get my cash, ridiculous. And 3rd of all, they had ONE bartender behind the bar, I practically had to flag her down to get my order in. Bottom line, this place has alot of good memories and I'll continue to patron this place, but man get yalls act together, especially during times you know you'll be busy! read more

Ship's Wheel - Happy Mardi Gras! - Bars Near Me - Port Bolivar, Texas

Drinks are great! Very friendly and attentive bartenders. Music was awesome all night!

Excellent atmosphere and the food rocks. Now, the other place down the road has true competition!

For decades, the Ship's Wheel has been a staple of the Crystal Beach bar scene. The Ship's Wheel is one of the few old bars left on Bolivar Peninsula, as most of the older places were washed away by Hurricane Ike. So, if you want to experience old time Crystal Beach, this is the place to go. On a typical night, you can expect to rub shoulders with anyone from the local shrimpers to the weekend vacationers from Beaumont and Houston. The Wheel also occasionally features live entertainment, which is always a plus after a long day on the beach. However, on nights featuring live entertainment, there may be a cover to enter. In all, the Ship's Wheel is a great place to go if you want to get the full on Crystal Beach experience. read more

Ship's Wheel - a sign for the ship's wheel - Bars Near Me - Port Bolivar, Texas

For Bolivar Island, this is as good as the night lift gets!! They have a party tunes Deejay on Fri & Sat night and a Jukebox during the week. Great drink prices, really strong cocktails (nothing fancy), no drink menu but they do have a full bar and pretty bartenders. Look for the white cowboy hats, those guys are fun :) Lots of fun locals, its a "must do" for Bolivar! read more

The little Dive that could. Ships Wheel is a bar where locals blend with weekenders. You are likely to see a charter boat deck hand hitting on a pretty city girl. In some miraculous mysterious way, our lovey server navigated her way through a crowded bar to refill my Jack Daniels at a comfortable pace. She was very attentive to my beach weekend drinking needs. When I was thirsty she stood there with a fresh one. Uncanny. The ambiance at Ships Wheel is a beach dive complete with cigarette haze, mud puddled parking lot, and restroom door handles you really don't want to touch. I'd steer clear of taking on a game of pool with a stranger. A chic in sweat pants with a cue stick that looks like it washed up on the beach will relieve you of all your loose change and then some. If you are expecting something other than a smoke filled friendly dive then set your course for somewhere else. read more

Coming from New Orleans we were happy to find a cool dive bar. The place itself is a great dark wonderful space. The bartender, however, was not only not attentive but also not friendly and totally unwelcoming. Was it because we weren't local? I don't think so. She was obviously not there to work (she sat at the end of the bar the entire time) and we had to yell her name to close out our tab. We would have had drinks and tipped way better than the 20% that we did had she done ANYTHING that a real bartender would. The bartender at the Stingaree should give lessons. So should Pete at Tiki bar and grill. Skip Ship's Wheel. Kayla sucks. read more

Please tell me this is still open! This is one of the best places to go for people watching and just good ol time fun! At some point in the night there will be a David Allen Coe song played and blue hairs will dance on tables. I hope that Bolivar comes back to pre-hurricane status. I miss Port B read more

Can't believe I'm writing a review for this place, but this is probably one of the most fun dive bars I've ever been to! What a freakin blast!!!!! It's a must if u are going to be in Crystal Beach! read more

This the best bar ever. So many memories! Booze, cigarettes, pool and the occasional Hank Williams Jr. PERFECTION! They have a DJ on Friday and Saturday - Play all types of music. Classic Crystal Beach bar! read more

Ships wheel has everyone from young to not so young from not so rich to mega rich hang out here. It's a fun place not a lot of stupidity and fighting or anything lame like that. Music is great, bartenders are awesome and just an all around great place to hang out. read more

Can't believe all the positive reviews. Talk to police and ask them how often they get called. High rate of fights and issues. This is not a local bar with good times. Lots of transient people and trouble. Don't believe it. Check records with police. read more

our "bartendress" was drunk and gave me 8 dollars in quarters when i asked for 8 quarters and i didnt want to correct her because im sure that would have complicated things. she also kept asking to see our ID's every time we went to order more drinks... i have a full beard. all in all pretty hilarious and exactly what id want and expect from a bar on bolivar. 5 stars! read more