Mojito Beach Bar, other tenants opening shops at the Carolina public beach

Mojito Beach Bar, a business located in Playa Santa in the southwestern town of Guánica, will be opening a second location at the Carolina public beach — known as the Balneario de Carolina — looking to expand beyond the earthquake-affected region, News is my Business confirmed.

This is one of several new tenants that will open shops at the beach in Isla Verde, which is operated by the Autonomous Municipality of Carolina.

Also moving into the area are: Sunset Beach Bistro (Tropical drinks); Aquasol Balneario (food); Sol Shack (food); and a children’s bicycles and train entertainment facility, according to the town’s Department of Economic Development, which manages the Carolina Tropical Beach Experience program.

The five small businesses will join a number of tenants already established at the beach: Bamboobei Beach Bistro (food); Palm Tree Rental (rental of chairs, tents, tables and umbrellas); and Carolina Beach Sports/1977 E Deportes Playeros (beach tennis and soccer equipment).

This Carolina Tropical Beach Experience program seeks to offer opportunities to entrepreneurs to develop operations offering recreational and gastronomic alternatives, rental services, and among other options at the Carolina public beach.

The Mojito Beach Bar opened in 2017 at the popular Playa Santa beach, where it is the only business selling their mojitos off-site, which owner Eric Bones said has been key to its success.

“Mojito Beach Bar has the concept of selling mojitos, tropical drinks and frozen drinks, better known as ‘frappe.’ But in this new location, we’re also going to sell simple tapas and appetizers for the people who are in the surroundings,” said Bones, confirming that Mojito Beach Bar is expected to open its doors in at the Carolina public beach at the end of June.

“The motivation to open a second bar arises from the earthquakes in Guánica. I think we all know that Guánica has been one of the most affected [towns],” according to Bones. “We’ve set a goal to start during summertime.”

The new location is 30×30 square feet, which is larger than the one located in Guánica, he confirmed.

“Currently we haven’t created new jobs, but we’re focusing on looking for people from the Carolina area, whether they are inexperienced students or adults,” said to Bones, who also mentioned that people who decide to apply to work at the new location must be fully vaccinated.

He said the pandemic has been a negative factor for his current location in Guánica and his next location in Carolina.

“The pandemic has affected us in Guánica and will further affect us in Carolina, because we’re located at the beach and because of the Executive Orders it’s mandatory to close the beaches, it has definitely affected our business,” said Bones.

However, Bones said he has also looked at several other places to continue expanding his small business.

‘’We’ve contacted Vega Baja and Culebra. It’s definitely in our plans to expand the business,” said Bones, who also seeks to have a better management of his social media “to be able to create eye-catching and quality content.”