SunBeach Travel

Visit this Picturesque Coral Island

Jennifer Plum Auvil

Overview
Barbados is a distinctive island, both in its natural beauty and fun-loving culture. This West Indies gem is actually a coral island. The sandy beaches are made up of pulverized coral, which makes for fine, soft sands. Just off the coast, there are coral reefs that tempt snorkelers and SCUBA divers with their exotic underwater life. The island of Barbados is divided into 11 parishes, each with its own collection of beaches, hotels and tourist attractions. Almost all of the beaches lining the island’s coast are perfect, with fine stretches of sand and warm aquamarine waters. The beaches along the island’s south coast stretch out for miles with little interruption. One of the finest on the island is Bottom Bay, a tiny haven on the southern part of the island.

Bottom Bay has a picture-perfect setting with its wide, bright white beach framed by tall coral cliffs. It’s a great place for a long, lazy beach day or a late-day picnic underneath the swaying coconut palm trees. Swimming is not advisable, however, as the waves create a strong current. The good news is there are plenty of nearby beaches with the perfect blend of waves and currents to please surfers, boogie boarders and even plain, old swimmers. Crane Beach is known for its great waves, and the waters are filled with surfers and even some body surfers, though again the rough waters are appropriate only for strong swimmers.

Bottom Bay is in a quiet part of town, but nearby Christ Church and St. Michael parishes provide a little more action. St. Lawrence Gap is packed with restaurants and bars that fill up with a happening night-life scene. The capital Bridgetown is known for its pricey resorts and busy streets – visiting cruise ships dock here, making the area a little congested. But no worries – if the crowds get to be too much when you’re out exploring, just hightail it back to Bottom Bay for more rest and relaxation.

Getting There
Nearest Major International Airport: There are many direct flights from the United States to the island’s Grantley Adams International Airport.

Ground Transportation: Most resorts and hotels will provide shuttle transportation to and from the airport, and sometimes even around the island to the tourist hot spots. Independent travelers who prefer to keep their own schedules can look into renting a car for the duration of their visit. Drivers must have an international license – or apply for a temporary permit – and they must be comfortable navigating the roads on the left side of the street. Cabs are another reliable way to get around the island. While there is a bus system, it’s not the best option for visitors as routes aren’t always clear and wait times can be long.

Timing
The weather is fairly typical of the Caribbean – nearly perfect all year long with temperatures ranging from 78 to 88 degrees Fahrenheit. The high season, when the prices reach their peak and tourists are aplenty, starts in mid-December and fizzles out in mid-April.

Lodging
The Crane Beach Resort (www.thecrane.com) is one of the area’s most famous hotels. Perched above the lovely Crane Beach, the resort was the first of its kind to be built in the Caribbean, back in 1887. Of course, there have been many renovations along the way to keep this island pearl modern, but the resort maintains its charm and romantic vibe that made it so popular. There are more hotels in the neighboring Christ Church parish. Little Arches (www.littlearches.com) is an intimate, luxurious boutique hotel with only 10 rooms on a great little beach. Silver Sands resort (silversandsbarbados.com) offers more basic accommodations and boasts a seaside spot at Silver Sands beach, the best place on the island for windsurfing. Further south in St. Lawrence Gap is the lively all-inclusive Turtle Bay Resort (www.turtlebeachresortbarbados.com), perfect for families traveling with little ones.

Cuisine
Dishing up everything from sushi to hamburgers, the restaurants around town show a continental flair in the kitchen. As with the rest of the Caribbean, seafood is always a popular menu item, whether it’s served raw in sushi or fried on a platter. If you try only one local Bajan dish, it should be flying fish, the island’s national dish and most recognizable symbol. The best place to hang with the locals and taste some real authentic cuisine is at the Friday night Oistins Fish Fry. This fishing market hosts a weekly street party where residents and visitors line up at food stalls to try fried flying-fish sandwiches, grilled dolphin fish and fish cakes while listening to live music. If rum isn’t your thing, try the local brew, Banks beer.

Travel Tips
The local branch of the tourism authority can be found on Harbour Road in Bridgetown.

Festival fans planning a summer visit may want to check out the island’s five-week-long Crop Over Festival, an old tradition with parades, parties and lots of calypso music.

While You Are Here
Want to find out what makes that piña colada so tasty? Join the Mount Gay Rum tour and learn about how they make this amber-colored goodness. After the tour, try some samples and pick up a bottle of your favorite kind at the on-site gift shop.

Immerse yourself in the British culture that permeates this island’s style. Check out Barbados’ national sport, cricket, by taking in a match at Kensington Oval, or indulge in a fancy afternoon tea.

From archetypal thatched huts with driftwood benches to chic waterside lounges on docks, T+L has found the islands’ superlative spots for outdoor evenings.

By Bree Sposato

By Terry Ward

For some people, the Caribbean is the ultimate tropical cliché.

There’s the steel drum music and pina coladas. The all-inclusive resorts. And the crowds of lobster-hued cruise tourists haggling over made-in-China souvenirs at purpose-built island ports.

But talk to anyone who’s explored the region as an intrepid traveler, and you’re sure to hear testimony to the Caribbean’s exotic allure.

The more than 7,000 islands, cays and volcano-fringed coves here seem sprinkled across the azure seas like so many glittering diamonds.

And when it comes to finding an idyllic stretch of sand all your own, the Caribbean is overindulged with its share of breathtaking beaches.

What follows are a few of our favorites, custom picked for beach lovers who know that the perfect mix of sea, sun and sand is indeed a very fine – and, often, powdery white – balance.

Saline Beach – Saint-Barthélemy (St. Barts)

Rich and beautiful folks and other emulators of posh tropical leisure have long been lured to St. Bart’s - a tiny, V-shaped island that barely pushes eight square miles in size.

Saline Beach, on the southern coast, is the island’s most beautiful and secluded slice of paradise. The horseshoe-shaped swath of sand is located a couple miles from Gustavia (St. Barts’ main village). From the parking lot, you’ll have to hike 10 minutes over a dune to reach the beach here, but it’s worth the effort. And while nude bathing isn’t officially allowed, many folks cool off au naturel (turn left when you arrive at the beach if you want to hang with more covered-up beachgoers). The best way to enjoy Saline Beach is to make like the locals - hit a boulangerie and epicerie in Gustavia to stock up on a spread of French cheeses, sausages, baguettes and wine for a gourmet picnic in the sand.

EAT: Gustavia’s cuisine scene is renowned, and fabulous French fare abounds. One of the best spots to toast your privileged self at sunset is Maya’s Restaurant (on the beach, just northwest of Gustavia), famed for fabulous French Creole cuisine in romantic surrounds.

STAY: For the best oceanfront lodging, splurge on a bungalow suite or villa at the Hotel St.-Barth Isle de France on Flamands Beach.

Englishman’s Bay – Tobago

Half of the dual-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago, the latter island is the least developed and tiniest, and home to one of the most dream-inducing beaches in the Caribbean.

The beach at Englishman’s Bay, on the leeward side of Tobago, is buffered by verdant headlands that cradle a U-shaped beach stretching about a mile. On the southern end of the strand, a freshwater stream flows from the island’s lush rainforest interior to the sea. And just offshore, brilliant coral reefs ripple with tropical fish. There are no official facilities here, apart from a small snack cart run by a local selling pies and drinks. But when it comes to a secluded spot to lay out your towel in completely untouched surrounds, few beaches can hang with Englishman’s Bay.

EAT: Wash down a meal of curried lamb or Creole shrimp with live steel band beats at Toucan Inn & Bonkers.

STAY: Cabana-style rooms open onto a nice pool at Kariwak Village, and the meals are largely sourced from the owner’s organic garden.

Pink Beach – Barbuda

Situated in the middle of the Leeward Islands in the Eastern Caribbean is a pretty pair – Antigua and Barbuda. The latter island is so undeveloped you could almost call it paradise lost. But for beach lovers looking to lounge seaside in an otherworldly locale, Barbuda is most definitely paradise found.

Apart from uber-expensive all-inclusive resorts and sublime beaches, there’s little else on the island. But when sandy perfection is your prime demand, Barbuda delivers.

Visitors reach the island by plane or boat from nearby Antigua, which lies 27 miles to the south of Barbuda. The reward when you step onto the silky sand at Pink Beach (Barbuda’s centerpiece beach - located a few miles south of the island’s main village, Codrington) is instantaneous. Nearly eight miles of deserted oceanfront stretches from Spanish Point to Palmetto Point, and the snorkeling is fabulous. The champagne color of the sand glows rose thanks to the crushed coral in the mix. And it’s possible to stroll the beach for miles without seeing another soul. As if the natural lure of the beach wasn’t enough, Barbuda is also home to the Caribbean’s largest nesting colony of frigate birds, which you can visit by boat.

EAT: Barbudan lobster with butter and lime sauce at The Beach House is a culinary must.

STAY: Set on its own peninsula, Coco Point Lodge is one of those died-and-went-to-heaven oceanfront resorts that charges an arm and a leg for extreme luxury and paradise delivered to your door.

Anse Chastanet – St. Lucia

There are times when the price of beach perfection is higher than others, and this is one of them. Think the mysterious peaks of Tahiti, transplanted to the Caribbean - such is the exotic lure of the spiky Piton Mountains surrounding this unbelievable beach on St. Lucia’s southwestern coast. The beach at Anse Chastanet is intense tropical beauty defined, with the Technicolor green of the surrounding jungle-clad mountains forming a sharp contrast to the dark sand beach and bright white villas dotting the cliffs.

EAT: Carrot and coconut soup and grilled dorado are on the indulgent menu at Nick Troubetzkoy’s Anse Chastanet resort.

STAY: It’s hard to imagine accommodations more decadent than at Jade Mountain, where the enormous suites (dubbed ’sanctuaries’) boast private infinity pools that overlook the Pitons and Anse Chastanet beach.

Tintamarre Island – off St. Martin

Beach connoisseurs are enamored by the beautiful mountain-coddled coves of St. Martin. But if you’re willing to go the distance for a more isolated beach experience, arrange a day-trip aboard a catamaran to the island of Tintamarre, situated about five miles off St. Martin’s north coast.

You’ll feel like Robinson Crusoe on the island’s deserted beaches lapped by clear blue water. And iron-rich clay, found in the coves here, inspires beachgoers to strip down for spontaneous mud baths (just rinse in the ocean afterward to complete the holistic experience). Part of the Natural Reserve of Saint Martin, development is prohibited on Tintamarre, and there are no lodging and dining facilities.