Seahorse Inn etc

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D Humphreys

Seahorse Inn etc

Post by D Humphreys »

We recently returned from a wet, but very enjoyable holiday in Tobago. I thought I would drop you a line and add to your updates, as I found your site most useful when we were doing a bit of casual research about the island prior to our departure.

We stayed with friends at a villa in Mt Irvine, overlooking the golf course and the bay, it was truly idyllic. Can’t say enough positives about the island in just a few lines, as it really was wonderful.
Tobago is the way the Caribbean used to be, not very developed, relatively unspoiled, not overpriced, and very relaxed. Just what we wanted and were looking for.

My only gripes, if you can call them that are that there was too much rain, yes I know we did book our holiday in the rainy season, silly us! We were told that it was unusually heavy, and at least it was warm and tropical. Also there were too many stray dogs. We have travelled a lot, so this is something that we expect to see, but we counted seven at the airport alone, and they were in a shocking state, also every beach seems to have a resident pack of strays.
Surely the authorities can do something about this?

We do plan to go back to Tobago in 2004, just the two of us this time, as such we popped into several of the hotels to see what they were like. The Coco Reef and Hilton looked very nice; the rest were run-of-the-mill properties. We could not check out Turtle Beach as it was closed for renovations, but the beach looked lovely. The only draw back seems to be that all of the hotels that we visited want to push the all-inclusive package, which we do not want, so we might have to consider a smaller guest house or Inn.

We ate out almost every night, and generally enjoyed our experiences.
We had a great lunch at the Blue Crab in Scarborough and we thought that the Seahorse Inn was truly spectacular. Sadly, we paid a bit too much attention to one of the critical reports in your forum about the Seahorse, and put off going there till our second to last night. We only went to the Seahorse as everyone that we came into contact with had such glowing reports of the place. Excellent food, excellent service, great wine list, and reasonably priced. Clearly the best on the island, and as good as any of the best we have tried back home or abroad. Maybe your other correspondents caught them on a bad night.
We went back to the Seahorse for our last night with similar pleasant results. Also note-worthy and worth a try are Café Coco, the Italian in Buccoo – sorry can’t remember the name, the Cat & Fiddle – cheap but fun, The Shirvan Mill – expensive but nice, and Meshell’s.

We flew out on Virgin, very good; I can recommend the extra bit of cash spent to go premium economy as money well spent. We were very comfortable and well looked after, although the food was definitely a lot better on the outward leg than when we flew back. We met people who travelled on BA, and I am glad we chose Virgin as BA goes via Antigua and they complained that the flight was too long. Virgin fly direct and with all of the attention that you get on board the nine hours goes by very quickly.

We cannot wait to return to Tobago; hopefully the weather will be kinder to us then. We didn’t do much sight seeing this trip, so cannot report too much on that side of things; we have all that to look forward to next time. We just wanted peace and quiet, a few good meals, a couple of games of golf - the Hilton course is nice, but Mt Irvine should be ashamed of its self, and to relax. In most regards Tobago delivered and we shall definitely be back.

I am told there is a sailing festival in May and that the airfares are cheaper at that time. Till then, the jar of sand we nicked off Pigeon point, the bottle of 1919 Rum we purchased in Duty Free and the memory of our lobster dinner at the Seahorse on our last night will have to sustain us.

All the best,

Dave
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