'Must See' List

[Neil]

Myself and my partner will be visiting Tobago in May for a fortnight. Whilst the primary objective of our holiday is to have a relaxing time, winding down from the stresses of work, we both want to see something of Tobago itself, rather than stay in the confines of our AI hotal.

In light of this, we want to focus our sightseeing - What are the 'Must See' sights of Tobago, baring in mind that we both like to see 'natural' wonders, but also like to experience the 'culture' of anywhere that we visit?

[Niki Byrne]

OK, firstly you will have a great time. I would love to go back and one day will I am sure ! We went last year for our honeymoon and had a fantastic time.

This list is what we saw and also some of the things we would have liked to but didn't get round to (but I am sure everyone else will add to this !)

1. Little Tobago Island (& Goat Island if you can) - get Franks tours (based in Blue Waters Inn) and they will take you there, give you a tour of Little Tobago and glass bottom boat there and back, and snorkelling as well.

2. Argyl Falls (we never got to see this - but have heard it is well worth seeing).

3. Take a trip in the rainforest (again we didn't do this but did drive through it a couple of times while we were on the island)

4. See Pigeon Point - if only to say you have been there - it has gone downhill recently I think (my opinion after reading recent reviews), when we were there it was still quite nice - although we were out of season.

5. The Kimmee museum (again we didn't go here but I would have liked to).

6. Take a glass bottomed boat out over Buccoo reef and snorkel. We went with Power, from the Pigeon Point jetty.

7. Definitley hire a car and drive round the island and stop where you fancy. This is the best way to see Tobago - we really enjoyed this. We enjoyed our day at Speyside / Little Tobago and had lunch in Jemma's which is well worth going. As someone else has written a review recently the food was lovely and the only thing we found bizarre was having a menu of fish, shrimp or chicken - nothing at all about how it was cooked or anything ! But lovely food and setting.

8. The Seahorse Inn is a lovely setting for an evening meal - if a little expensive.

9. Sunday School and the goat races at Buccoo.

I think I better shut up now and post this message before my boss notices I am not working !

HTH
Niki

[John Hill]

Why not hop over to Trinidad for the day its only £20.00 return 15min flight. There are many tours that do a day trip.
We to are looking forward to our first trip to Tobago early May 03 I am sure you would agree with me Steve and his site have made it very inviting am I am sure it will all be as good as we hope.

[Allan + Maria]

Neil

We came back from a lovely trip to Tobago only two weeks ago so we can add a few ideas to those that Niki has provided.

1. Little Tobago
We also went on the trip with Franks and can recommend it. The trip around the island was great for the bird watching and the glass bottomed boat gives a good view of Angel Reef - followed by excellent snorkelling.

2. Argyll Waterfall
We went on the one rainy day of the holiday, which was a mistake. The trip was still good and it was enhanced by taking a guide who was friendly and informative about the wildlife. The tour involves around a 20 minute walk each way to the falls and you can then climb to the different levels of the cascade, which apparently lets you see them at their best. As it was wet we were not allowed to climb the rather slippy rocks, though I don't expect you will have much trouble finding a dry day! We were also told that the waterfall is much more impressive in the wet season when the torrent is much stronger. we still enjoyed our afternoon there though.

3. Speedboat trip with Cocomotion
This was our favourite trip of the holiday - though it doesn't come cheap at $60 for a half day. The boat is based at Mt Irvine Hotel beach and cruises up the coast to various bays around Castara, where you stop off for snorkelling or swimming. The boat trip is spactacular and the captain joins in the snorkelling and is very knowledgable and helpful in pointing out the underwater life. We spotted a turtle, moray eel, angels and various other fish including very rare golden hamlet fish. A really enjoyable outing.

4. Most scenic places to visit:
Pirate Bay (our favourite) & Charlotteville
Castara/Heavenly Bay
Englishmans Bay

5. Pigeon Point
There has been a lot of negative feedback on the site regarding Pigeon Point but we still liked it a lot. Yes there are a couple of souvenir shops it's a bit busier than elsewhere and you have to pay £1.80 to get in - but it's hardly Torremolinos! It's all relative! It's a great place to catch the sun setting and we saw an amazing sight of dozens of pelicans in a feeding frenzy just off the beach at sunset! I managed to prove that I am not a windsurfer here - though plenty of others seemed to be having more success around the headland where the breeze is ideal.

6. Bird feeding at Arnos Vale Hotel
At 4pm every day they feed an assortment of humming birds, mot mots etc on the verandah at the Hotel. They serve afternoon tea. we would recommend that you give the overpriced and none too tasty sandwiches/cake a miss and settle for a cup of tea which you can have without food. A lovely spot and lots of birds to see.

7. Sunday school
We went along like Niki and had a great time. Maria got carried away with the gambling though - flashing her 10p notes around the homemade roulette/gaming tables!! Small stakes and great fun! Lots of local colour/music/food & crafts. Gets a bit congested for parking but we got there around 830 and parked at the top of Buccoo village a minute or two away. Wish we'd been to the goat races - saw the track, which looked hilarious! We think they only race at Easter.

Regarding the other suggestions from Niki and John - We agree that our nicest meal was at the Seahorse Inn - it's a lovely spot.

Not so sure about a trip to Trinidad. I spent a week in Port of Spain and would not recommend the city itself. Its a big sprawling place and I didn't feel totally safe in certain areas.
If you can get out of Port of Spain there are many wonderful things to see in Trinidad and we did go to Maracas Bay - a lovely stretch of coastline and spectacular drive from the city. Shark and Bake is a must here! We have also heard good things about the Asa Wright centre and would have liked to see the Scarlet Ibis roosting in Caroni swamp - which is not too far from the airport if you are on a day trip.

That should keep you going!! I'm sure you will have a great time.

Allan

[Neil]

Now back in a very wet England ......

Found that the best investment that we made was in hiring a car. This allowed us to see many of the attractions that the island holds at our leisure, stopping as many times as we like whenever we liked. Just the drive itself was an adventure in itself.

We tried our best to get lost by exploring some of the smaller windier tracks, but eventually you find your way back on to one of the costal roads. A great experience!!