Blue Waters Inn - Review Page 4
Beach
Without any doubt, one of the strongest features of the Blue Waters Inn is the wonderful beachside location. As you drop down the roadway to the hotel, you get glimpses of gorgeous Batteaux Bay and you know that you are in for a treat.
This lovely horseshoe-shaped bay, surrounded by steep cliffs and dense tropical foliage, is the epitome of a true Caribbean beach. The bay is not huge and the 300-metre golden sand beach is relatively narrow, but with no neighbouring properties, it is effectively the private domain of the inn. As the hotel has only 38 rooms – and many guests will be away birding or diving – you are virtually guaranteed your own little slice of paradise.
In general, the Atlantic coast of Tobago is more turbulent than the Caribbean coast. Batteaux Bay is sheltered from the main force of the Atlantic Sea by Little Tobago (Bird of Paradise Island), Goat Island and the adjacent reefs. As a result, swimming conditions in Batteaux Bay are normally excellent, according to the myTobago beach expert and researcher, Jill. 
The beach does shelve a little in places, but swimming is safe and suitable for all skill levels. However, advanced swimmers or guests using the small kayaks provided by the hotel must remember to stay away from the fast currents found outside the headlands on either side of the bay. Conditions throughout our stay were calm. There is no swimming pool at the Blue Waters Inn, but with good sea swimming like this, a pool would be almost superfluous.
The hotel has a good stock of canvas chairs and plastic sun-loungers and a beach boy is always available to provide beach towels and carry chairs to the guest’s chosen spot. The mature seagrape trees along the beach front provide lots of shade throughout the day.
Other Facilities
During the peak winter months, local bands provide live entertainment at least once a week. We were entertained by a truly excellent local steel band one evening.
The hotel has a useful Recreation Room furnished with table tennis board, cable television and video, plus a small library. Outdoors there is a floodlit Activities Court for 
tennis and basketball. It has to be said that the tennis court is in very poor condition and unsuitable for anything but a knock about with the kids. However, the local secondary school has two excellent new tennis courts which guests at the Blue Waters are entitled to use. A small onsite gift shop, located in the reception office, offers a range of clothing, local craft, souvenirs and essentials.
The seas off Speyside are home to some of the best advanced diving in Tobago. Nutrient-rich warm water from South America's Orinoco River is washed into the area by the Guyana Current producing an abundance of plankton, which in turn nurtures the marine life and coral. These rich waters have resulted in the massive brain coral off Speyside. Not surprising, then, that the area is a snorkelling, scuba diving and fishing paradise.
The grounds of the hotel are home to Aquamarine Dive – a full-service P.A.D.I. dive operation and one of only two dive facilities on the island to achieve the PADI Gold Palm (5 Star) rating as an Instructor Development Centre. The best local diving is drift diving and operated from boats. It is best suited to medium/advanced divers. However Aquamarine Dive offers full instruction from total beginner to instructor level in the calm waters of Batteaux Bay.
Also located in the grounds are Frank’s Glass Bottom Boat Tours and Top Ranking Tours. who offer snorkelling trips to the Speyside reefs and tours of the bird sanctuary at Little Tobago.
Hikers and birders will enjoy the attractive trails from the hotel. Speyside is also the home of the myTobago.info recommended birding tour guide, Newton George. The hotel will gladly make all arrangements for a guided tour with Newton – a ‘must’ as far as we are concerned (even speaking as non-birders).
Conclusion
The Blue Waters Inn provides comfortable, affordable and enjoyable accommodation in an atmosphere totally lacking in pretension. The hotel is not simply a birder's hotel or a diver's hotel, it will be equally suited and enjoyed by those seeking total relaxation.
We can thoroughly recommend the hotel. In our opinion the deficiencies on the catering side only affect evening dinner and we were happy enough to use alternative restaurants in the village. In fact we had two really lovely evenings out with friends from the hotel.
Everything else about the hotel combined to provide us with a wonderful stay. We were very sad to leave and without a shadow of doubt, the Blue Waters Inn will remain an establishment that has a very special place in our hearts.
We can but close our review with the same words we used in our 2003 review: “We loved our stay. It is almost inconceivable that we will not return. The question is not if - only when.”
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