Coco Reef Resort - Review Page 4
Entertainment
There was some form of musical entertainment every evening. In general there were two performances per evening between 6pm and 10pm. The overall quality was excellent and had very much improved since our last visit.
Music is everything to Tobagonians and they have a huge pool of talent in this area. Our only regret is that the audiences at the Coco Reef and other similar hotels tend to be somewhat reserved and possibly a little staid. A little too ‘English’ perhaps? Heaven forbid that performers should be greeted with shrieks and cat-calls, but it is sad that quality performances often receive only the lightest smattering of applause and that audience participationhas to be almost forced from the guests.
Visitors expecting an active night life should look elsewhere. The hotel is almost totally deserted by 11:00pm. By midnight you will seldom see another guest in any of the public areas of the hotel although bar service does seem to remain open until the bar is empty. This is not a characteristic of the Coco Reef – we have found the same at every hotel on Tobago.
Beach
You will either love or hate the beach. It certainly fits many people’s image of a Caribbean dream beach, but purists hate it because it is a man-made beach and not natural.
The hotel’s original beach was a scrappy little area that did the establishment few favours. Then, in 1999, tidal waves and tropical storms associated with a hurricane further north swept the beach away and did extensive damage to the beach-front. In response, the hotel built a sea wall of large boulders to protect the bay and then created a new beach with 7,000 tons of powdery white river sand from Guyana.
The sea wall is far from a thing of beauty and the stark white statues at each end are a serious lapse in otherwise excellent taste, but the wall does at least protect the beach. The wall has created the safest swimming conditions on the island. No matter how rough the conditions elsewhere, the ‘sea’ will be calm in the Coco Reef lagoon. The sea can enter the lagoon through two entrances. Sadly the sea has also brought in additional sand and I was astonished to note how shallow the lagoon has become in the last four years. At this rate, it will be no more than a pond in another four years unless some serious excavation is done. The good news is that serious swimmers can simply swim out into Cable Bay and then enjoy ‘real’ sea conditions.
One surprising advantage is that the sea wall has rapidly become an extremely attractive reef and offers an excellent training ground for snorkelling. One of the most enjoyable parts of the day can be feeding the shoals of beautiful and varied fish that now inhabit the wall.
The numerous palm trees planted when the beach was first created (it’s too long a story to tell, but the planting of those palms led directly to the creation of this website) are now reaching maturity and provide lots of welcome shade. There are also a number of thatched roundels and an even greater number of sun umbrellas. Yes, some people still rush to the beach first thing in the morning to ‘bag’ their favourite positions, but the truth is that there’s a perfectly adequate stock of sun loungers and sun parasols and far more kept in reserve. If none are available on the beach, you only have to ask one of the beach attendants who will ensure that one appears, as if by magic.
The hotel now has four beach attendants. They distribute chilled bottles of water and drinks to order. Cold face towels and platters of succulent fruit are regularly distributed amongst guests.
Being a private beach, there is no chance of being ‘hassled’ by beach traders. Fortunately tour reps tend to confine their often heavy-handed selling to your first morning and not to the beach.
Activities
The activity facilities at the Coco Reef are relatively limited but reflect the requirements of the average guest. This is not really a family or activity resort and visitors wanting extensive sporting facilities may be disappointed.
Complimentary snorkelling, windsurfing, paddle boats, one and two-seater Kayaks, plus a basic sailboat are available. Water sports are operated by the highly recommended Derek Chung of Undersea Tobago, one of Tobago's very best dive operators.
The hotel has two
floodlit hard-court tennis courts and lessons can be arranged
with a tennis professional. The hotel’s Social Director can arrange
various other activities including golf on
the Mount Irvine
Bay Hotel course, or on the truly excellent new 18-hole Tobago
Plantations course. We strongly recommend that you either book direct
or use the services of the Social Director to book tours and
outside activities. Avoid package holiday tour operators, whose
interest in you will be largely confined to selling over-priced
impersonal coach tours of the island. Take a tip from me: negotiate
a day-rate with a friendly taxi driver rather than going on
a tour with more than five or six other visitors. Tobago is
not a mass-tourism destination and the island is not geared
for coach tours.
The small Coco Spa is housed in an attractive complex at the top of the hotel and offers a range of services including aromatherapy massages and various forms of beauty treatment. The complex also has a small gym with a range of basic fitness equipment.
Children
The Coco Reef Resort is not a ‘family’ resort. Having said that, the hotel does seem to do everything possible to welcome youngsters and make their stay enjoyable. Baby-sitting services are available, but this is about the limit of childcare facilities.
I appreciate that the following views are going to make me highly unpopular with some readers. I apologise for this, but have to be true to myself and must therefore express my views, particularly as my comments in earlier reviews brought nearly twenty messages of support for every one in criticism. I should also declare that we are loving parents and grandparents with four wonderful offspring (that almost sound worse than 'children') in their early/mid-30s.
Resorts like the Coco
Reef are not family hotels. Study the hotel’s marketing.
They may not actively refuse or discourage families with
young children, but they certainly do not make any effort
to attract or encourage them. Study the hotel’s
pricing policy. Why do they charge for young children rather
than allowing them to go free like true 'family' hotels?
Tobago is a chill-out destination. The Coco Reef is a chill-out resort. How can anyone chill-out when there are kids running about screaming? Equally disruptive are the modern parents who think that every command must be accompanied by detailed negotiation and explanation in voices loud enough for everyone on the beach to see what wonderful caring parents they are. Don't get me wrong, there can be nothing more endearing than watching well-behaved children at play, but 'well behaved" are the crucial words here.
Everything about the Coco Reef is focussed toward couples – not just the middle-aged and elderly, but also the numerous young honeymooners. What about the couples who have left their children at home and are desperately trying to spend some ‘quality time’ together and keep their own relationship on track? By bringing babies and young children, parents are in danger of destroying the very type of resort that they will one day desperately seek for themselves.
Weddings
It is little surprise to find that the Coco Reef Resort is such a popular wedding and honeymoon destination choice. After the stressful lead-up to the happy event, the quiet calm of the hotel must be a real tonic. The nature of the resort ensures that your wedding will be unique and not just part of a wedding production line.
The hotel’s Social Director will make all arrangements for the ceremony, either directly or through your tour operator. A minimum of three working days of residency on Tobago is required before the wedding. The hotel can provide the necessary two witnesses. Weddings at the hotel are performed by a priest or minister. Civil weddings can only be conducted at the Registrar’s office in Scarborough.
On your first day at the hotel, you will be taken on a tour of the property, so that you can choose a venue for your wedding. Ceremonies are normally conducted in the beautiful gardens, with the ocean as a backdrop, and the wedding area decorated with palm branches and flowers. Subject to weather conditions, you may choose to have the ceremony conducted on the beach or even on one of the jetties overlooking the sea (possibly a trifle windy). The private veranda of Sunset Villa makes a wonderful venue when this exclusive suite is unoccupied.
The hotel’s Wedding Package includes a one-layer wedding cake, a bottle of champagne, a bridal bouquet plus all official arrangements and costs. The hotel can also arrange a still or video photographer, extra flowers and even musical entertainment in the form of a steel band.
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