SeaScape

Mini-review by Steve & Jill Wooler, March 2009

The number of invitations and requests that we receive to review properties far outstrips our ability to undertake them. Ideally, we would visit and comment on every accommodation property on Tobago. As a non-commercial site, we simply lack the time and resources to accomplish this.

So, the best we can do is to allocate two months a year to producing detailed reports on as wide a range of Tobago accommodation as possible. In between staying at and writing about these properties, we also visit others that we intend to stay at and review in future years.

This mini-review of SeaScape will be replaced by a full report after our next review trip. In the meantime, we believe that the property is deserving of inclusion in our list of “Recommended” properties and include brief details and photographs here.

Mini-Review Introduction

SeaScape is a new two-storey wooden house built in the popular ‘open’ local style to provide maximum cooling from the sea breezes and stunning panoramas across the bay and beaches. It is located on the small headland that separates Castara’s two sandy beaches, once the site of the now-defunct Cliff Hanger cottage. Many would argue that it is one of the most desirable locations in the village.

Castara is a quiet working fishing village. It has two lovely beaches. Both offer excellent swimming, with the added feature of a family of harmless and friendly rays that constantly patrol the shoreline. Shopping is very limited, but basic supplies can be obtained from several small shops within a 5-minute walk of SeaScape. The island’s three main supermarkets are each around a 50-minute drive from Castara – much the same as the airport. The village has several small restaurants serving local Creole food; a café serving breakfast and burger-and-chips type lunches, and a more up-market European restaurant for special occasions or a change from self-catering or Creole cuisine.

The Apartments

SeaScape offers a choice of two self-contained holiday apartments – the two-bedroom, two-level Sunset apartment that sleeps up to four adults, or the adjacent one-bedroom Wave Song apartment suitable for a couple, or solo traveller.

Like all popular Castara holiday accommodation, the SeaScape apartments were built on the principle of back-to-basics open living. Externally, many of the holiday accommodation properties in the village appear similar, or even identical. Some property owners misconstrue – or take advantage of – the ‘back-to-basics’ ethos and offer accommodation that is frankly so ‘basic’ that it would make a back-packer think twice – and yet, such is the perversity of man that even here visitors can rave about a holiday that has cost them an arm and a leg despite staying in levels of accommodation that would be condemned at home.

This is certainly not the case at SeaScape. The American owners have worked hard to combine the simplicity and practicality of the open architecture with the finest standards and expectations of modern living.

The apartments are furnished and equipped to the highest standards. Back-to-basics does NOT mean having to rough it. The apartments are comfortable and hugely practical. The modern well-equipped kitchens make cooking a pleasure not a chore. The apartments offer cosy and comfortable accommodation whether staying for a few days or much longer.

Conclusion

Holidaymakers expecting glitz and glamour would do best to consider another destination. SeaScape does not have air-conditioning, television or even a telephone. Thank God!

What SeaScape does have, in abundance, is that unique Caribbean vibe. Words cannot describe how tranquil it can be, lying in bed listening to the sound of the surf and the twittering of glorious tropical birds, or gazing across the turquoise waters of Castara Bay. We may not have stayed at SeaScape yet, but we know the location intimately and have absolutely no doubt that this property will represent one of the highlights of our next visit.

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