Guest Report

[Graham Thomas]

This was our first trip to Tobago, although we are old hands at Caribbean holidays. If you are looking for a laid-back out-of-the-way location Castara is a delightful rural village with 2 lovely beaches, and just enough bars and restaurants to keep one entertained for 2 weeks.

First the bad news:

1. The only ATM in the village has recently been modified so that it will not accept visitors' cards, only locals'. This means a 45 minute drive into Scarborough to access cash. Even then, trying to get money out of ATMs there was very difficult.

2. Whilst we were in Castara a visiting evangelical preacher held VERY long outdoor services every day and evening. This would not have been a problem had he not insisted on using a very loud PA system which proved outrageously intrusive. Fortunately, Porridge's Place is sufficiently far away from the centre of the village for this not to be problematical. However, the atmosphere of evening dining in the village centre was ruined by the broadcast rantings of the preacher and the abysmally out-of tune singing of his "choir".

Now the good news:

Hopefully, the cash availability problem is being addressed by the locals, and Jeanell went out of her way to make sure we were not inconvenienced by it during our stay.

We hired a relatively new clean and tidy car from Porridge at a highly advantageous rate. It had auto transmission, satnav, aircon and more toys than one would expect from a hire car - a problem-free bargain.

The accommodation was delightfully rustic, very well equipped, and spotlessly clean. Aircon was provided, but we did not use it, preferring to use the large fan. Bed linen and towels were changed every 3 days, rubbish emptying being on the same 3-day cycle. There is a lovely view from the verandah, enhanced by the wide variety of birds, especially humming birds, attracted by the bird tables.

However, what made this holiday for us was the friendliness and helpfulness of our hosts. We had virtually no problems, but nothing was too much trouble for Porridge and Jeanell, and we spent several evenings together diminishing the island's gin, rum and beer stocks. They organised an excellent boat trip, during which the skipper caught a barracuda which augmented our beach-BBQ lunch. We cannot recommend them and their apartment highly enough for a quiet (apart from the visiting preacher) relaxing Caribbean holiday.

[Chris Runciman]

First Citizen Bank ATM have not accepted overseas debit / credit cards since November. By their own admission what originally was a software problem has ended up with FCB making a conscious decision not to accept overseas cards.
Other ATM belonging to other banks are OK.