Guest Report

[Diana Moss]

We spent a wonderful 10 days in Coconut Heights, upstairs at the Beach House, in early March last year. For the first time for us, we are returning to the same place in the new year, for a longer stay.

Castara is kind of unique - it feels like you've wandered into someone's village, and whilst they are quite pleased to see you, they won't put on a show - they're friendly as long as you fall into doing things their way and at their speed - and if you do, then after a few days you realise you've become part of the rhythm of the community - and it's great.

It's not the scene for eveyone but we loved its natural, quaint, unpretentious atmosphere. The highlights for us were:

-Bare foot escapism, carefree and non-judgemental - about as far from 'corporate' and 'all inclusive' as you can get - no glitter, no fashion statements, just real.
- Buying fish from the fisherman in Big Bay as they cleaned and gutted their catch for that day - cooked back in our well equipped little kitchen - delicious
-The ladies who bake wonderful bread in their clay oven in the centre of the village. Tea bread, pumpkin bread and coconut drops are highly recommended. Order double because they won't last and order early!
- Exploring the local stalls for the best fruit and veg (not cheap)and trying to find things to eat at the local supermarket(you can, with imagination). There's plenty more choice further afield.
-Visits from the local menagerie; chickens,dogs and cats (some mangy but all loveable). They don't encroach but they are ever present, on the beach and around the apartment.
- Snorkelling early in the morning, encountering massive rays, a little turtle and cuttle fish, all in Little Bay.
-The reassurance of Porridge - knowing you have someone quietly looking out for you and always there if you need him. He provides a good car hire and transfer service. We wanted a convertible jeep which Porridge didn't supply so we hired a rather old, smoky but reliable jeep from KCNN.

As others have said, in our view, the Beach House is the best place to stay in Castara - no better place in the world to enjoy a sundowner. The balcony, the bats and the bananquits, along with the highlights mentioned above have beckoned us back. Whilst there, a number of other hoilday makers approached us to ask about the Beach House as they were enchanted by it too.

The apartment has all the basics you will need including a great fridge with freezer dept. We would recommend you take an additional towell or two as the sand really does get everywhere and there are no laundry facilities. As a tip, ensure you use the floor brush provided and use the outside tap to wash sand off your feet otherwise you increase the sandfly population.

The apartment is substantially built - we didn't hear our neighbours downstairs. Everyone we met was like minded and had chosen Castara for the same reasons as us - mostly for the Robinson Crusoe effect.

Beach chairs are at a premium so you may want to take a lilo as a makeshift lounger. Not recommended for the water but when covered with a towel they don't look out of place.

BUT....don't choose the Beach House unless you can put up with:
Mosquitos and sand flies (just normal really)
The constant sound of the sea - it's very close
The crow of the cockerals at 3am (it's what cockerals do)
A frog and insect chorus with the occassional harmony from the local canine community
Visiting lizards (small ones), bats(many & harmless)
Weevils in the pasta (protein?)

Finally for the diver, there are some reasonalbe reefs for scuba diving. We recommend Richie from Wild Turtle Dive who will bring all the gear to Castara. If you go to Speyside, choose your dive operator carefully - we had an 'out of air' incident due to rented equipment failure, and no-one at Extra Divers seemed to take it seriously.

So that's our experience of the Beach House, one we would like to keep a secret but feel we have to share out of respect for it's generous owners. Thank you!