myTobago – your questions, review and comment about Tobago

Hi,

We have just returned from a two week stay in Coral Sea Villas. Our particular villa was 118. In general the villa was pleasant enough with plenty of ceiling fans and air con in each of the bedrooms. Our house keeper was more absent than present but as it was the Christmas and New year break so i'll give her the benefit of the doubt about feeling sick one day, not turning up for another two, having concussion after a fall (though she seemed half cut to me) and needing to go home, losing her driving license which meant she needed to take a whole day off to get a new one and arrived the following deal with a very complex looking new hair style . Out of 14 days we saw her about 4 times.

The pool was a welcome oasis though not really usable before sun up or after the sun left the pool due to mosquitos. Behind the villa is the lagoon which is like a forest with still water beneath, perfect breeding ground for the little buggers. We felt perfectly safe and although the estate is not the most attractive i've seen the accomodation gave us everything we needed (except for a can opener) and was within easy reach of the supermarket, Pigeon point (best beach by far for families) and the Airport.

Out of 10.....7

Great to hear you had a good time. Will be interested to hear your thoughts on Tobago with your 3 yo....we are travelling we our almost 3 yo son.

Hi LisaJ,

Travelling with our three yo was the one thing I was least looking forward to but my worries soon disappeared. She was great on the flight (Virgin) and loved having the swimming pool at the Villa. Food wise, there's everything you need from Chicken & Chips to Fois Gras and Lobster. The best beach for the family by far was Pigeon Point. Certainly worth the £5 per day for a family of four. The locals really took a shine to her and all restaurants, even the great eateries such as The Seahorse Inn (highly recommended) and Coco Reef Hotel (not so great ) welcomed families. Pizza Buoys served up a "Dominos" quality pizza which kept the girls happy on those "just get them fed and into bed nights :-)The Caribbean sea was calm enough for her to confidently float with her arm bands on. The local pharmacy had an equivalent to Calpol which was useful. The supermarket (penny savers) had everything needed from Frosties to mosquito repellent. The temps were just perfect and with SPF 50 the girls played all day in the sun. We put the air con on before bed and then just ceiling fans for the rest of the night as it got too cold, definetly pack some nighties / pijamas for the little'ns.
After travelling all around the island we found the best beaches were all around the Crown Point area. Speyside, although listed as a swim beach is certainly not. Also, always fill up your car at the main petrol station in Bon Accord as the others around the island have either closed or have run out of fuel

Recommendations to eat (all quite expensive but that's just the way it is in Tobago.

Breakfast: House of Pancakes, great service and excellent Pancakes.

Dinner: Bamboo Mile (on the road but good food and Service), The Seahorse Inn (Best by far, Reef and Beef please), La Tartaruga ( excellent food, service and the wine list is world class)

Beaches: Pigeon Point, Stone Haven, Canoe Bay. around 4pm the fisherman offer their catch for sale near Stone Haven and Pigeon Point which is great for a night in and BBQ.

Have a great time !

In summary, a great place to take the kids, a bit limited for good beaches, safe and welcoming.

Sounds wonderful! Thanks so much for taking the time to reply. I have printed your reply and will take it with us so we can check out the places you recommend. Buying fresh fish straight from the beach sounds lovely. And its nice to hear children are warmly welcomed in Tobago, as you do get 'looks' in other places.

Its great that the supermarket is well stocked....our son isn't fully toilet trained yet so will buy nappies out there and therefore have more room for wine in the luggage lol!

Thanks again

Lisa

Hi LisaJ,

Delighted to help. I know how we felt before going so anything I can do to make you feel more prepared.

Penny Savers does have known brand nappies so your fine for that. They also have a small wine shop on the left when you enter the store which is reasonably stocked and most things are about £10 per bottle upwards but you must pay for these in that shop rather than at the main tills (avoids the embarassment of them thinking your shoplifting as you go to carry on shopping like we did . It wasn't until our last few days that we found La Tartaruga at Buccoo Bay. This is a first class Italian restaraurant with wines to die for. They also have a wine shop which we would have used had we known about it earlier.

We found after going round the island that everything you need is right on your doorstep in Crown Point...banks, internet cafes, restaurants, beaches. Of course, see the island for yourself but I felt we wasted a couple of days exploring when we could of been relaxing by the pool or on Pigeon Point.

We did a couple of snorkelling excursions with a BBQ on No Mans land which I highly recommend. No mans land is a pennisular on Bon Accord Lagoon and is a great spot to relax, have some lobster and Rum Punch. Cost about 1200 TT$ for the four of us but was great for the kids as there was an old rope swing tied to a tree in the water and for the adults it feels like a bit of paradise.

One last thing, we didn't take any cash intending to use the ATMs (which there are plenty of) when we arrived. Our bank had other ideas and blocked our cards leaving us trying to get hold of someone on Christmas Eve in the UK to lift the block. Just make sure you call you bank to let them know you're going. Gatwick didn't have any dollars

Just a thought, if you do take a snorkelling and BBQ excursion, make sure you question the rep about what food they will be serving. We went with Tobago Tours which is a fully insured Govt licensed operator but the food was pre cooked and brought to No Mans land. We sat and watched other people enjoying some fabulous seafood being freshly BBQ'd with envious eyes. On Pigeon Point beach there will be a number of reps who will approach you, they are not pushy at all but just make sure you know what you're getting if you decide to go.
I was lucky enough to be there when some of the Jet Ski operators were having a day off and preparing some fresh lobster to BBQ for themselves. They showed me how to cut and prepare the lobster and then gave me half a cooked one with garlic butter presented on a leaf with a shot of Johnnies Black Label to wash it down with....it made my holiday !

Black Label is my husband's drink of choice - there could be trouble ahead lol. And the boat trip was ok with your 3 yo?
Thanks again

Lisa

Absolutely, there are several glass bottom boats, all have life jackets if you want them. The Coral is not the best i've seen but the kids enjoyed it. They also take you to a part of the sea where the water is waist deep and we all got out for a dip. The boat trips were about the only trips that we could do or felt safe to do with a three year old. At the end of the day my wife and I really needed a beach holiday and some family time playing in the sand and pool which is what we got. Tobago is probably the least commercialised in the Caribbean. For what we paid to go over Christmas and New Year I did expect a bit more for my money but having said that we would go back if we wanted guaranteed sun in winter with the bonus of knowing exactly where to go and what to do the minute we arrived.

Tip: On the plane you will need to fill out an entry form. The stewardess told us one per family but that isn't true and will mean you get sent to the back of the queue (like we did) to fill out the others. Not fun when it's hot and humid and the kids are tired. After immigration you go through the next room where your bags and security are. We were there for an hour or two and the queue was not moving. Every now and then some one left the queue, went to the front and put their bags on the belt to go in the xray machine. After a while I got annoyed and went over to the next person who did this and asked them what they were doing. They said that actually there was two lanes so I went back grabbed my trolleys, wife and kids and did the same. I could feel everyones eyes burning into the back of my neck but at that point we had been there 2 hours, sweat dripping of us and the kids were very restless. I reckon it probably turned in to a free for all after that. Anyway, got out of the airport, picked up our hire car and within 5 minutes was cooling off in our swimming pool....lovely !

About the scanning after the security

It's happens my, that I often is given way directly out after the security has got my paper, but sometimes they send everyone to that scanning machine. It seems to me, that the security at service sometimes decide on their own, who to send to that scanning.
And the security here is nearly always slow compared with Europe, that's simply how it is.