Guest Report

[Penny s]

What a pleasure to stay at Carpe Diem. It's in a great position in Castara, private location with fantastic views over the bay but only minutes to the beach and hub of the village.

Yvonne and Chris are lovely hosts, friendly, very popular members of the local community and they've achieved an atmosphere of friendly relaxation. They were very helpful in making sure we got the best out of our stay and their local knowledge is very useful in making the most of the place.

The rooms are comfortable (make that very comfortable for the beds). The two rooms downstairs are larger with their own cooking facilities and veranda (which gets a lot of sunshine), whereas the room upstairs utilises a shared kitchen, lounge but a lovely large cooler veranda. If I was being a bit picky it would be helpful if the downstairs bathroom had a bit more storage space.

Although the rooms are equipped for cooking there are more than ample options for eating in the village. You can get most provisions from Bengy's (a very quick walk to the corner) especially for pineapple, papaya and banana for a lovely fruit breakfast and down to the beach for delicious street food. A quick walk (albeit up another hill!) takes you to the ice cream parlour but beware, as with a lot of the places, it doesn't always stick to its advertised opening hours. Also order bread from the ladies in the village, it's very nice and good to know you've made a contribution to the local school.

Castara is a great location for anyone wanting a beach holiday without being overtly tourist. The people are extremely friendly and always ready to a chat; Although important to remember that it is a small Caribbean fishing village which can be a very noisy place (especially in the middle of the night with cockerels, chickens, dogs and music). Also make sure you have enough cash with you as there are limited opportunities to use a credit or debit card and, despite Chris's efforts, the ATM didn't work for foreign cards. Otherwise it's a trip to a bank in Scarborough!

There is plenty to do to keep you amused: yoga by the beach, snorkelling (although the sea can be a bit turbulent especially near a full moon), boat trips, plenty of walks around and about, rain forest. Chris and Yvonne also have a small library of books if you run out of reading material. If all that fails it will have to be a rum punch down at the Boathouse!

But don't worry everything becomes clear when you get here!