First trip to Tobago. Advice Please.

[Tracey&Adam]

My Partner and I are travelling out to Tobago on the 2nd of October 2008 for two weeks and are desperately in need of the following advice from season travellers to the region.

We have chosen to stay in Mount Irvine in a privately owned cottage. We have read mixed reviews on the surrounding areas and beaches in particular, Buccooco? Beach, Turtle Beach, Pigeon Point and various bars in Crown Point. For failry naive first timers is it safe for us?? I spend most of my time in the sea whilst my partner is usually worshiping the sun on the beach alone with a good book.

In the evening is it safe for us to walk on the roads alone exlploring new places to eat and drink and sometimes strolling along the beach.

Would we be better in hotel/guesthouse or as we are in our cottage bearing in mind we want ultimate relaxation.

Given the mixed reviews we have read about Mount Irvine and Crown Point we have been looking at accomodation in Castara and have heard a lot less bad reviews about this in terms of personal safety etc hence why we are asking for all your advice.

We look forward to hearing from you all.

Many thanks

Tracey & Adam

[Steve Wooler]

Hi Tracy and Adam

Welcome aboard!

Buccoo Beach has had a bit of a problem for many years. The beach is backed by mangroves and scrubland - ideal territority for those up to no good to hide and then melt away after stealing possessions left on the beach. It seldom gets more serious than that, but there have been a few reports of intimidation and theft under duress. The same applies at Mount Irvine Back Bay.

Pigeon Point is a protected park and perfectly safe. I've never heard of any problems on other beaches like Mount Irvine, Grange Beach, Turtle Beach. Basically, the places to avoid are isolated ones. Stay within sight of others and you will be perfectly safe.

Very few places outside the Crown Point area will be within walking distance of more than one or two restaurants/cafes/bars. Neither would I recommend walking at night - not so much due to 'security' but more because there aren't pavements/sidewalks in most areas and street lighting is rare/non-existent. Given the driving standards, walking along the road in the dark is not advised - although if you are white, you will at least stand out a little easier.

If you want the ulitimate relaxation, then a private cottage is definitely the way to go. However, you must budget for a rental vehicle. Its best to cut down on your accommodation budget and go for a cheaper place WITH self-drive, rather than more luxurious accommodation without transport.

Castara is a village where I have no reservations about walking about at night, around the village or on the beach. However, the downside to Castara is the absence of shopping facilities and decent restaurants/cafes. Unless you like roughing it and trying to convince yourself that you have "gone native" (no offense to anyone meant), the truth is that there's not a restaurant in Castara that would survive six months anywhere else and some are bordering on rip-off. I love Castara dearly, but sadly aspects of the village have never risen above back-packer standard.

[Tracey&Adam]

Hi Steve.

Many thanks for your response, it has put our mind at rest a little bit that we are down the right lines of choice with Avocado Cottage (your review helped us a lot), however we are thinking about staying in a resort for 1 week in Crown Point, Have you heard of the Tropikists Beach Resort??

Thanks Again.

T&A

[Steve Wooler]

Hi Tracey

Avocado cottage would give you a unique perspective of Tobago - as long as you have a car. Like every other hotel, the Tropikist is listed in our Accommodation section and I can only refer you to the reports there. I have nothing to add - the views of the visitors who have stayed there are far more relevant. It's frankly the difference between staying in a crowded resort area with packed beaches and the unique nature of rural Tobago, so entirely a matter of personal choice and preference.

[Hugh S]

Dear T & A,

You won't need a car to get to the beach but you will need one for everything else. You are just a short walk through the golf course from Ole Grange beach, my favorite. It is OK to walk through the golf course, they ask that you keep your shirt on while passing. The path to the beach is opposite the entrance to Avocado Cottage. Be sure to look and listen for the mot mots who live in the trees before you enter the golf course. They will call to you and reply back if you speak their language.

If you walk a little further north from Grange (to the right when you get to the road) you will come to Mt. Irvine hotel beach which has the nicest sand and just beyond that to the Mt. Irvine public beach which offers some food and drinks and a shower and change room. This is where the fishermen sell their catch from about 3:30 pm. There are also vendors in stalls selling food by the parking lot.

You may be spoiled after Avocado and not want to stay in the busy Crown Point area.

Enjoy, Hugh

[Tracey&Adam]

Thanks Hugh, your comments have put our minds at bay that we have picked a good spot and not going to the Crown Point is the right decidion even for our first time to Tobago, cheers - we're now even more excited for our trip after hearing about the fresh fish

[Paul Tallet]

Interesting.

My first visit to Tobago was on a package ... stayed at a resort and found it the ideal way to go to a new place and discover it before getting adventurous and seeking out those lovely places ... like Castara.

What Steve says is very apparent to me ... Castara attracts many holiday makers that simply want the basics in a beautiful place ... I am not sure why it is so expensive to eat out in the resturants there although, to be fair to Castara, a number of other remote locations also charge high rates for food ... I am as biased towards Castara as anyone but I have to agree that it is much cheaper to eat out in places around Crown Point.

Then again, the visitors can choose, most residences in Castara (most of which are really excellent) provide cooking facilities and I made full use of these and ate out for an occasional treat.

Having said that ... I can be rather smug and say that overpricing could protect Castara and it's culture from increasing tourism over the longer term ... it's possibly the right price to pay for being part of a nice community as opposed to a resort ... so maybe the balance is about right ?!?

But don't let that put anyone off ... Castara is a lovely place.

Regards

[Tracey&Adam]

Hi Paul

Thanks for your advice on both this and our other post (about the weather in October) its good to hear that a resort for your first visit is not a silly idea...but we have bitten the bullet and gone for the cottage in Mount Irvine as a base allowing us to go visit Castara and Crown point easily with a car as Steve suggested - we really are now getting quite excited after our recent lull due to the bad reports we've read recently, guess we're worrying over nothing Thanks again

T&A

[Paul Tallet]

Hello T&A

I have been to Tobago for all but one of the last 9 years and never had a problem.

Yes ... some can get unlucky but it can happen anywhere in the world and it is less likely in Tobago.

Many people get carried away when they go on holiday ... it's a special occasion so it is tempting to wear silly shirts, hump tonnes of camera equipment around and flash the cash (we don't do it often do we?) ... just be normal ... abnormal behaviour attracts other abnormalities that can spoil a holiday anywhere.

I hope you both have a really good time and please tell us of your adventures when you come back.

Regards

[Paul Stenning]

Hi Tracey & Adam,

I have just returned (yesterday!) from two very enjoyable weeks in Tobago and it was our first trip too. We rented a private villa near Turtle Beach (Turtles Retreat - Steve, my review will be added shortly...!) which was within walking distance to the beach and just a short drive from the likes of Mount Irvine, Stonehaven, Store Bay, Pigeon Point.

We have two young kids (5 and 2) and never at any time did we feel in the slightest bit concerned about security. We did have an overnight security guard at the villa but never saw a hint of trouble.

For a good public beach nearby, you can't go far wrong with Stonehaven. It has the Buccaneer Beach Bar too which, althought not the cheapest, is very convenient. It's also over the road from the Seahorse Inn where we enjoyed an excellent evening meal.

I would seriously recommend hiring a car as it will make life so much easier - especially if self catering, as you'll want to go to the "supermarkets" from time to time, as well as restaurants etc.

If you want to see more of the island, I can do no better than to recommend Peter Williams (aka "Birdman") with whom we enjoyed a very good day touring round the island in the back of his jeep. He was very knowledgeable about the history of the island and the flora and fauna as we as being extremely good company. (Told some terrible jokes though!) I have contact details somewhere so let me know if you want them. He also did a separate trip for us to a waterfall, which was slightly off the beaten track, at Parlatuvier.

From the point of view of wanting somewhere where the kids could enjoy the beach, Pigeon Point was absolutely perfect and worth every penny (or cent!) of the TT$18 entry fee. (about £1.75 in old money). There's a good bar and plenty of things to do such as jet skis, glass bottom boats, diving etc.

Overall, we had a fantastic holiday and Tobago defintely worked its magic on me! I'm sure you'll both have a fantastic time.

Cheers,

Paul

[Tracey&Adam]

Thanks very much Paul, we really appreciate your e-mail and dare I say it's made us both even more excited with our flights being just over a couple of weeks away. We'd really appreciate the Birdman's number if its not too much trouble to find.

Thanks again

T & A

[Paul Stenning]

T&A,

Sorry for the delay. Peter's telephone number is (868) 754 6507. He is based around the Stonehaven area which is very close to Mount Irvine and he is very flexible with regard to planning your itinerary.

Hope you have a fantastic time. If you do speak to Peter, please mention my name and send him my regards. (If he can't recall me, mention my son Harry wee-ing on his shoes!!!)

Best wishes,

Paul

[Andy D]

Hi T&A,
I sincerely hope you were'nt flying out with XL.

[Bryan Guignard]

Three's absolutely no doubt in my mind that you will have a fantastic time in Tobago! I still remember my first visit there very well. In fact I loved it so much that I eventually bought land there and am now planning to move there permanently. Here's a suggestion that you might find interesting. In Plymouth, not far from where you'll be staying, there's an excellent little restaurant that makes traditional Tobago food, and they charge in TT dollars (not US or Euro), which makes it very very affordable. The place is called "Fad's Homestyle". The portions are huge. My wife and I usually go for lunch, and pick up a little extra to take with us. You can dine in or take it to go. For well under $100 TT we will get an excellent lunch for both of us, and have plenty left over for a good supper. What we like about this approach is that supper time is not dependant on us driving around to find a restaurant...thus we can flounder on the beach as late as we want and continue our relaxation uninterrupted, and still have a great meal.

Enjoy your trip. I'll be there myself in December to start building my new home, and eating at Fad's of course. I can hardly wait.