Guest Report

[Ray Hargrave]

We stayed for 7 nights in Coconut Heights, the 1st floor apartment at the Beach House in Castara and we loved it. The setting and view from the apartment make it very special.

The open balcony is a magical place to sit and watch the pelicans and baker birds diving for fish. The whole apartment has a homely feel to it with comfy easy chairs and a good sized dining table. During the day, bananaquits and tanagiers flock to the bird feeder (just put in sugar, bread or fruit) whilst at night, fruit bats flitter by. Fireflies drift past the shutters with their pulsing glow. The bed is very comfortable and the shower and toilet spotlessly clean.

We like to cook for ourselves some of the time and having stayed at 2 other properties over the previous 7 nights, we were pleasantly surprised at the level of kitchen equipment here (though we did pine a little for proper wine glasses and ceramic plates). The owners (Graham & Carol) who were staying in one of the two ground floor apartments were really helpful but never intrusive.

Neither of us could be classed as sun worshippers so during the day, we could walk straight out of the garden and onto Heavenly Bay beach for a swim or snorkel, then back into the garden to shower off the salt and sand before going upstairs to sprawl out with a cold Carib and watch the sunnies sizzle from the comfort of our shaded balcony.

Across the road from the apartment is the Boat House bar and restaurant. I was slightly worried that this might prove noisy at night, but Castara is really such a quiet, laid back spot that this proved an unnecessary concern.
The noise of the surf on the beach more or less cancels out anything from the bar, even on Wednesday's party night (steel pan) you could only faintly here the soothing rhythm. And nobody seems to stay out later than 10.00 pm on other nights (give or take Graham & Carol returning from Sunday School in Buccoo after a rum or two)! Actually, to be fair, you do need a night to adjust to the noise of the sea. We found it soothing, but in the very open accommodation, very light sleepers might need earplugs.

Porridge is Graham and Carol's local agent and general Mr Fixit in Castara. I defy anyone to find a more outrageously charming and helpful man. He even conjured up one of his own chickens and some mangos for us. It was the size of a small turkey, made several meals and he charged us £5. Carline comes in to clean mid week so there is very little housework required. We also bought fresh fish, bread and vegetables locally. You do need to do a supermarket shop if you want luxuries like olive oil, wine and coffee etc. We hired a car for a week, but wouldn't do that again. Why leave Castara?

One last point. Our return flight was delayed by 24 hours and we had to stay at the Tobago Hilton. We found it very bland and sterile in contrast to our wonderful warm and friendly experience of Castara. If you want sophistication, swimming pools and bogus theme bars, the Hilton may be for you, but to live independently, close to the local community and stay in a real home from home, then go for the Beach House in Castara. We've never visited Tobago before (in fact, never left Europe) and this has been our most relaxing holiday ever.

[Tariq Asmi]

Hello Ray,
Your message was just read at the end of a long work day and is allowing me to go home with a big smile on my face and memories of the sound of surf.
We LOVE Castara. Just to relax and become human again. And there's always adventure if you want.
Beach House looks great. We've stayed at Cliff Hanger (that blue, pink and white very rustic cottage right beside the Beach House) several times. We'll be there again this March.
Thanks for sharing your experience in Castara.
I could stay put there for a long time.
-Tariq.