Englishman's Bay

[Caragh M]

Hello

More help please!!!

After having seen a few photos and read a bit on this site and in a book... I really want to visit Englishman's Bay. Our provisional plan at present is to drive there and take a packed lunch/cool box from the hotel. We will go somewhere first to swim and snorkel (maybe Castara) and then have lunch on the beach at Englishman's Bay.

I have a few questions....

- Where is the view of the bay seen in lots of photo's (overlooking it from a higher point?) Would like to stop there and take a photo ourself.

- How do you get there from the main road if travelling from Turtle Beach and via Castara - ie is it down a track etc, also where can I park?

- Can you walk into the rainforest via the river? My book says that the "river emerges on the beach and the river walk leading from the beach upstream offers excellent wading. There are two tributaries, one of which takes you to a series of small falls". The climb takes you into the rainforest. There are larger falls on the other tributary but these are harder to access.....So if we want to have a quick and I mean quick wander along the river into the rainforest a bit, which way do we go from the beach?

- Lastly is the cafe likely to be noisy or busy ... I have seen a 'few!' comments on the food/drink section which put me off a bit as I was hopeful of a quiet picnic and swim/snorkel/walk.

Please give me the idiots guide to Englishman's Bay! I have read things on this site and in my book but don't want to get there and realise I can't find it!!

Cheers

Caragh

[Steve Wooler]

Hi Caragh

You can't miss Englishman's Bay.

After driving through Castara, you will first hit Little Englishman's Bay. The road passes within a few yards of the beach and it is your first real site of the site after Castara. Not really worth stopping there - I mention it simply as a landmark. The road then climbs a hill. The road then climbs a long hill. You will eventually pass an unmade entrance on the right, leading into the Englishman's Bay Estate (the name is not marked, but there's a sign about it being private property). If memory serves me correctly, directly opposite, on the left, there is a large billboard advertising the land for commercial development (hotel). Well, about 200m further on, the road takes a sharp right hand bend. On the apex of the bend is a dirt pull-in. Park there. That is where the photos are taken from.

After leaving the lookout, you will drop down the hill and eventually hit a long and flat straight stretch of road in the valley. Three quarters of the way along you will see a track on the left leading down to the beach. Its difficult to miss.

No, as far as I know you can only wade a little way up the river. Just wander along and go as far as you feel comfortable.

Yes, the cafe is noisy and ruins the beach. They have a noisy generator clattering away all the time and you can hear it right out into the bay. I did hear that they had done some sound-proofing this year, but I don't know if this is true. The family that run this illegal cafe are a disgrace to Tobago. They are allegedly responsible for most of the crime against tourists on the Caribbean coast. Sadly the son's, who are the main culprits, are now out of prison and back in the community. They were apparently working/hanging around the cafe while we were in Tobago last month. It is a very sad reflection on the local police and the authorities.

I better close. I feel a serious rant coming on.

[David Watkins]

Caragh,Englishmans is beautiful------ except for that *&^%$£"! food stall!
Definitely take your own drink and snacks,alledgedly it could be safer than buying a snack .Oh,and if those brats are there don't evem mention where you are staying.I'm about to do a rant so like Steve I'll shut up
David

[David Lawson]

Caragh

Castara is definitely a good spot to stop on the way. Try the second bay - Heavenly - I was there this month and saw a manta ray in open water. The reef is just off the beach.

Englishman's Bay looks really nice although we did not stop on the beach but also drive on a little to Parlativier Bay which is just 5/10 mins further up the road. The view point is again hard to miss - as you approach the bay and the view is gorgeous. It looks so tranquil, lush and tropical.

David

[Clyde Alleyne]

Caragh, a quick point to note about Englishman's Bay. The sea bottom drops off fairly quickly just off the beach - not a major problem if you are snorkelling, but if you are not a good swimmer and won't feel comfortable swimming out of your depth, this is not the place to swim. Castara and Parlatuvier would be better places for a swim.

Also, Steve forgot to mention that there is a sign at the side of the road that says "Englishman's Bay", so you will know exactly when to turn off onto the track that leads to the beach. You can't miss it. It would be less than 10 minutes past Castara.
Clyde

[Caragh M]

Thanks everyone for the tips. I should hopefully be able to find all the beaches I want to now with no problems.

If the cafe is a nightmare when we get there we will just drive on and have our lunch somewhere else. Just thought it looked really good in the photo's, but I was not aware of the cafe then. We are hoping we can take a picnic from the hotel and so we can have that anywhere really.

We want to visit beaches for snorkelling mainly and go to different ones which we will not see on the various trips we are doing. Swimming is not a problem for me, but I don't like wading in where it is very rocky.

I have seen all the detailed info on beaches & bays and snorkelling sections so should now be well informed.

Cheers

Caragh

[Lauri Hytti]

Sounds like a lovely beach, minus of course the caffe bit! Was hoping that the whole beach might of been fully un-manned during November.
But still have to go see it and I was wondering if anyone would know how far is the beach from Castara. Coz I was hoping to have nice walk from Castara to the beach snorkel around a bit and carry on to the rainforrest and then back some other nice root. Would anyone have a idea if its possible by foot?

[Carol Townsend]

Hello to all!
I was quite surprised to read the comments about Englishman's Bay. I had no idea the cafe was illegal, and knew nothing about the family. We didn't notice the generator being noisy when we were there, and bought a meal and drinks there which were OK.
Have there been negative comments about it before? Don't tell me there was something I didn't read
We made two visits there which we enjoyed, but come to think of it,there was a young man there who had appeared to have "words" with one of the staff, but it was nothing serious. If we had known of the family's reputation we wouldn't have gone to the cafe.
However, we were always cagey about where we staying if asked, because you never know.
Cheers
Carol

[Paul Williams]

Hello Lauri
Leita and I both walked from Castara on our visit in 2004 but we set off at sunrise as it was so hot, there are a few walks that take you of of the main road but I would take advice from local people before venturing too far of the beaten track.
You will need to take a good amount of water as well.
Regards
Paul

[Dr Stefan Rustscheff]

Dear Carol, everything possible in case of negatives can be said about this family of squatters. As Steve has stated the twiins are responsible for quite a lot of tourist robberies. The advice of NOT telling anyone on the beach where You stay should be taken literally! We went down for a quick swim and were then accosted by one of the twins who very insistently tried to make us have a meal at this illegal institution built on other people´s ground which as can be read in these pages, has been the cause of serious food poisoning.
When we refused he pestered us for a not having a drink for "the long drive home". And silly me told him, "Oh, we always stay here nearby in the doctor´s villa up at the hill-and got burglared by them both the next night! We spent the rest of the vacation getting one of them behind bars with the good help of all our friends in Castara such as Brian, our ever best friend Sheppy and the local police force. Unfortunately we have felt rather uneasy to return as twin number two never got convicted and number one is out again. Therefore we have rented a lovely house in Bequia last year and went to Ponape this easter (to get engaged at Nan Douwas, Nan Madol-top that anyone!). This november we will bypass the Emerald Isle again in order to go to the E & O in Penang and the Casa del Mar in Langkawi. I wish the blight on Blighty´s bay would wash away with the tide. When it does I will return.

[Carol Townsend]

I am shocked. If we had known we may not even have gone to Englishmans Bay. This is a case of ignorance being bliss and it seems like we were lucky! We did make a point of not telling people where we were staying as a matter of course, but no one approached us there.
As for the family being squatters on someone's land, can the authorities not do anything about them, or as in the UK, is it difficult to get rid of them as there are " squatters' rights"?
Regards
Carol
PS Where are the other negative reports? I seem to have overlooked them, though I have been searching.

[Steve Wooler]

Hi Carol

The story gets even more complicated. The land that Eula and her family of misfits are squatting on belongs to the local government - the THA.

The THA were well aware of the situation. I know that because I have raised it with senior figures. Following exposure of the matter in our forum (the timing may be coincidence), the THA served an eviction notice on Eula and her good-for-nothing-except-fish-bait brood. Sadly, they have done nothing to enforce it.

One school of thought says that its a hot political potato with the government not wanting to come down hard on the small local business people. Another school of thought says that Eula and her brood have connections and that in typical Trinibago fashion, they are being "looked after".

For information on the subject, have a look at http://www.mytobago.info/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3476

[Carol Townsend]

Thanks for your quick response as always Steve.
I've read the reports you referred to. My word were we lucky! I obviously should have dug deeper in my research, but hadn't really read about restaurants as I knew we would mostly be self catering. That's a lesson learned!
I noticed the cafe is mentioned in the information section, "out and about; beaches and bays". Do you think it might be helpful to put a referrence to the reports there? Or maybe not mention the cafe at all? You are best judge of course.
On a lighter note; we bought cakes from the clay oven in Castara twice. Our last day happened on a Thursday, so we rushed out and bought some coconut tarts which we ate on the plane. Yum!
Oh dear I can feel a ramble coming on and I really haven't got time just now!
Signing off
Carol

[Steve Wooler]

Good point, Carol - and soon fixed.

[Caragh M]

Just wanted to come back in on this one for anyone just reading about what has been said on this topic.

We did visit Englishman's Bay as planned in May. It looks every bit as stunning as it does on photos (especially from above along the road). The beach is lovely but not as quiet as I may have hoped or perhaps expected from initial info. Having been informed further by people here I had an idea of what to epect. The 'cafe' is noisy and you can hear and smell the generator. Thankfully we did not encounter the sons and we kept our wit's about us, as we tend to anyway.

Please do not let this family stop you visiting a lovely bay. We just moved away down the beach from the cafe and we enjoyed some good snorkelling on both sides of the bay (right side much better). Take your own refreshments and then there will be no need to go near them. Yes the beach is probably not as nice as it was before they moved in, but it is still worth a visit.

Thanks for all the wonderful advice...it enhanced our trip.

One last thing----Heavenly or 'little' bay at Castara is amazing. It's quiet, the snorkelling was excellent and there is a lovely bar too.


Caragh

[Caroline Brookes]

[quote] Steve Wooler: "The land that Eula and her family of misfits are squatting on belongs to the local government - the THA.

"The THA were well aware of the situation. I know that because I have raised it with senior figures. Following exposure of the matter in our forum (the timing may be coincidence), the THA served an eviction notice on Eula and her good-for-nothing-except-fish-bait brood. Sadly, they have done nothing to enforce it."

Is there any news on the situation please. Is Eula and her family still squatting at EB? Perhaps David has an update?

Sorry folks, can't find how to get out of the highlighted quote mode of this message so have put quote marks in to differentiate my request from Steve's quote.

Caroline

[Steve Wooler]

Hello Caroline

Yes, Eula's Cafe is still operational on Englishman's Bay beach. As far as I am aware, nothing has been done to enforce the eviction order. I leave you to form your own opinions. The boys have apparently been keeping their noses clean. They know that everyone in the community is watching their every move. It was a chicken-and-egg situation for a while because nobody would give them employment, knowing what they were like, but I recently heard that both had managed to find jobs. I did hear some nasty rumours about the father whilst I was over there in February/March but have heard nothing since.

[Nick Bristow]

Hi,
I went to Englishman'sbay a couple of times last month and had no problems although I will endorse the comments regarding avoiding the cafe. Incidentally the snorkelling on the extreme right hand side of the bay is quite good, just be careful of the currents.

[Caroline Brookes]

Thanks Steve for the update. The more people who visit Englishman's Bay and refrain from using the cafe and so do not put money into the illegal cafe owners' pockets may be one of the ways that will persuade them it is not worth trading there.

Caroline

[David Watkins]

Went out and checked yesterday.Yes it is still there and as noisome as ever!
David