How to visit Little Tobago?

[Kathy]

Hello. Does anyone know - -

30 minute boat ride to little Tobago?

How much in US or TT?

How wicked is the water to get there??

What is there/what do you do there?

Thank you.
Kathy

[Steve Wooler]

Hi Kathy

Little Tobago is a protected bird sanctuary. Half-day tours are offered by firms like Frankie Tours & Rentals from Speyside. I believe they cost about US$55 per person, although you may be able to negotiate a cheaper price if you just roll up to the Blue Waters Inn and negotiate with the two operators (including Frankie) who operate from there. The sea conditions vary tremendously, but you'll be able to see what it's like wherever you're staying and give it a miss if the seas are high.

[Kathy]

Thank you for your reply.

In the past "sometimes" I get a bit seasick. Speed boats don't seem to bother me though.

Would you happen to know what sort of boat they take out to Little Tobago?

Also, what about Goat Island and some of these other islands I'm seeing listed on the Tobago Map?
Are they worth seeing?

Thanks for your help.
Kathy

[Tanja Mohammed]

Hi there,

even though we could talk about selling you our Little Tobago tour, there is also the option to do it on your own. There are two boat operators out of Blue Waters Inn Hotel in Speyside (they both operate from the jetty), one of them is Frankies Tours and the other one is Top Ranking. The boat ride in a glass bottom boat (could take up to 20 persons) takes about 20 minutes to Little Tobago. Life vests are on board. You then talk a walk on Little Tobago and visit the various breeding areas of the sea birds, the boat then picks you up again and you will be provided with snorkelling gear and have the opportunity to snorkel around the Angel Reef, one of the top reefs in Tobago. The reef is much deeper than for example the Bucco Reef.
I am positive that you will enjoy this trip.

Regards
Tanja-Yes Tourism

[Steve Wooler]

Hi Kathy

As someone who gets seasick looking at boats bobbing about in the water, you have my total sympathy. However, as Tanja says, it’s only a 20-minute trip, so if weather conditions are average and you take a travel sickness tablet half-an-hour before you leave, you’ll be fine.

You certainly couldn’t call the glass-bottom boats speedboats though – speedless boats, maybe. Have a look at our review of the Blue Waters Inn. At the bottom of our final page of the review ( http://www.mytobago.info/reviews/blue_waters_inn.php) you will see a photo of one of the actual boats that take you from the Blue Waters Inn to Little Tobago. Click on the photo to see an enlargement. You can see Goat Island to the left of the picture. Little Tobago is behind that, hidden by the trees on the left. Goat Island is private property and not worth visiting anyway, so you can cross that off your list. Few of the other islands you see dotted around the coast are more than big rocks and none are worth visiting.

As Tanja says, Angel Reef at Speyside is one of Tobago’s top reefs. Buccoo Reef is only a skeleton of it’s former glory and has been destroyed by years of tourists (and locals) reef walking and killing the coral. It really is a waste of time and money visiting Buccoo Reef. Because Angel Reef is deeper, the glass-bottom boats can pass over the top without damaging the reef and it’s too deep for reef-walking – so the ecology has been protected and you can see the reef and fish in their full glory. This trip is worth it – but do the island and world ecology a big favour and skip Buccoo Reef tours.

[John Hill]

Hi Kathy

I have just found email I received from Blue Water Hotel before our visit last May.
Boats leave Hotel Jetty @ 10.00am and 2.00pm every day, cost $20usd per person.
We did the trip it was very good had a very good guide. Could I recommend after the trip you lunch at Jemma’s Treehouse the food is superb. Note I say after the trip sea can be a little choppy, sure you will enjoy.

http://www.mytobago.info/restaurants.php