myTobago – your questions, review and comment about Tobago

Hi All,
I'm planning to take my wife and 2 kids (age 7 and 9) to Castara this summer to stay in Trinity's cottage, Blue Mango. I'd love to hear from anybody else who has done a similar trip with their family. Some specific questions:
Given that we are not coming for international cuisine, are we going to find the local shops OK for getting our day to day supplies?
What is the security situation like in Castara? Are there any particular precautions we should take? I appreciate Tobago, and apparently the Caribbean as a whole, has seen an deterioration in the crime situation but I have not heard anything about this area.
Any good trips we mustn't miss?

Thanks

John

Hello John

You should be right by the beach at the north end ... not sure which one Trinity Cottage is but most of the cottages seem to have very nice views over the bay.

You should be able to get everything in the village ... walking via the beach. The Supermarket is right on the beach by Cascreole Restuarant. L & H Store is just off the centre of the beach and further grocery shops are further up the road from the beach.

Security ... as with anywhere just take the usual precautions ... most hosts in Castara are very protective of their guests. Some will be happy to keep valuables/cash in a safe for you.

Precautions ... refer to the health section on this site ... Castara is home to nasty sandflies ... you will be bitten ... it is a matter of whether you are allergic to the bites ... it doesn't bother everyone but it can be uncomfortable if you realise you are allergic, you would know within 24 hours of arrival ... take some repellant as a precaution and Lanacane as treatment.

Good Trips ... you are spoiled for choice ... Alibaba Tours, King David and Duck Tours are based there ... they can all look after you.

Your children should love it ... my youngest was 6 when he first went ... I am sure they will befriend a few local children who regularly play games on the beach.


Regards

Hi Paul

Thanks for the great tips. It sounds like the availability of groceries at least is better than I expected. Strange thing is I live in Dorset, UK, and I was in Tobago in 1995 (honeymoon!) and came across some meusli made by Dorset Cereals in a grocery shack in Black Rock. First time I'd ever seen it, now it is everywhere at least around here!

Do the grocery stores & eateries in Castara take credit cards now, or do we need TT dollars for everything?

Lets hope my daughter copes with the sandflies!

Cheers

John

Hi John

For buying basic groceries you will likely need cash in all the stores although I think it may be possible to pay by credit card at the Cascreole supermarket ... maybe Brian/Steph can clarify that?

There is a new cashpoint in Castara but I am not sure which cards it takes.

Regards

cascreole supermarket does not take cards and out of the season it is not stocked too well....so better get your supplies on the way to castara and just stock up missing items in the village.
we had an amazing amount of kids here over easter and still have. the youngest I met was 7 month and the oldest are teenagers. everything in between too. they all had a blast and amazingly the kids don't suffer from the sandflies as much as their old folks...ha-ha...I still get bitten after years here, just don't scratch and they go away quick...it is all a queation of willpower

have a great time
steph

Thanks Paul and Steph for your helpful replies. At least we know not to forget the insect repellent! Maybe see you around in a few months then Steph.
Cheers
John

Hi All
A quick report back on this topic after our trip. Firstly, what a brilliant place for the kids! They made some great friends with the local children and generally loved every minute of it. The sea was clean and safe, although there were waves they were fine for the kids to play in. I hear it can be rougher at other times of the year.

Regarding groceries, we found that if you were prepared to make do with what you could get in the shops at the time, then we were fine for food. Fish was always available from the fishermen, and you can get vegetables from the village, as well as basics such as rice, pasta, juice, etc. Bread was available either from the bread oven on Wednesday and Saturday, or from the shops, though there was little choice available. The only things we did look for but could not find was a plug-in insect repeller as the one we brought did not work very well, and spray on insect repellent as I was concerned we might run out (we didn't). But the coils which you burn were cheap and readily available. We did need cash for just about everything, though the ATM did work at least for us, and you can pay some of the tour guides with credit cards or travellers cheques. You can also eat out though the cafes were not all open all the time, I guess this is a quiet time of year.

Security wise we had no problems, in fact we felt safe and very welcome in the village. On a trip to Store Bay we did get hassled a bit more but nothing that a polite "No thanks" could not sort out. There is a dengue fever outbreak affecting T&T at the moment and I heard there were cases in Charlotteville. The health authority were spraying every house with insecticide to kill the mosquitoes during our trip, and after this the number of mosquitoes definitely reduced dramatically. Hopefully that will stop further spread of the disease.

One word of caution - I did get hit by a pirogue whilst snorkelling just off the beach by the Blue Mango. I was floating at the surface watching some fish, only a few metres from the rocks, when I was hit on the head by the bow of the boat which was taking a shortcut between Little Bay and Big Bay. Although it looked spectacular, I am really lucky that my snorkelling mask took most of the impact so I got away with a cut on my forehead and some bruising and mild whiplash. Could have been a lot worse. Fortunately the health clinic in the centre of the village was open so they patched it up for me and put iodine on to prevent infection, and it has all healed up well. Many thanks to Mrs King (I think that was her name, I was in a daze at the time!) Also, the fisherman who hit me was very apologetic and made a point of coming to find me later to check if I was OK, and asked if he could do anything to make up. No hard feelings, just a fluke accident, but I guess both he and I will keep a look out a bit more in future!

Last but not least, Rebecca, Colin and Trinity at Blue Mango were fantastic hosts and welcomed us like part of their family. And I'd recommend trying Rebecca's cooking at the Clay Kitchen - very tasty!

Cheers
John