The Insiders Guide to Barbados.. (Barbados)

Member Name: RupertS

Product:	Barbados
Date:	03/05/01 (715 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Sunny, safe beaches on the westside, english speaking

Disadvantages: Same prices as London in restaurants!

I Visited to Barbados in Feb 2001, peak season, armed with suntan lotion and the Rough guide. Being the more adventurous type I didn't hang around the hotel! I stayed for a week, which was enough to do everything but next time I'd go for longer as we were so busy doing stuff it didn't leave much chill out time on the beach. I went with a friend from work, although we found this island essentially full of couples.

(Paragraphs with ‘*’ have been added since the original version of the document)

* Weather: The high season is from mid-December to mid April with low rainfall, lots of sun and low humidity. There is cloud around, but don’t be fooled if you don’t protect yourself you will get burnt (as we found out on the second afternoon). During the rest of the year the humidity get very bad, and in September in comes the hurricane season.

* Cash: The Barbados dollar is fixed to the US dollar at a rate of B$2 – US$1, so with current exchange rates £1 = B$3. US dollars are excepted almost everywhere, but you will get change in the local currency.

Getting There:

Package deal, try online, these will give you a place to stay and flight for same price of a normal flight - we avoided the hard sell of the rep and went and did our own thing!

Scheduled flights: British Airways fly there direct from London, and did use to do a concord service – before the plane was grounded. Many cruise ship make Barbados part of there tour, they dock just north of Bridgetown, and it’s worth taking a taxi in to town from the port. BA flights around £650 economy, £3500 club - unless you're a travel agent and can blag freebies or discounts (these prices where from Saturday->Saturday at the end of May 2001 via expedia).

Note: There is a departure tax of B$25 – ours was included in the ticket price, check that yours is!

* About the Island: Barbados was a British Colo
ny, hence English is spoken everywhere. As for beaches, most tourists go to the South and West of the island; these sides are protected from the Atlantic rollers and make for very safe swimming, you should avoid swimming around the east side unless you a v. competent, this is due to strong currents and the Atlantic waves – hence this is become the home of the island’s surfers. All beaches in Barbados are open to the public - although sometimes you have to ask the locals to find out how to get to them from the main road!

* Accommodation: Many, many smart hotels with Sandy Lane being the most expensive and exclusive, this hotel which has just reopened in 2001. There are many all-inclusive hotels for those of you who aren’t in to great adventures, or just want to kick back and relax. Unaware of any youth hostels as such, and most cheap accommodation seems to be booked by holiday companies. The West coast is the smarter end of the island with the St. Lawrence Gap (aka The Gap) being the alternative tourist haunt.

* The Capital: Bridgetown, is first and often only port of call for cruise ship passengers, they offer tax free shopping for any visitor to the island – if you do go to shop take your travel documents to get the value added tax knocked off. Whilst in Bridgetown I visited two places, the Nelsons Arms (just off Broad Street – the main street), a seafaring style pub with poor cocktails, cold beer and good food. The second place we visited was “Jeff’s Mex” which was well liked by my vegetarian friend because of there wide range of mouth-watering veggie food (there not 100% veggie – lots of meat as well!).

* Food: No McDonalds, no KFC, no Burger King, in fact no international fast food chains of any description. If you want fast-food then you’ll have to do with local chain, Chefette. We stuck clear of this, sticking to the local independent restaurants; most of the food will be f
amiliar as it is standard western food. Being an island fish is in abundance, with their favourite being the flying fish - quite a small fish, but tasty – the flying fish is so popular you can buy a box of them in ice at airport to take to the folks at home – according to the lady who runs the outfit, she says that they will stay frozen in their iceboxes until you get back to the UK – although its not like you’re going to go back to complain! Rotis are the local quick snack – simply a wrap with meat or veg in it – served hot. I found the beef in my roti still had all its bones attached to the meat – so watch out!


How to get complimentary food and drink: Take the bus to Sam Lords Castle (all inclusive resort), when you arrive just outside walk into the complex and after 100m bear right and you will find yourself walking down an alley, at the end of this alley there are some (half broken - but generally safe) stairs to beach. You are now on the beach which Sam Lords Resort uses, simply go up to the beach bar and order your free drinks, they will assume that you are a guest and give it to your for free! At lunchtime a huge buffet comes out on the beach as well, feel free to dig in - no wristbands, no questions asked! Also walking into the main resorts from the beach and make use of the bars and pools, nice free day out!

Best Rum Cocktails: After venturing all over the island, the best is to be had in the Mount Gay Rum Factory Tour Bar, slightly more expensive than usual but well worth it (recommend a Rum Desire)!

Best Beach Bar: Mullins on the West Coast, expensive but something special! Also free sun beds and parasols (no need to be a customer)

Best Value Food: Fisherman’s Bar in Speightstown, literally on the water, very quick service, generally undiscovered by tourists, hence prices are low.

Best Night Out: Boatyard in Bridgetown, and mix of locals and tourists dancing
to US/UK chart music. Do a drink all you can night for around £10-£15.

Don't miss: The Oistins Fish fry (south side of the island), huge meal for B$15 available from various market vendors, also bottles of beer around 50p! (Banks is the local brew, I didn't think was anything special - quite a strong taste compared to UK lager - but we drank it all the same!)

Where to take your Partner: The Cliff restaurant was the most talked about, it was out of our budget and hence can't write any more on it.

Drugs: Everyone is offering you either weed or Charlie; quality of weed varies from good to a bag of leaves (so I heard). Personally avoided the scene. Also prison is an option if you’re caught!

Travel: Car - Take your driving licence, this island is bigger than you think and it is worth renting a car although the buses do cover most of the island.

Bus - B$1.50 (around 50p) any distance trip. There are government buses and private operators. The privates operators drive like nutters, have a thumping bass beat going on (which literally shakes the bus) and their depots are slightly further out of town – although they are more frequent but don’t travel as far, and pack you in tightly!

Taxi - They work on a fixed fare scheme set up by the government, so the fare they offer is as low as you are going to get - no use bargaining, our fare was £8 for around 4 miles.

Tourist Attractions:
* Harrison’s Cave – Too touristy by far, the only advantage of going under ground on some huge train is that’s cool (as in cold). The guide had done the tour too many times before and was in autopilot all the way through – wouldn’t recommend if you’ve seen caves before elsewhere!!

* Mount Gay Rum Factory Tour Bar – fun and ends up in bar, not to long to get boring, interesting guide who enjoyed a good laugh with us – worth it! (Malibu also do a to
ur, and they have a beach next to their factory).

* Horse Racing: Obviously not strictly for tourists, but racing on “Garrison Savannah” which is just outside Bridgetown happens every other Saturday except April, to get there take a bus towards to Ouitins/ St.Lawrence Gap from Bridgetown.

* Cricket: At the Oval – we managed to follow a group of American tourists in, (god knows what they were doing at a cricket ground but anyway), there was no matches on at the time, but it’s pretty cool to stand in the middle of a cricket pitch surrounded by the stands.

* URL’s worth visiting before you go..
http://www.barbados.org
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/carib bean/barbados/attractions.htm
http://travel.roughguides.com/content/12543/in dex.htm







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