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Any one been to Tobago?
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Capn Dan and Ruby
- Posts: 1006
- Joined: Sat Sep 05, 2009 10:08 pm
- Location: PC Florida
Any one been to Tobago?
Any one ever been to Tobago? We love St. John, but are looking to expand our options.
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Capn Dan and Ruby
- Posts: 1006
- Joined: Sat Sep 05, 2009 10:08 pm
- Location: PC Florida
We went to Tobago 18 years ago, so this info may be a bit dated. We loved the island. It has some pretty beaches and nice hotels. It seemed very laid back with a pleasant island culture and very friendly people. We went scuba-diving a lot and had wonderfully clear water. I remember talking to local people there who were from Trinidad and they liked to vacation on Tobago.
There was a big park called Pigeon Point with a beautiful beach, a place to eat (we had flying fish sandwiches for the first time) and boats that will take you out to their reef for snorkeling.
We didn't have much money in those days and stayed at a place called Blue Waters Inn. Also because they had a dive operation there. It was a super casual hotel right on a nice little beach. The food was good and people were nice. Beds...not so comfortable and no a/c. We visited a hotel called the Grafton on the other side of the island. It seemed very nice (at the time) with beautiful views to the sea and we had an excellent Indian buffet for dinner, accompanied by a steel drum band.
Someone at the BW Inn told us about a place up high (near their microwave tower near the town of Speyside) where you can go at sunset and see thousands of parrots come in and roost in the trees. It was a truly amazing sight to see so many parrots seemingly fly in from the sea and roost in the branches of some big trees there. They always seemed to want a spot that was already occupied by another parrot, so it was a cacophony of squawking and squealing. We treasure the memory of that experience.
In the middle of the island is one of the oldest forest preserves and it has hiking trails. We didn't hike, but would definitely hire a guide and go hiking next time we visit the island.
We did an easy hike into a lovely waterfall with a pool at the base where you could get in and cool off. We can't remember the name, but I'm sure someone on the island would know about it.
When we were there, the big crime of the week that was reported in the local paper was a local man who was drunk in public and he was cursing. He was arrested and spent the night in jail. He publicly apologized for his behavior. We were amazed by this. We felt safe on the island but I don't know if things have changed.
For our next trip to Tobago, we are going to go to Trinidad for a few days and stay at the Asa Wright Nature Center. Its an amazing place in the rainforest where you see a variety of tropical birds. Then we will to Tobago for beaches, snorkeling and chilling out.
Depending on what you like to do, you may enjoy Tobago. If you go, be sure to write a trip report. I would love to hear what its like now. Happy trip planning!
There was a big park called Pigeon Point with a beautiful beach, a place to eat (we had flying fish sandwiches for the first time) and boats that will take you out to their reef for snorkeling.
We didn't have much money in those days and stayed at a place called Blue Waters Inn. Also because they had a dive operation there. It was a super casual hotel right on a nice little beach. The food was good and people were nice. Beds...not so comfortable and no a/c. We visited a hotel called the Grafton on the other side of the island. It seemed very nice (at the time) with beautiful views to the sea and we had an excellent Indian buffet for dinner, accompanied by a steel drum band.
Someone at the BW Inn told us about a place up high (near their microwave tower near the town of Speyside) where you can go at sunset and see thousands of parrots come in and roost in the trees. It was a truly amazing sight to see so many parrots seemingly fly in from the sea and roost in the branches of some big trees there. They always seemed to want a spot that was already occupied by another parrot, so it was a cacophony of squawking and squealing. We treasure the memory of that experience.
In the middle of the island is one of the oldest forest preserves and it has hiking trails. We didn't hike, but would definitely hire a guide and go hiking next time we visit the island.
We did an easy hike into a lovely waterfall with a pool at the base where you could get in and cool off. We can't remember the name, but I'm sure someone on the island would know about it.
When we were there, the big crime of the week that was reported in the local paper was a local man who was drunk in public and he was cursing. He was arrested and spent the night in jail. He publicly apologized for his behavior. We were amazed by this. We felt safe on the island but I don't know if things have changed.
For our next trip to Tobago, we are going to go to Trinidad for a few days and stay at the Asa Wright Nature Center. Its an amazing place in the rainforest where you see a variety of tropical birds. Then we will to Tobago for beaches, snorkeling and chilling out.
Depending on what you like to do, you may enjoy Tobago. If you go, be sure to write a trip report. I would love to hear what its like now. Happy trip planning!
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Marcia (Mrs. Pete)
- Posts: 1576
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 9:40 pm
- Location: Madison Area, Wisconsin
Check out the archives of this blog -B&J in VA wrote:I remember talking to local people there who were from Trinidad and they liked to vacation on Tobago.
http://chookooloonks.typepad.com/chookooloonks/
The author is a native to Trinidad. She wrote a blog about living on Trinidad with her husband and young daughter and in the blog, I remember posts about how they vacationed regularly on Tobago, it was their getaway place.
Capn Dan and Ruby,
I will be posting the Tobago installment of our cruise report soon, but wanted to make sure I followed up with you directly. We had an absolutely lovely time on Tobago and I, for one, would love to go back and explore more.
Tobago is a much larger island that I'd pictured. As you probably know, most of the tourists hail from Europe, particularly the UK. We only had one day on island, but I particularly loved the music and the cultural mix - it seems Roti is everywhere, which works for me.
The people we met were very friendly, but not in the overly-exuberant, "Hey mon" way of some islands. The people are more reserved, perhaps more shy, but very nice. Scarborough itself is not to write home about, aesthetically speaking. We spent the day on the Island Girl Catamaran, and saw fabulous sites. A large part of the island is undeveloped and pristine.
Snorkeling was phenomenal - the Orinoco River from South America feeds the waters around Tobago and the fish are HUGE. HUGE. We snorkeled in a boat-accessible area called Emerald Cove that was spectacular.
In short, I'd love to go back. But if I did, I'd return for two weeks, or at least 10 days. The island is too difficult to reach to spend a shorter amount of time there, IMO.
I will be posting the Tobago installment of our cruise report soon, but wanted to make sure I followed up with you directly. We had an absolutely lovely time on Tobago and I, for one, would love to go back and explore more.
Tobago is a much larger island that I'd pictured. As you probably know, most of the tourists hail from Europe, particularly the UK. We only had one day on island, but I particularly loved the music and the cultural mix - it seems Roti is everywhere, which works for me.
The people we met were very friendly, but not in the overly-exuberant, "Hey mon" way of some islands. The people are more reserved, perhaps more shy, but very nice. Scarborough itself is not to write home about, aesthetically speaking. We spent the day on the Island Girl Catamaran, and saw fabulous sites. A large part of the island is undeveloped and pristine.
Snorkeling was phenomenal - the Orinoco River from South America feeds the waters around Tobago and the fish are HUGE. HUGE. We snorkeled in a boat-accessible area called Emerald Cove that was spectacular.
In short, I'd love to go back. But if I did, I'd return for two weeks, or at least 10 days. The island is too difficult to reach to spend a shorter amount of time there, IMO.