Barbados!

Stephanie Rea on 12 July 2013
I had the privilege of visiting the island of Barbados in the Caribbean in June 2013. It’s hard to know where to start! The first thing that grabbed me was the friendliness of the local people as they were so helpful and lovely wherever I went. It is safe to go out and go for a walk. In particular, I went to Oistens Fish Market which is an absolute must on a Friday or Saturday night. Go along and have some local freshly caught fish with a beer, and dance (or if you don’t fancy dancing) just watch - it reminded me of a scene out of the film Dirty Dancing.

I visited 14 hotels on my trip, and a few that stand out in my mind are Sandy Lane, Colony Club, Fairmont Royal Pavilion, and Ocean Two. For all-inclusive options Turtle Beach is great for families and Crystal Cove. There are others I would recommend depending on your budget, but I wouldn’t have enough space to write it all here so just call or email me if you are thinking of a visit!

An important thing to note is that the east, south and west coast of the island are all very different. The east is windy and wild as it is on the Atlantic coast side, so windsurfers love it here. The south has gorgeous white sandy beaches and big waves, and the west coast has lots of hotels and small towns, as the sea is calm so safe for swimming. If you want to go out and about on the west coast there is a town called Holetown where you can have a wander. If you want to be nightlife then you should try to stay near St. Lawrence Gap on the south coast.

We got to swim with turtles which was amazing. Our catamaran took us out to sea and we snorkelled with these lovely endangered species, but of course you are not allowed to touch or hold on to them. It was a truly wonderful experience and one I would certainly do again.

It is very easy to drive on Barbados, and we hired a car. Whilst attempting to do a treasure hunt of the island we got lost so decided to try a chicken burger and chip from Chefette, (a restaurant chain on Barbados). An interesting fact we learnt - McDonalds opened a restaurant in Bridgetown and it closed its doors 6 months later because locals love their chicken. They eat more chicken per capita than any other country in the world – so we were told! I did enjoy my trip and definitely would recommend it. There are direct flights from London, which are about take about 8 and a half hours, with easy connections from Belfast or Dublin.