Here is some info on BARBADOS

[RICHinNC]

Hey all,

Hope all is going well for everyone.

I have been getting a lot of PM’s regarding Barbados. Apparently my four trips there has me labeled as bit of an expert of the island!! And, that is fine, I am always willing to help anyone with information on Barbados if I can.

I thought I would put down some information here to help those going to….or thinking of going to….or looking for a great place to go like Barbados.

Please feel free to PM me if you have a specific question or need something here stretched out just a bit more. And let me say right now, I have no problem with people giving me a call as I hate to type.

DISCLAIMER: All comments I make here are MY opinion. You may disagree and that is fine. Everybody has different likes and dislikes. My goal here is to help those interested in Barbados. I will indicate places and ops I like and those I don’t like. If you have a different opinion, feel free to express it. And of course, I have not been to every dive ops, bar (though I try) or restaurant. Feel free to add your input. Oh and one other item, I get no kickbacks or free dives or free beers from anyone I recommend here. Thanks.

THE PEOPLE: The people of Barbados mostly refer to themselves as Bajuns. They are amongst the friendliest people I have ever met and I have traveled all over the world. I have had in four trips no more that two instances where I thought someone was being rude. I am often approached by “beach boys” selling things and I always say thank you but I have so much stuff in my suitcase right now I doubt the airline will take it. Every time I hear back, No problem mon, you enjoy your vacation and buy something from me next time.

THE AIRPORT: Goodness gracious, the airport has changed so much in the last couple years. Day and night difference. ALL GOOD !! When your plane lands, you will most likely get off right on the parking ramp. As of last year there were still none of the umbilical type ramps and I don’t know if they plan to implement them.

On my last trip a bus met us planeside and we road the short distance to the entrance of the terminal. All the years before, we walked it. Off an air conditioned plane into the blazing sun of the Carib. Ouch !! Wear shorts!!

One improvement recently is that they gave us the custom forms to fill out on the plane versus doing it in the terminal. Have a pen with you. If they don’t give them to you on the plane, don’t waste your time rushing up to be the first at the customs window, they will just send you away. They normally keep the forms on a small table to the back far right of the customs area entrance. Rush over there and get the form and fill it out in line. Hopefully you will get it on the plane.

Once you clear customs, it is a short walk to the luggage area. They now have, I think, three large modern rotating luggage conveyor belts. And, the terminal may not be truly air conditioned, but it was very comfortable to me on my last two trips.

After you get your bags, you have to jump one more hurdle. Just as you leave the baggage area for the exit door, there is a really big guy standing there and he takes your custom form. He is very serious and don’t mess with the dude.

AND VERY IMPORTANT……there is a law in Barbados that says, no one but their military is allowed to wear camouflage anything. On my last trip, there was a guy two people in front of me in line that had on camo shorts. I was wondering if anything was going to happen. Sure enough, when he got to the Mr. Very Serious, he was stopped, a radio call made, and two more very big guys came out and “escorted” the young lad to a back room. I assume it was explained to him what the problem was and he was afforded the opportunity to change shorts. Just don’t do camo there. They will not let you out of the airport, and they will pick you up off the streets.

Once you get pass the serious dude, you exit out on to a covered area and there is where all the people wait for friends and the like. You can get a cab there or meet your resorts transport or get your rental car.

As for going home, get there early on your departure day. The lines can be horrendous and sloooooowwww. Do not try to take out any sea shells you picked up from the beach. Leave them where you found them. Expect your dive gear (carry on in general) to be thoroughly inspected. It takes time….get there early.

THE CABS AND CARS: I rent a car every time I go to Barbados. One of my favorite things to do is just hop in the car and drive around the island. As a side note, every gas station charges the same thing for gas. It is a controlled item. Cool!!

Normally, I have the car people meet me right at the airport. I come out of customs and there stands the lady with my name on a placard and we do the paperwork right there in the parking lot. I always ask for an air conditioned car with a trunk that can be locked. They have something called a mook or moot, whatever, and they are nothing more than souped up golf carts. They actually cost more than a real car and offer none of the safety items or amenities.

The car horn in Barbados is used as much to say “HI” as it is to say get out of my way. Not all honks are negative!! I have used the same car rental agency all the time, but I think on my next trip I am going to change as the cars have gotten worse in shape as each year goes by. And, I have made it an item to do to check out other rental cars from people I have met on the islands. All theirs were in better shape than mine. Yep, time to change.

One thing to be aware of for sure, you drive British rules….meaning….on the left. If you have never done that, it can be an exciting first day! Just keep saying to yourself….stay on the left….stay on the left….stay on the left. Oh and don’t forget, at traffic circles, go clockwise…not counterclockwise. If this is your first time driving on the left, be aware, if you pick up your car at the airport, there is a traffic circle just as soon as you exit the parking lot. (Go clockwise!!)

The island is really very easy to drive around, but be aware that most of the maps you can get are sorely lacking. I love a place called Little Bay way up NorthEast coast….not the one in the South. I get lost every dang time I try to go there. The maps help me very little.

The only “painful” part about driving Barbados is your first time driving through the capital, Bridgetown. The route north through it and the route south back through it….are not the same. But if I can do it, you can do it. One solution is to dive with John your second day there and let Mary pick you up and learn both routes. She is going to kill me now!!

As for the cabs, even though I have a rental car, I always take a cab when there is the possibility of booze being taken into my system…..and that is like every night! There are basically two kinds of cabs. One is a van with a purplish strip down the side. This is like a super cheap ride. I believe it was $2 Barbados on my last trip. It is a set price. Just get on and yell when you want to get off. Crowded as all get out, blaring reggae, and often the air is sweet!! Oh yea…you have to do this at least once. The way to go if you are on a really tight budget.

The other is the standard car cab. Always ask the price to your destination and always clarify if the quote is US or Bajun dollars. Get some cabbies business cards and you can schedule pickups with them. Most are very dependable. And they can be hired to give you a driving tour of the island if you like.

 

[RICHinNC]

THE DIVING: How would one describe the diving at Barbados? It does not compare with Bonaire, but it is not bad at all. Barbados has some very nice reefs and the animal life is abundant. There are a number of pretty good wrecks. There are places where you can shore dive, but the majority of diving is done by boat. The boats will vary from a converted pontoon boat with acres of room to small 6 pack boats where you have to do a back roll into the water and crawl back in after your dive.

I have dove with two ops on all my trips. One I really like, and, one I am not that enamored with at all. Sorry, wish I could offer more info on dive ops, but when I find a good one, I stick with it.

My favorite dive ops is Dive Barbados LTD owned and operated by John and Mary Moore. I have said many times here on the board that John is an easy going , no nonsense kind of guy that is really great to dive with. John uses a small 6 pack style boat that can be challenging if it is full. I had recommended John to a couple on here once they were all upset you had to walk through the water and climb a ladder to get into the boat and jump off the boat and wade back to shore at the end. If you want frills and acres of room…..not for you. If you want a FULL tank of air and a great dive, a DM that can find every piece of life on the reef, then John will be the guy for you. I think his prices are amongst the most reasonable too.

Just about every time I go to Barbados I dive once with a group called High Tide. The reason I do is they are the only ops I know that takes out local university students to capture and tag turtles. You get to catch turtles, watch them being logged, tagged and DNA sampled. I always take someone who has never done that before and it is fun and exiting for them. However, I am just not thrilled with that ops priorities and, sorry guys, will continue to dive with John for the majority of my dives. Although a new ops has opened up so I will probably give them a try on my next trip.

There are many dive ops there and your input will help others determine with whom they want to dive. Try a couple and see what the differences are.

SHORE DIVING….is available, but limited really. The best location to shore dive is without a doubt Carlisle Bay. It is a roped off protected bay that has 8 wrecks at the bottom. You find CB by coming out of Oistins (to get you oriented) with the ocean on your left and keep on the coastal road. You will come up to a huge blue pavilion on the left …. with a small parking lot …..right across the street from the Prime Minister’s office. That is CB. There is a good surface swim out to the dive area so take your snorkel and check out the animal life on the way out. I have seen it clear all the way to the bottom….and seen it pretty murky after an off shore storm. It is a great place to check out your weighting. The trick will be…..where to get your tanks. There is a dive shop just down the road on the left (very hard to spot) but both times I stopped there the compressor was down. So I had to drive all the way out to John’s and get them there which is fine with me, I love driving.

The other main shore dive site is Folkestone Park. There is boat activity there so be very careful coming up. Have a towed flag. There are also a couple of wrecks there too.

Most people will try to get you to dive the STAV. It is a huge boat that sits at around 130 ft. So, your dive time is short and the currents can be pretty ripping. Since I live in NC and do wreck dives at depth about any time of the year, when I am on vacation I prefer long dive times and nice reefs, I did the STAV just once and see no need to do it again. Did it…bought the T_shirt….done. My favorite wreck dive there is the PAMIR. It sits at about 60 ft and is has a lot of great swim throughs. Great for those not wreck dive trained.

An amazing story if I may about the shore diving subject. A couple years back I tried to get some info on shore diving locations and was hitting walls. So, more as a joke than anything else, I actually wrote an email to the Barbados GOVERNMENT asking about shore diving availability and rules.

THEY FREEKIN’ ANSWERED ME THE NEXT DAY !!!

They answered all my questions and gave me a number of offices to contact if I had any other questions. Yea, like let’s see Washington do that !!!!!


ACCOMODATIONS: There is so much diversity in places to stay. If you have the $$$$ you can rent fabulous villas and chalets. If, like me, you are on a budget, there are nice places to stay as well. You can find all inclusives with no problem, but I can not imagine why anyone would want that considering the abundance and diversity of places to eat on the island.

A lot of the resorts have their own beaches, but be aware of the Bajun law that says all beaches belong to the people of Barbados and they can go to any beach they want. I like that. My first trip was at one of the resorts. It was nice, but way to pricey for what you got. I made a contact here on the board that recommended a place, the Sea Foam Haciendas, and I have stayed there every time since. It sits right on the beach and every suite has a balcony facing the ocean.

Each suite has two air conditioned bed rooms and a huge living room and full kitchen. The price is really fair. So what is the down side??? Getting out of the parking lot. The hotel is situated in a curve and getting out on to the road can be exciting at times. To orient you, put the hotel to your back, and, exit out the far left side of the parking lot and you should be fine. One nice thing too, right across the street is Mojo’s bar. Great place to go get a Banks (Bajun Beer) or some 1919 and coke (Trinidad rum). If you go to Mojo’s, please be sure to say hey to Garvey for me. Tell him the old guy with the white beard and crazy friend said HEY. And if you give the SFH a try, tell them Rich sent you. (NO, I don’t get any kickbacks)

There is an area called St Lawrence Gap. It has a number of hotels, clubs, restaurants and the like. It certainly is where some action is, but the one complaint I hear from those staying at hotels in the Gap area is that they are bombarded by club music way into the early hours of the morning. Not a good place to stay if you want to sleep at night. Never stayed there, second hand info.

And my favorite restaurant there in the Gap is the Ship’s Inn. It is a buffet and done very well.

NIGHT LIFE: There is so much to do at night. Here are just a few places I like.

The BoatYard. Great club. Your entry fee covers all you can drink for beer and a couple of other drinks. Band music on certain nights. Decent food and goes on well into the early hours. If you love dancing, this is the place.

Harbour Lights. HL does a review kind of show, has a band and also does a buffet. It is a watered down version of the BoatYard. And, it closes up early. Not a bad experience, just an early evening.

Limelight. At least I think that is the name of this club. You go down town (B-town) and just before you go into town there is like a little harbor and bridge and a club upstairs…all the cabbies know it. Friday and Saturday nights are good times to go. They have a great band with an old Vegas style singer and while it sounds boring this guy is good and funny too. No cover charge either. I would recommend do Oistins fish fry on Friday night until about 10 pm and then catch a cab and go to this club and finish off the evening. You can eat great food, dance and have a pretty good time there.

Of course there are many other places like the Xtreme club and hundreds of bars….

OISTINS FISH FRY: You have to do Oistins….and on a Friday night. It is the liveliest night for sure. I always eat at Angel’s shack. Just about all are good. DO NOT let anyone at your resort, if you go that route, sell you ‘’dinner tickets” for Oistins. They are a rip off. You can get a full plate…and I mean full….and a couple of beers for less than $10 USD per person. Those tickets run like $20 to $40….just don’t waste the money. Since you will be probably doing some beer there, take a cab. Don’t drink and drive. Get there about 8 pm and get some good food, do some dancing in the parking lot, buy some souvenirs and then catch a cab to the Lime Light around 10 pm. Oistins does its thing on Saturday nights too, but it is nothing like Friday night. Do FRIDAY !!!

THE PLANTATION: Also called the Roots and Rhythm Review…it is a great show, buffet and dance night out. Very professionally done. They will also pick you up from your hotel. The price includes the show, the buffet and 5 different drinks to choose from of which it is all you can drink. So let them pick you up.

On my last trip I took my friend to the review and all during the show the Master of Ceremonies will come on and announce someone is having their 50th wedding anniversary or their 3rd anniversary and this goes on all night. I went up to the MC and asked could I get an anniversary announced. She said , sure mon, what’s the anniversary. I said I am celebrating my 8th year of happy divorce !!!

The next break in the show came and she got up and announced someone celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary then said she had never been asked to announce this before, but the guy seemed so happy, so…..let me announce that Rich is celebrating his 8th year of happy divorce!!! All the men just cheered! I was invited up to do the limbo competition and won a bottle of rum. All during the rest of my month on Barbados many times I would hear, “Hey, there is Rich the happy divorced guy!!” and people would wave. Instant celebrity!

There are tons of bars. Some have music certain nights and some don’t. Mc Bride’s in the Gap is a cool bar. Garvey’s band (from Mojo’s bar) plays there certain nights and he rocks. And oh, if you do ever meet Garvey, he has the dreads and the Marley look, but the dude plays rock….very little reggae. Just so you know. If there are any music producers out there….look Garvey’s band up….worth your time.

And there are the rum shacks. These are very tiny “shanties” in most cases, where rum is served. With two huge rum distilleries on the island you were expecting whiskey?? Of the two rum distilleries, I would recommend the Mount Gay tour if you are going to do just one. There is also the Malibu distillery there ,but their tour isn’t as good as it used to be. They don’t take you where they use to on the premises. Although the commercials they show you are a down right riot.

Banks is the local beer and it is dang good. You can do a tour of the Banks plant as well. By the way, the Banks beer brewery in Barbados is an authorized manufacturer of GUINESS beer. Cool.

 

[RICHinNC]

THE 19TH HOLE: This place is just about a half mile down the road from Mojo’s toward B-town on the left side of the road. It is a bar that is part of a resort. On Sunday nights they have local talent come in and entertain. It can be really good….or it can be a bust….all based on who shows up. Ever wanted to try your stand up routine in front of a real audience? Then the 19th Hole is just for you.

MONEY: Let’s talk money. ALWAYS ask when someone quotes you a price on anything if they are talking US dollars or Bajun dollars. The value is normally two to one. If it costs 30 Bajun dollars ….divide by two….and they will take $15 USD. Carry small bills. You don’t impress anyone with fifties or hundreds. I never take anything larger than a twenty. You will normally pay in US (assuming you’re from the states of course) and you will normally get Bajun change. The airport has some nice gift shops so it is your last chance to spend the last Bajun dollars you have left over.

THE CAT TOURS: No, not the furry kind…..the catamaran tours. Now I have done a lot of different cats on Barbados and without a doubt the best one going in my opinion is the Tiami all day cat tour.

One critical thing about this boat…..IT HAS SHADE……not all the others do and come 3 o’clock in the afternoon….you want some shade, trust me.

They will pick you up…..(yes, it too has all you can drink free booze included in the price)…. and take you to the boat and bring you back to your hotel. You make three stops on the Tiami. One stop is to “swim with the fish”. One year they gave a briefing that the very very very rare Bajun piranha fish had been sited recently in the local area, but not to worry that their mouth is so small they can only nibble on you. (PURE BS) But what they didn’t mention was, just as you get in the water they throw out fish pellets and thousands of fish come up (as they do every single day) to get the fish food and they bump into you and all that. One lady thought she was being attacked by the rare Bajun piranha and screamed in bloody terror until they could get her to understand it was a joke. So, no newbies, there are no Bajun piranha.

The second stop is to snorkel with some turtles. There is a family of turtles that come up and swim around you and you can get some nice pics.

The final stop is near a beach you can swim to and just take a break.

Somewhere in all that is a fantastic buffet. You do not go away hungry. Take lots of sunscreen, your own mask and snorkel. You can take your fins too if you wish. They will provide you with a mask and snorkel, but I prefer my own for obvious reasons. They do not provide fins. And, it is Bajun law, you must wear an inflatable life vest they give you.

THE FOOD AINT CHEAP: As soon as I hit the hotel the first thing even before I unpack, is head to the grocery store. There are two within walking distance of my hotel. I like to pickup a couple cases of beer, some rum, eggs, cheese and the like.

You really don’t have to waste money on bottled water. Barbados has one of the best desalinization plants going. I do not hesitate to drink tap water at all and have never had any problems with it. We will take emptied soft drink bottles and half fill them with water and put them in the freezer over night. Then the next morning top them off and put them in a thermos pouch and throw them in the back seat of the car. Adding some of the flavor powder makes them a little more interesting, but the point is, travel with water. It can get really hot and you can get dehydrated so quickly.

When you see the prices in the store you will wonder how the people survive. Other than one small store here in NC I have never seen a package of CHICKEN FEET for sale. And they were not cheap either!

Oh, one thing about the hotel where I stay. They have a grill you can use anytime.

There are some restaurants where you will easily pay over $200 USD for a meal. (Places like The Cliff, The Tide….maybe Calabas…and so on.) And, on top of that, you will want to stop at a quickie food place to top off because the dang portions at these ritzy places are so small.

My favorite place to eat is called OPA. Yep, it is a Greek place and they have great food. Call and try to find a night where they are doing barracuda. Man the chef knows what to do with that fish. Excellent!

In the same parking lot as OPA, up a flight of stairs, is a small Jamaican jerk chicken place. Cheap and good. Oh, and there is also a great ice cream store there too. Love ice cream!!

Lots of places to eat in the Gap and Holetown and lots of cheap street vendors too. I have never had any stomach problems eating from vendors.

A little further down the road and right by the BoatYard is a place called DA KITCHEN. Great place for lunch. Cheap and good.

I know several others, but could only describe how to get to them since I suck at remembering names.

Oh by the way, right across the street from the OPA is a small mini mall two stories high. And it is a good place to park too since the OPA’s parking lot is postage stamp size at best.

Go up the stairs and to the immediate left is a DVD rental store that has PCs and you can check your email for very reasonable prices if you don’t take your own PC. I would never recommend checking your bank account as you never know for sure what kind of key memory programs they may have and now they have your passwords. Yes, I am Mr. Paranoia. Rather be safe than sorry.

As you come from Oistins with the ocean on your left, just before you get to OPA, there is a wine store on the right. It has a huge selection of wines if that is your taste.

BRIDGETOWN …THE CAPITAL: It wasn’t until my fourth visit that I took the time to go walk around B-town. I am just not a “big” town kind of guy. I like getting out to the back country. B-town really isn’t that big and to tell the truth, once you have been in a couple of stores, you have already seen what the other stores have too. But you can find all kinds if things down there. There is a Cuban cigar store if you have never had a Cuban cigar. Let me recommend the Romeo and Juliet small. I would definitely take a cab to B-town as parking is a major pain. A one time visit for me. Won’t go there on my next trip back. I will probably go investigate Hole Town more and eat at Angry Annie’s. Got there one night, but they were closed.

GOLF: I am not a golfer at all. I tried the game once…shot a 58….and was so bored I saw no reason to go to the second hole. Anyway, I add this paragraph for those that are enamored by this sport that there are a couple of really posh golf resorts located on Barbados.

ILLEGAL SUBSTANCES: Have you ever wanted to see the inside of a Caribbean jail cell? Mess with illegal substances on Barbados and you can become a permanent resident in one. They have very strict rules and enforce them to the end. Most of the people trying to sell you “a little weed” are plain clothes cops. Just thought I would mention that.

Hopefully this has been of some help to those interested in Barbados. And, remember, we have a number of members on the board now that live there so I am sure their information is a tad more accurate and fresher than mine. Again, I get no kick backs, free dives or even a beer for mentioning any ops or restaurant or store in this write up.

Go to Google and type in Barbados Tourism and you will get tons of stuff to check out.

If you have questions, feel free to PM me.

rich

 

[RICHinNC]

Here is a map of the St Lawrence Gap area.

 

[RICHinNC]

And, here is a map of downtown bridgetown. See the Bridge House in the lower right hand corner? That is where the Lime Light club is located upstairs.

 

[doshill]

Hello Folks

If you are interested in diving in Barbados I am on this forum also. Firstly there is Carlise Bay good wreck diving but if you want really good diving head North out by the Cement Plant Maycocks. The best reef in Barbados. If you are coming to Barbados PM me since I if I am in the island I may be able to dive with you on a Saturday or Sunday. I have dived with Barbados Blue, Roger's Scuba Shak, Michael Young's outfit in Bay Street and Reef and Wreckers in St. Peter. if you wnat to go North Reef and Wreckers are the best to show you Maycock Bay. My dive buddies and I sometimes rent a fishing boat up North to take us to a place called lighthouse drop-off that has plenty of snappers (one of the guys bagged a 20lb one ). So PM me and I can help U with locating some divie sites that are really good in Barbados.

 

[RICHinNC]

Doshill ,thanks for the input. Please add anything you can about shore dive sites other than Carlisle Bay and Folkestone Park. Are there any others??

 

[ValanceRG]

Great Review Rich...i live here and even i was caught up reading. lol. not sure if i have much to add really....oh the word is Bajan although we pronounce it Bajun. in terms of dive ops i would recommend Barbados Blue at the hilton. the staff is super friendly they know most if not all of the great dive sites and they guide you on a great dive every time. they are the only one i believe to have on staff marine biologists which is pretty cool cuz they ACTUALLY know what they are talking about. diving with andre, robert and roger is probably some of the most fun you would have at any dive op.....not to mention the gorgeous christie....*ahem* anyhow back on topic lol. Barbados is really one of the better caribbean islands to visit when you want a good mixture of things to do. whether underwater, partying, doing nature stuff like hiking ( if you visit check out ZiplineBarbados) it truly makes a great vacation and thats not just my biased opinion as a local.

if anyone ever needs a dive buddy drop me a message

 

[doshill]

Hi Richinnc

There is Maycock , Light House drop-off and other North dives. Lots of fish especially snappers, nurse sharks, brain coral, lobsters and crabs. Good dive. Actually I am diving there this Staurday 19th July but my friends we dive at least 2-4 times a month. No worry about wet suit cause the water averages 85-94 F. Also the Northen dive yes I almost forgot the turtles - there are 3 resident turtles on Maycock out bank that is a 60 -100ft dive. Turtles hang there because of the abundance of fish. On the east coast it is advance only and these dives can be done during summer because of the current. So I will be diving east in summer.

There is also the castle and Friar Craig, the Stav - this is an old US Navy ship that was sunk in 120ft of water so an advance can to there. Before you could have wreck dive it before but no dive operator in Barbados would allow you to pentrate it since the Stav is slowly being destroyed and the flooring is coming apart so do not pentrate it !!

There is also Astra Reef, Oistins and Dover - the list could go on since Barbados is a coral island and it has reef surrounding the entire island and there are the inner and outer bank coral reef. It is just that a lot of dive operators like to carry person to Carlise bay because it is convenient and it can also be a shore dive once you have your c-card so you don't necessary have to go out with an operator. But Carlise bay is mostly wreck diving since there are 5 wrecks in the area but if you want to see health untouch coral go North boys and girsl go North !!!!! PM if you are coming to Barbados and maybe we can hook up for a dive. I can show you Barbados underwater if you need to.

 

[sweetcalypso]

Its funny how staff of a number of operators here are recomending where they work surreptitiously!

I dont work for anyone, and i always use Hightide, what Rich's problem is with them i dont know but All of the staff are great, Edwin is the friendliest instructor ever (and good) and all of the equipment and boats are better than most,