Barbados Trip Report 11/2007 - Part One
Nov 18th, 2007, 03:16 PM
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Barbados Trip Report 11/2007 - Part One
Barbados Trip Report - November 2007
We went to Barbados earlier this month on a somewhat last minute vacation. We usually travel in the fall, but due to our schedules this year; we waited longer than usual to book the vacation. This year my aunt and her husband also came along on vacation with us. They are fun and we enjoy some of the same things.
After a long saga of trying to find a good hotel, we ended up staying at the Tamarind Cove Hotel. It is a small intimate property with about 100 rooms, three pools and a nice stretch of beach. The rooms were decorated in a Caribbean style and were clean and well maintained. We stayed in an ocean view room, # 317. We had a nice view of trees, a rooftop and the ocean. My aunt stayed in room 123 which was on the first floor and had a convenient location to the towel hut and was close to the smaller enclosed pool. The staff at the hotel was friendly, but the service on the beach wasn�t as consistent as in St Martin. The hotel has an all inclusive option, but our travel agent arranged for us to only have breakfast included. We enjoyed their breakfast buffet, especially the eggs with their hot sauce on it. I kept waiting for plantains on the buffet, but they didn�t have any while we were there. They had some entertainment in the evenings but it usually ended by 10:30 PM. We especially enjoyed the steel drum player, Andre Ford that they had at the bar area. He played a variety of music from popular tunes to Caribbean salsa type music. One day when we had a large lunch, they had the manager�s cocktail party which included appetizers. He started playing during the cocktail party and we just stayed the whole time to listen to him.
The highlight of the trip for me was sailing on a private catamaran for the four of us. We rented a catamaran with Captain Ron called Wasn�t Me. We had such a great time on the boat. They played Caribbean music and had lunch and beverages for us. We bought a CD of the Islands Merrymen with songs like Age is Just a Number and Island Living that he played on the boat. It�s a fun momento to listen to in the car at home and remember the vacation.
We also had a chance to go snorkeling from the boat. Let me preface this by saying that I love the water, but I never learned how to swim. My husband has always wanted to go snorkeling, but I�ve always been afraid to go since I can�t swim, so we never went together. This was a great opportunity for him because he was able to go snorkeling with the first mate, Calli and my with aunt�s husband. My husband said they went snorkeling off an artificial reef and saw lots of different fish and an eel. While they were off snorkeling, I was swimming next to the boat with my lifejacket on. Maybe next time I might try to go snorkeling too.
I had been to Barbados about 20 years ago with this same aunt and with her brother who at the time did some work on the island. It was a short vacation and we stayed at a villa that wasn�t on the beach. The biggest thing that I remember from that vacation was the beautiful colors in the Caribbean Sea. It was definitely different than anything I had seen at home. We saw those same beautiful stripes of color in the sea this time, but I think the water in Turks and Caicos was even better. I was told that they are both coral islands which is why they have similar water colors.
We had heard another hotel guest talking about a fun piano bar called Lexy�s which was in Holetown. One night the four of us went to there after dinner. The piano player had such a lively routine. We talked to him a little in between sets and learned that he had played at another piano bar we went to on another Caribbean trip! I highly recommend going to his show. As I said before the entertainment in the hotel ended at around 10:30 PM, so if you still want to have fun see his show and yell, Cocktail! You�ll know what I mean if you�ve been there.
Look for part 2 of the trip report soon.
We went to Barbados earlier this month on a somewhat last minute vacation. We usually travel in the fall, but due to our schedules this year; we waited longer than usual to book the vacation. This year my aunt and her husband also came along on vacation with us. They are fun and we enjoy some of the same things.
After a long saga of trying to find a good hotel, we ended up staying at the Tamarind Cove Hotel. It is a small intimate property with about 100 rooms, three pools and a nice stretch of beach. The rooms were decorated in a Caribbean style and were clean and well maintained. We stayed in an ocean view room, # 317. We had a nice view of trees, a rooftop and the ocean. My aunt stayed in room 123 which was on the first floor and had a convenient location to the towel hut and was close to the smaller enclosed pool. The staff at the hotel was friendly, but the service on the beach wasn�t as consistent as in St Martin. The hotel has an all inclusive option, but our travel agent arranged for us to only have breakfast included. We enjoyed their breakfast buffet, especially the eggs with their hot sauce on it. I kept waiting for plantains on the buffet, but they didn�t have any while we were there. They had some entertainment in the evenings but it usually ended by 10:30 PM. We especially enjoyed the steel drum player, Andre Ford that they had at the bar area. He played a variety of music from popular tunes to Caribbean salsa type music. One day when we had a large lunch, they had the manager�s cocktail party which included appetizers. He started playing during the cocktail party and we just stayed the whole time to listen to him.
The highlight of the trip for me was sailing on a private catamaran for the four of us. We rented a catamaran with Captain Ron called Wasn�t Me. We had such a great time on the boat. They played Caribbean music and had lunch and beverages for us. We bought a CD of the Islands Merrymen with songs like Age is Just a Number and Island Living that he played on the boat. It�s a fun momento to listen to in the car at home and remember the vacation.
We also had a chance to go snorkeling from the boat. Let me preface this by saying that I love the water, but I never learned how to swim. My husband has always wanted to go snorkeling, but I�ve always been afraid to go since I can�t swim, so we never went together. This was a great opportunity for him because he was able to go snorkeling with the first mate, Calli and my with aunt�s husband. My husband said they went snorkeling off an artificial reef and saw lots of different fish and an eel. While they were off snorkeling, I was swimming next to the boat with my lifejacket on. Maybe next time I might try to go snorkeling too.
I had been to Barbados about 20 years ago with this same aunt and with her brother who at the time did some work on the island. It was a short vacation and we stayed at a villa that wasn�t on the beach. The biggest thing that I remember from that vacation was the beautiful colors in the Caribbean Sea. It was definitely different than anything I had seen at home. We saw those same beautiful stripes of color in the sea this time, but I think the water in Turks and Caicos was even better. I was told that they are both coral islands which is why they have similar water colors.
We had heard another hotel guest talking about a fun piano bar called Lexy�s which was in Holetown. One night the four of us went to there after dinner. The piano player had such a lively routine. We talked to him a little in between sets and learned that he had played at another piano bar we went to on another Caribbean trip! I highly recommend going to his show. As I said before the entertainment in the hotel ended at around 10:30 PM, so if you still want to have fun see his show and yell, Cocktail! You�ll know what I mean if you�ve been there.
Look for part 2 of the trip report soon.
Nov 18th, 2007, 04:54 PM
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Swimming with a life jacket on..that is how I have had to swim in deep water travelenthusiast as inspite of spending a lot of my life boating and owning a pool for ages I just can't swim properly although I can float on my back, lol. And eggs with hot sauce on them, one of my favorite ways to enjoy eggs!
Nov 18th, 2007, 05:00 PM
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LoveItaly - I'm glad I'm not the only one who can't swim. I actually bought a raft at the hotel to use in the deep end of the pool. I'm not afraid of the water. I just need to know that I won't drown- LOL! I started eating eggs and hot sauce when we went to Cancun on our honeymoon 10 years ago. Now I never have eggs without it!
Nov 19th, 2007, 05:38 AM
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I'm enjoying your trip report on Barbados, which I visited once in 2002, and I look forward to reading the rest of it. (May I politely suggest that instead of starting new posts for Part 2 and Part 3 that you just continue them on this thread? It makes it so much easier for future readers researching Barbados to read it all in one thread instead of going hunting for each individual part.)
I admire the bravery of all of you who are not swimmers yet who feel comfortable in the water with flotation devices!
I admire the bravery of all of you who are not swimmers yet who feel comfortable in the water with flotation devices!
Nov 21st, 2007, 05:42 PM
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Knowing-I need to get Thanksgiving finished first. Then I plan to work on the second part of the trip report this weekend. Thanks for your interest.
Lois - Thank you for your Tip Sheet. It really helped us out. The catamarin was $2000 Barbados dollars for 4 hours. That comes out to about $1000 US dollars. I thought we stayed out for 4 1/2 hours, but my husband stays it was more like five hours. We split the cost with the other couple, so it wasn't too bad. It was great having the whole boat to ourselves. I tend to be a quiet person and big crowds of people packed into a small area isn't my thing so it was really nice having the boat to ourselves.
They had kitchen area that had a cover over where we ate. They had seating areas so everyone could sit down and eat - with your plate on your lap, but it was fine. The bathroom was clean and relatively spacious. There was a large enough area on the front where we could sunbathe. I personally loved the music they played on the catamarin. When we were in the airport leaving Barbados, we even bought one of the CD's they played on the boat, The Island Merryman. I've been playing it in my car since we got home. I love it!
Lois - Thank you for your Tip Sheet. It really helped us out. The catamarin was $2000 Barbados dollars for 4 hours. That comes out to about $1000 US dollars. I thought we stayed out for 4 1/2 hours, but my husband stays it was more like five hours. We split the cost with the other couple, so it wasn't too bad. It was great having the whole boat to ourselves. I tend to be a quiet person and big crowds of people packed into a small area isn't my thing so it was really nice having the boat to ourselves.
They had kitchen area that had a cover over where we ate. They had seating areas so everyone could sit down and eat - with your plate on your lap, but it was fine. The bathroom was clean and relatively spacious. There was a large enough area on the front where we could sunbathe. I personally loved the music they played on the catamarin. When we were in the airport leaving Barbados, we even bought one of the CD's they played on the boat, The Island Merryman. I've been playing it in my car since we got home. I love it!
