Hello Everyone, wanted to share my experience. We loved it!! Stayed at the Royal Pavilion (Fairmont Hotel). Beatuiful Hotel, Service is good but slow. Food was Ok there. Go outside the Hotel as much as possible. We did the Cliff, the place is gorgous but the food was not worth the price. ($250.00 American Dollars) for the 2 of us. (Included 3 course meal and water, 1 glass of wine each)We thought that Olives in Holetown had much better food for half the price, but no view. Tides was our biggest surprise. Great Food, Great Price and couldn't beat the Ocean Front View. Water Crashing up onto the Rocks right in front of you. For a Great Lunch we stopped at Pizzaz (Across the street from the Tides). We took local buses during the day (Only $.75 American) and sometimes during early evening. Wouldn't advise it after 8:00PM. Take a Taxi. The Beach and Water were wounderful!! Hated to leave. You can skip Harrison's Cave. But Take a privite Taxi Cab Tour for $120.00 American Dollars for 2 (4 hour trip - places you normally wouldn't see and locals you probably wouldn't get to meet otherwise.) We had a great tour guide. The Locals are very helpful and friendly, just a bit slow. Why would any body be in hurry any way. You can also skip Bridgetown (Just like NY in some aspects) and Spriegtstown (Nothing There). Holetwon has great bars and resturants. If anyone has questions, email me I would be glad to answer them. Enjoy your trip!!

Theresa -<BR>We are palnning atrip to Barbados for a week in January. We are considering The Crane Beach Resorts or the Bougainvillea Beach Resort. What did you think of the beaches? Are the waters calm enough for swimming? Is the water clear, blue (I had heard otherwise!)Did you do any snorkeling? We have been snorkeling in Hawaii and enjoyed it. Any info you could give me would be great. What would you reccomend the most for sightseeing. What is this area called &quot;The Gap&quot; Too many questions?????? Thanks!!

I did not see the beaches for the resorts that you are considering. We stayed at the Royal Pavilion up by Hole Town (West Coast). The Beach at the Royal Pavilion was excellent. The water was crystal clear with several shades of blue and green. The water was warm and very calm (No waves - however the locals said that it gets a little bit of waves during the winter months.)We swam all day and into the early evening hours. The east coast waters are a total different ballgame. They are much rougher and are used in surfing competions. Stay on the west coast for the best beaches and water. Mostly all the snokeling trips are done on the west coast. Our Hotel did offer Snokeling for Free 3 times a week for an hour. You could also swim out to see the turtles which were just a block from our beach. I thought personally, that the snokeling was much better here (at the coral reef by the Tides Resturant) then when I was in Hawaii three years ago. Many, Many more fish!! Maybe it was the time of Year. Take a tour of the island, especially the east coast with the waves and small fishing towns. Make sure you hire a tour guide. It is alot harder and much more time consuming if you were to do it on your own. We never made it down to the gap. We sent a great deal of time on the beach and doing water sports. We stayed on the west coast for most of our dinners. Dinners can take up to 2 to 3 hours depending upon which resturant you choose. Most places do not open for dinner until 6:30PM and reservations are a must for all the good resturants.

Emma,<BR>We were just recently at the Bouganvillea for our honeymoon, so I have some insight for you. The Bouganvillea is located on the South Coast. The waters are a bit rougher than the west coast, but Definitely swimable (it is not as rough as the East coast). The beach at Bougainvillea was absolutely gorgeous, white sand, clear blue waters. There was very little snorkelling to do at the resort, so we did ours when we went on a catamarin tour. (the resort also has a daily trip to take you out to a reef to snorkel if you like-free).<BR>The Gap is close to Bougainvillea (about a 5 minute cab ride) and has lots of great restaurants and some nightlife. It's essentially a street that has a bunch of restaurants/bars one after the other.<BR><BR>I would recommend the Bougainvillea as it is a very nice resort. The grounds and the beach are beautiful. Keep in mind that it is not a huge resort.<BR>Hope this helps some...

The Crane is stunning... I've seen Bouganvillea also, but hands down, the Crane wins.<BR><BR>The Crane is located on a cliff on the south end of the island away from the hustle &amp; bustle. It is very upscale &amp; private. Has the most photographed pool in the world... it is stunning! The beach is a walk down a cliffside staircase and the sand is the most gorgeous shade of pink you ever did see! I brought some home for my sand collection The beach is definitly swimmable but not what I would consider super calm. We have seen a few surfers there out past the rock. The entire set up will take your breath away.<BR>Visitors are charged a $5.00 entrance fee, which they voucher for use at the bar or restaurant... this keeps the rif raf out.<BR>Quite romantic and you'll not be sorry.<BR>The location may turn some off, as it will be about a 10-15 minute ride to the Gap for dinners, but it's definitly worth it if you like privacy &amp; romance &amp; not alot of noise... it also has a much better location for exploring some of the wonderful spots along the south and east coast.<BR>Barbados is not a snorkling destination.<BR>The best snorkeling is on a day trip chartered catamaran (we used Cool Runnings) out of Bridgetown.<BR>Don't miss:<BR>Eating at Oistins (THE BEST FRESH FISH!)<BR>Visit Earthworks<BR>Go watch the Concord land on Saturday morning @ 9:30am (dbl ck the time)<BR>It's like a parade! But don't park between the signs... they'll make you move.<BR>Better yet watch it take off a few hours later!<BR>Watch the surfers in Bathsheba<BR>Have a drink outside at the Round House on the east coast <BR>Go see the lighthouse<BR>Rent a moke, tour and talk to the locals<BR>Enjoy!!!

Thank you all so much for your feedback. You answered so many of my questions!!!