The Caribbean’s “Little England”
PLATINUM COAST
Barbados, Lesser Antilles
More than 300 years of British rule have left their mark on this beautiful isle of pink and white sand beaches. Although independent since 1966, Barbados has retained a veddy British atmosphere. Afternoon tea is a tradition, cricket is the national sport, and most of the tourists are Brits, many of whom flock to “the Platinum Coast,” named for the ritzy hotels and condos found along this western shoreline that faces the Caribbean Sea. It is home to the calmest waters and best beaches, and there is snorkeling with sociable well-fed sea turtles just offshore.
The jewel of the West Coast, Sandy Lane nabbed some of the finest waterfront early on. It has long been one of the resort world’s classiest (and priciest) acts, its house-proud Bajan staff treating every guest as they did Queen Elizabeth when she visited. Its 45 holes of golf include the Tom Fazio–designed Green Monkey course, considered one of the best in the region. The Spa is known for its highly skilled therapists and top-quality aromatherapy treatments. Dressing up for dinner has always been a tradition here, so the more casually inclined now drift to the open-air, oceanfront Bajan Blue.
Proof that Barbados has grown to be a culinary destination can be found at the Fish Pot, known for its stylish outdoor dining (it’s practically on top of the waves) and inventive dishes like chicken and foie gras pâté with guava-and-ginger marmalade. If you want to go more local, try the island specialty, a flying fish sandwich. The best place to snag one is the Friday night Fish Fry in Oistins, a fishing village on the southern coast, where vendors serve up grilled or fried fish, paired with cold Banks beer. It’s the best party on the island, with lots of loud music, dancing, and rum-drinking.
Barbados’s most popular attraction is Harrison’s Cave, site of a jaw-dropping collection of well-lit stalactites and stalagmites. From here, head to the more rugged, windy eastern coast, which faces the Atlantic, an area so quiet that locals call it “the country.” The beaches around Bathsheba are beautiful, though cooler and rougher than others—which makes for excellent surfing, especially at “Soup Bowl,” where you’ll find the island’s biggest waves and an annual surf competition in November. Within walking distance is Sea U Guest House, a charmer built in the style of a Colonial Caribbean home, with mahogany furniture, batik art, and hammocks strung between palm trees. It’s an easy uphill stroll to the Andromeda Botanic Garden, a lush, 6-acre tropical garden overlooking the sea. Its 600 species of plants include an extensive collection of heliconia, orchids, and palms and a massive, native bearded fig tree for which the Portuguese reputedly named the island “Los Barbados”—“the bearded ones.”
The subterranean drama of Harrison’s Cave remained unexplored until the 1970s.
VISITOR INFO: www.visitbarbados.org. SANDY LANE: Tel 866-444-4080 or 246-444-2000; www.sandylane.com. Cost: from $1,190 (off-peak), from $1,450 (peak). THE FISH POT: Tel 246-439-3000; www.littlegoodharbourbarbados.com. Cost: dinner $60. HARRISON’S CAVE: Tel 246-438-6640; www.harrisonscave.com. SEA U GUEST HOUSE: Tel 246-433-9450; www.seaubarbados.com. Cost: from $120. ANDROMEDA BOTANIC GARDEN: Tel 246-433-9384; andromeda.cavehill.uwi.edu. BEST TIMES: Nov–Apr for nicest weather; Jul–Aug for Crop Over Festival.
So Much More Than Shorts and Triangles
BERMUDA
Bermuda
Considerably cooler than the Caribbean islands that lie south of here, Bermuda is best known for its stunning pink sand beaches (the result of sand mixed with the crushed red skeletons of reef-dwelling protozoa), Bermuda shorts (standard business dress for men when worn with a blazer, tie, and knee socks), and “the Bermuda Triangle” (a debunked myth about the not-so-mysterious disappearances of ships and aircraft in a huge swath of ocean that includes Bermuda).
Bermuda is a 21-square-mile archipelago of 7 major islands and 143 smaller ones interconnected by bridges and causeways. When the British sailing ship Sea Venture wrecked here in 1609 en route to Jamestown, Virginia. (very likely inspiring Shakespeare’s play The Tempest), a few stalwarts stayed on to claim it, making it England’s oldest colony.
The beaches alone were reason enough to stay behind. Typically, South Shore beaches—postcard-perfect Horseshoe Bay is one of the most popular—are more scenic than those on the north side. No hotels sit directly on Bermuda’s beaches, but the venerable 50-acre Elbow Beach Hotel, built in 1908, is as close as you can come. Now a Mandarin Oriental, the 235-room property has the island’s finest spa, afternoon tea, and excellent dining that runs from the romantic Lido restaurant to Mickey’s, the best bistro-on-the-beach—sample the island’s signature Dark ’n’ Stormy (Black Seal rum and Barritt’s ginger beer) here.
For utter serenity from sunrise to sunset, set off by scooter (there are no car rentals in Bermuda) to the soft and truly pink Warwick Long Bay. With over 200 square miles of near-virgin reef and clear waters, Bermuda offers excellent diving and is one of the world’s great shipwreck diving capitals. Easily reached historic wrecks include everything from the Sea Venture to Civil War paddle wheelers and the 1930s luxury cruise liner Cristóbal Colón.
But it is perhaps golf that Bermuda is most famous for: There are more golf courses per square mile here than anywhere else in the world. Six public and two private golf clubs offer spectacular scenery, challenging courses (seven are championship standard), and wind—plenty of wind—plus a tradition of excellence not easy to find outside Scotland (see p. 45). Riddell’s Bay, established in 1922, is the island’s oldest and most picturesque club. Belmont Hills, challenging and undulating, opened a year later. The private Mid Ocean Club, long considered the island’s finest, has a rival in beauty and challenge in the Tucker’s Point Golf Course, dramatically refashioned out of a 1932 champion course at Castle Harbour. Next door is the 88-room Rosewood Tucker’s Point, the first luxury hotel to be built in Bermuda since 1970. The flawless Point restaurant and some of Bermuda’s most beautiful seafront are two of its many boons.
Bermuda’s popular “cottage colonies” are a local tradition best exemplified by the hillside 1920s-era Cambridge Beaches Resort & Spa, a refined country-club–like property on the island’s extreme western edge. It occupies a 30-acre peninsula edged with coves and four powder (but not pink) sand beaches. Daily afternoon tea is observed punctiliously, and the formal Tamarisk Restaurant is a long-time favorite.
Situated on a dramatic limestone cliff overlooking a perfect pink beach, the Reefs is small, all-inclusive, and boasts a fanatically loyal following. A reservation-with-a-view at Coconuts is among the most coveted on the island, while its Royston’s restaurant is a more formal choice.
Staying right in the small capital city of Hamilton is an unexpected delight when you’ve checked into the Rosedon Hotel, a 1906 home expanded into an impeccable 44-room inn that serves a large teatime spread and an equally wonderful breakfast. All it lacks is a pink beach—but Elbow Beach is just a 10-minute scooter ride away.
VISITOR INFO: www.bermudatourism.com. ELBOW BEACH HOTEL: Tel 800-223-7434 or 441-236-3535; www.mandarinoriental.com/bermuda. Cost: from $295 (off-peak), from $715 (peak). BERMUDA GOLF ASSOCIATION: Tel 441-295-9972; www.bermudagolf.org. ROSEWOOD TUCKER’S POINT: Tel 888-767-3966 or 441-298-4010; www.tuckerspoint.com. Cost: from $395 (off-peak), from $650 (peak); dinner at the Point $70. CAMBRIDGE BEACHES RESORT & SPA: Tel 800-468-7300 or 441-234-0331; www.cambridgebeaches.com. Cost: from $385 (off-peak), from $475 (peak). THE REEFS: Tel 800-742-2008 or 441-238-0222; www.thereefs.com. Cost: from $410 (off-peak), from $650 (peak), inclusive. ROSEDON HOTEL: Tel 441-295-1640; www.rosedon.com. Cost: from $250 (off-peak), from $290 (peak). BEST TIMES: May–Oct for nice weather; Jan–Feb for Bermuda Festival; Jun for sailboat racing; late Sep–early Oct for Bermuda Music Festival; late Oct for Bermuda Tattoo.
Underwater Forests of Coral Reefs and Round-the-Clock Diving
BONAIRE NATIONAL MARINE PARK
Bonaire, Lesser Antilles
An island almost completely surrounde
d by teeming coral reefs, Bonaire is one big dive site. Eighty-six marked diving spots are scattered off the 24-mile, boomerang-shaped shoreline, and bright yellow painted rocks on the side of the road indicate where you can pull over and walk in. No other island has so many first-rate sites so close to shore nor such a conservation-sensitive dive industry and forward-thinking government.
The latter’s unprecedented creation of the island-encircling Bonaire National Marine Park in 1979 has resulted in some of the world’s healthiest and most magnificent hard- and soft-coral reef gardens, harboring vast schools of tropical fish; over 370 species call these waters home. It’s a veritable underwater Eden rife with doctorfish, sergeant majors, trumpet fish, and four-eye butterfly fish. It’s paradise for snorkelers, but it’s really divers who witness the best of Bonaire’s treasures. Reef-damaging activities like anchoring, spearfishing, and touching coral are strictly prohibited in the park. Special dive moorings allow easy access all around Bonaire and Klein Bonaire, the small, uninhabited island off the western leeward coast. And since Bonaire is exceptionally arid with minimal freshwater runoff, underwater visibility (60–100 feet) is among the Caribbean’s clearest.
On the western coast, within easy reach of Klein Bonaire, Captain Don’s Habitat is the nerve center for visiting scuba divers. Californian Captain Don is a salty island legend and was instrumental in the dive industry’s early days of conservation and sustainable tourism. The oceanfront rooms and villas have a laid-back, relaxing atmosphere, and this full-service PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) diving center offers 50 world-class dives within a 15-minute boat ride. Bonaire is still largely untouched by big development, but divers looking for more luxurious digs will find them at nearby Harbour Village Beach Club, with Mediterranean-style villas, a private palm-fringed white sand beach, and divemasters at your service.
Bonaire also has much to offer above the surface, including some of the best windsurfing and kayaking in the Caribbean on the shallow, calm waters of Lac Bay (the warm trade winds confirm Bonaire’s name, meaning “good air”). And between December and March, on the island’s northwestern tip, enjoy the sight of the brilliantly colored pink flamingos on the salt flats in Washington-Slagbaai National Park.
Blue tangs are part of Bonaire’s technicolor underwater world.
VISITOR INFO: www.tourismbonaire.com. BONAIRE MARINE PARK: Tel 599-717-8444; www.bmp.org. CAPTAIN DON’S: Tel 800-327-6709 or 599-717-8290; www.habitatbonaire.com. Cost: from $150 (off-peak), from $190 (peak). HARBOUR VILLAGE: Tel 800-424-0004 or 599-717-7500; www.harbourvillage.com. Cost: from $275 (off-peak), from $385 (peak). WASHINGTON-SLAGBAAI PARK: Tel 599-788-9015; www.washingtonparkbonaire.org. BEST TIMES: Jan–Oct for diving; Jun for Bonaire Dive Festival.
The Caribbean’s Party Central
JOST VAN DYKE
British Virgin Islands, Lesser Antilles
This rugged, hilly island may be small (about 4 square miles), but it is big in personality. Purportedly named for a Dutch pirate who made it his hideaway, Jost Van Dyke is where the sailing crowd (see Sailing the BVI, next page) pulls into port when they’re ready for serious fun. While there are many beach bars here, the most famous is Foxy’s Tamarind Bar, located near the dock in Great Harbour and founded in 1968 by Foxy Callwood, owner, troubadour, wit, and Member of the Order of the British Empire (awarded in person by Queen Elizabeth II for his contributions to local culture and tourism). One sign that you have arrived as a Caribbean traveler is having Foxy improvise a song about you when you walk up to the bar. Foxy’s absolutely explodes on New Year’s Eve, when the entire harbor is filled with boats gathered for one gigantic party under the stars.
You’ll want to while away the day at White Bay, a perfect, white sand beach with great snorkeling and its own collection of beach bars, including Seddy’s One Love (owned by Foxy’s son) and Ivan’s Stress Free Bar. But it is the Soggy Dollar Bar everyone knows about. You can get there by cab or by foot from the ferry, but the most dramatic entrance is by boat. There’s no dock, so yachties simply drop anchor, swim to shore, and use wet money to pay for their drinks—hence the Soggy Dollar. The bar is part of Sandcastle Hotel, made up of four cottages and two rooms, all on or near the water. Wear to dinner what you wore to breakfast, and spend the day moving from one hammock to another with a Painkiller in hand. The drink is now famous throughout the islands—this spruced-up piña colada made with dark rum and fresh nutmeg can vary from mild to lethal.
Settle in for a stay at White Bay Villas and Seaside Cottages, ten hillside retreats perched above the beach and offering spectacular views of St. Thomas, St. John, and Tortola.
For outstanding snorkeling and remote beaches, sail over to Sandy Cay, Green Cay, and Sandy Spit, islets off the eastern end of the island. If you don’t have your own boat, just hitch a ride with your new best friends from the bar.
VISITOR INFO: www.bvitourism.com. HOW: Ferry service from West End, Tortola, and Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas. FOXY’S TAMARIND BAR: Tel 284-495-9258; www.foxysbar.com. SANDCASTLE HOTEL AND SOGGY DOLLAR BAR: Tel 284-495-9888; www.soggydollar.com. Cost: from $190 (off-peak), from $290 (peak). WHITE BAY VILLAS & SEASIDE COTTAGES: Tel 800-778-8066 or 410-571-6692; www.jostvandyke.com. Cost: from $250 (off-peak), from $315 (peak), 5-night minimum. BEST TIMES: Nov–Apr for finest weather. At Foxy’s: Sat night for barbecue, Memorial Day for Foxy’s Wooden Boat Regatta, and New Year’s Eve.
Gigantic Boulders a Stone’s Throw from Luxury
THE BATHS AND LITTLE DIX BAY
Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands, Lesser Antilles
One of the most fabled beaches of the Caribbean, the Baths of Virgin Gorda look like something out of a fairy tale—huge, time-sculpted granite boulders that dwarf mere humans. Pushed up from the seafloor some 20 million years ago and haphazardly scattered about, they create a tantalizing maze that brings out the child in everyone. You can wade between them, pose alongside them, even swim in shallow pools and grottoes, as well as in one water-filled boulder that is the inspiration for the name “The Baths.” The site is on every visitor’s list, so avoid the boatloads of in-and-out tourists by strolling the less trafficked coastline on either side, where the massive boulders continue.
Virgin Gorda, whose undulating 10-by-2-mile form looked like a reclining “fat virgin” to Columbus, is known for its yacht clubs, quiet coves, and plentiful, safe anchorages. The island’s blue-blood connections date to 1964, when Laurance Rockefeller—who also fell for nearby St. John in the USVI (see p. 1113)—opened a 500-acre resort on a perfect half-mile crescent of white beach. Now called Rosewood Little Dix Bay, the resort remains a luxurious classic, both romantic and good for (well-behaved) families. Nestled amid the lush grounds, native stone and hardwood cottages have an Asia-meets-the-tropics style. Dress up for dinner at the Sugar Mill, which combines Asian and European cuisines in dishes such as Mediterranean sea bass with soba noodles and Himalayan truffles. Its spa is one of the Caribbean’s most intoxicating, with views of the bay and body scrubs using brown sugar, fresh mango, and papaya. One may feel insulated, but not isolated: It’s just a half mile to Spanish Town.
The more couples-oriented Biras Creek Resort is a romantic hideaway of old-school Caribbean charm set on a narrow 140-acre peninsula. With just 31 light-filled suites with verandas, privacy and off-the-grid seclusion are guaranteed: It is accessible only by boat (the resort has a private launch). Dining at the Hilltop Restaurant is a draw, with a signature four-course menu that includes such dishes as grilled mahi-mahi with basil risotto followed by cream-filled blueberry shortcake.
Volcanic activity resulted in the Baths’ artful maze of house-size boulders.
VISITOR INFO: www.bvitourism.com. ROSEWOOD LITTLE DIX BAY: Tel 888-767-3966 or 284-495-5555; www.littledixbay.com. Cost: from $450 (off-peak), from $650 (peak); dinner at the Sugar Mill $80. BIRAS CREEK RESORT: Tel 877-883-0756 or 248-364-2421; www.biras.com. Cost: from $495 (off-peak), from $690 (peak); prix-fixe dinner $85. When: closed late Aug–m
id-Oct. BEST TIMES: Dec–Apr for good weather; Mar or Apr for Easter Festival.
Cruising Capital of the World
SAILING THE BVI
British Virgin Islands, Lesser Antilles
The craggy peaks of a submerged chain of volcanoes form the British Virgin Islands, scattered across miles of incomparably blue sea. The islands have been considered prime cruising grounds since the 1600s, when pirates found the perfect hiding place among their endless coves. Today, seven out of ten visitors come here for sailing, and those three unsuspecting landlubbers don’t know what they’re missing. Some sixty islands, islets, and cays offer sailors the chance to drop anchor in inviting, deserted coves, walk empty beaches, and swim in turquoise water. Divers can check out the wreck of the 310-foot RMS Rhone, a royal mail steamer that sank in a hurricane near Salt Island in 1867. It broke into two pieces, providing unusually fine access and making it one of the great wreck-diving sites of the Caribbean.
If you don’t have your own boat, you can rent one at the Moorings. This world-famous yacht operation has its Caribbean headquarters in Tortola, the largest of the BVIs and charter boat central. The 72-slip charter dock and 70-slip visitors dock are a destination in themselves. Stroll the boards and meet interesting boat lovers and owners from around the world. Many stay at the Mariner Inn Hotel, which accommodates Moorings customers before and after they hit the high seas.
West of the Moorings, Bomba’s Shack is the island’s oldest, most memorable, and most uninhibited watering hole, and it is one of the Caribbean’s most famous. The colorful makeshift décor, including a collection of bras and panties that hang from the ceiling, helps camouflage a powerful sound system that gets things jumpin’ even before Bomba’s Punch (made with homemade rum) kicks in.
1,000 Places to See Before You Die Page 168