Tobago Feb 2018

We first flew into Tobago and stayed at the Tropikist Beach Hotel for our short 2-night visit.  The problem we faced regarding hotels was the nicer resorts all had minimum stay requirements (usually of 7 days) and most were on an all-inclusive basis.  We like to be able to explore and not have to eat every meal at the resort.  Plus we wanted to stay as close to Crown Point as possible so that we had easy access to the Nylon Pool and the Buccoo Reef at the Pigeon Point Heritage Park.  Most of the other tourists we saw were from the UK on these Thomas Cook type holiday packages.  The Tropikist Beach Hotel  where we stayed was horrendous like a rundown Motel 6.  No internet, no telephone, and no electric plugs (other than the one that the TV is plugged into) in the room.  Sheets were this very thin polyester fabric and towels were old and grey.  We wanted to leave as soon as we arrived.  I had to stand in the lobby to access the wifi in order to search for another place to stay.  Unfortunately, most hotels were full or had 7 days minimum stays and weren’t that nice anyways.  I also tried to find a flight to leave the next morning but all flights were full because the ferry wasn’t running due to rough seas.  We were officially stuck!  Too top it all off, the weather was overcast and rainy the whole time.  We tried to make the best of it but it was definitely a miserable few days and I cheered and clapped like an idiot when my flight from Tobago took off!

Buccoo Reef is said to be the third most spectacular reef in the world.  This protected marine park is about 7 km² consisting of brain coral, star coral, elkhorn coral, seagrass communities etc.  Unfortunately, with recent years of climate change, most of the coral are bleached.  The current is quite strong and you are advised not to swim here.  We visited Buccoo Reef by glass-bottom boats departing from Pigeon Point or Store Bay normally with a stop afterwards at Nylon Pool where you can go into the water for a dip.  Nylon Pool is an idyllic natural swimming pool just behind the Buccoo Reef with a sandy bottom in the middle of the Caribbean Sea created by an offshore sandbar and a still lagoon.  The locals believe taking a dip in this coral pool has rejuvenating effects.  I waded around in the water and is an interesting feeling to be standing up in knee-deep water in the middle of the ocean.  We were told that in the evenings around the new moon, you can go for a Bioluminescense Tour at Buccoo Reef either by stand-up paddle board or kayak.  The bioluminescence is caused by dinoflagellates which is a marine plankton that emits a blueish light when agitated to keep predators away.  It has often been compared to the Northern Lights being transferred down onto the surface of the water.  It is a pity we were there around full moon time and on top of that the weather was very rainy.  The beach inside the Pigeon Point Reserve is ok.  There are only two bars serving some simple food and drinks, no beach clubs and not much else.  There are supposed to be some beautiful beaches towards the north of the island about an hour or so away.  Because of the rainy weather, we didn’t venture north.

What a relief to leave Tobago.  Next stop is Trinidad.