Barbados is great. The Caribbean sea side of the island (as opposed to the Atlantic side) is calm clear water and warm. There are lots of public beaches which are beautiful.
I found it very safe. We were warned about going alone into certain areas in our hotel but when I got lost in the dark and wandered into a housing estate the locals were lovely and pointed me in the right direction. May be I was lucky but they seemed mostly nice.
The public buses are very good but most people get about on private mini buses which blast out music and are mad but great fun and characterful!
You can hire open sided jeep type cars cheaply and will get around the island in a day. But there's lots to do. There's a lovely botanical garden up in the hills and a small bit of jungle left where you can see the monkeys. Also boat trips where you can swim with turtles etc.
The food is okay, fresh fish is gorgeous but the native Bajan dishes are a bit meh (macaroni cheese, rice and peas etc) Very little fresh milk available so everything has evaporated milk. Rum is very cheap.
I did get get quite bitten by bugs but altho itchy wasn't serious.
The flight is long but I's say take lots to do for the lo and just grin and bear it, it'll be worth it. HTH.