Any tips for Barbados

[Jessie40]

Hi any advice on a holiday to Barbados.
We're are family of 5 (3 grown up children). We have never been to Barbados but are thinking of going next year. My boys love golf and we would like things to do as well as sun bathe.

Take lots of mozzie repellent!

Nope! Just back from 8 nights in Barbados and didn't need it. Didn't get bitten once (by anything)

Wow - that's amazing. I was there for 3 weeks many years ago and we had to cover ourselves with repellent before going out at dusk. One of our group slept on his balcony and was eaten alive! But we went in March so maybe they're seasonal?

Everywhere Jazzy mentioned. Plus the Atlantis submarine experience. And Archers Bay.

Beach View apartments in Payne’s Bay - lovely and affordable.

Afternoon tea at Sandy Lane was just wonderful. A little piece of heaven.

Am in Barbados right now, first time, and I have to say - we are underwhelmed. Its a nice, but raggedy little island, held together with sticky tape. There's fantastic wealth and there's abject poverty, often cheek by jowl, which never sits well with me.

I have to agree with a PP about AI holidays - there are so many swanky compounds which offer full board and entertainment, and which are foreign owned. Yes, they hire locals as cleaners and waiters, but all the profits go to big off shore companies, and many people never leave the compound unless it's on a tour organised by the hotel.

We're finding there's not all that much to do either - we hired a car for the middle week of our 2 week hol and saw everything we wanted to do.

The beaches are beautiful, and the inland scenery is fab, also the Bathsheba area has a spectacular coast, but we've seen distilleries galore elsewhere, and historic houses, so not particularly interested in that kind of thing.

The food is meh too, unless you want to spend a small fortune on eating out. If you do, the options are mainly Chinese or pizza, and that's not what I came to Barbados for.

Oistins Fish Fry is great
Bridgetown is a dump
Bathsheba is beautiful
The caves are less than spectacular
The boardwalk in Hastings is a nice walk

That's about it really.

We like it here, but have no desire to come again.

MrsJoshNavidi you have summed it up perfectly for me. While we enjoyed it we wouldn't go back. Things I do recommend are The Cliff restaurant, we loved it and a catamaran trip, that was good fun. We did use the 'reggae' bus a couple of times which was quite an experience. We stayed in The Club hotel next door to Sandy Lane and it was shit, thankfully it was a last minute deal.

A bit harsh, I think.

Barbados is a great island. The people are fantastic and even if you go AI (which does make it very affordable for most people) that doesn't necessarily mean the locals don't profit.

But - meh - if you don't like it, you don't have to come back again.

Lots of us do.

When you are there you can feed bananas to the wild green monkeys and go on the reggae reggae bus.

A bit harsh, I think.

Maybe but compared to all the countries we have travelled to it would be bottom of the list to return to. It just wasn't for us but is for a lot of others.

There wasn't a good vibe about the place when we were there. Escalating crime due to the cash for gold thing and the police commissioner put out a statement about being extra vigilant and not to wear any jewellery when out and about, a fellow traveller had her wedding rings yanked from her finger and a British couple were shot and robbed in Bridgetown the week we arrived. Maybe it just wasn't a good year (2013).

First place we have ever been where you were charged extra to have the air con on in a taxi!

We do like it here, and agree that Bajans are lovely people.

But we can see the island struggling. We've been chatting with lots of local people who tell us the enclosed compounds are killing local business.

I agree about the reggae reggae buses - they are a fab, cheap way to get round the island and we've used them lots. $B3.20 to go anywhere on the island

It's mostly the poverty/ wealth juxtaposition that we aren't comfortable with. It's the same in lots of 3rd world countries, but when you can see abandoned businesses that we're told used to be profitable, it's saddening.

I'd really urge anyone planning a hol in Barbados to consider a small, and/or privately owned hotel to help the Bajan economy a bit.

even if you go AI (which does make it very affordable for most people) that doesn't necessarily mean the locals don't profit.

Yes, it does. The profits all go offshore to the conglomerates that own them.