On the same trip we were in Antigua, we also hopped up to Barbados for another week in the sunshine. This is the place that Dian Bay showed up, nice as it was! We stayed at Almond Beach on this occasion – there were 2 resorts on the island, we went for the smaller one near to Sandy Lane. Lovely room right on the beach. I think Dian Bay spoilt us as it wasn’t busy and the people staying there were chilled out. Here, everyone was a lot older (we turned heads at dinner!) and it was the kind of place people got up early to put towels on sun-loungers!
That said, it was all inclusive so of course we made the most of it, especially given the discount we got on booking! The photo below makes me chuckle – it should be entitled ‘too much rum punch at lunch’. Mr P did enjoy the rum punch and then fell asleep on the floating lounger, little bit later on a volleyball game took place over the top of him as he wasn’t to be disturbed!!
Barbados – March 2007
Whilst the hotel didn’t quite live up to expectations, we did enjoy exploring. We had a car on one day and went up to the Roundhouse on the east coast for lunch. This part of the island is stunning – like Cornwall on a tropical day and great for surfing. We also had a great walk down the beach to the south of our hotel. There don’t appear to be private beaches here so we had a great time people watching, passing by Sandy Lane and a couple of the other fancy places. Lunch at The House was very enjoyable and I think if I returned I would look to stay somewhere like this – small and boutique. My take on Barbados is that it is probably best that next time I land there, I get straight back on a plane and head for Bequia! Of course, as sailors – we had to do the Mount Gay Rum Distillery tour!
Funny story to end the memory? Well of course! So there we were standing in the customs queue at Gatwick after landing and we are all told to put our bags on the ground so that the dogs could sniff out for naughty caribbean things…. We had a lot of rum, fortunately the dog wasn’t interested. I think it must have been before they started restricting fluids in hand luggage – fortunate really as we still collect all of our coppers in the flagon and go out for dinner once a year on it!
I could do with a touch of Carribbean sun right now…!
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Sardinia isn’t so bad either 😉 blog to follow soon!
Shame about the hotel but it does sound as if you made the best of it. Hoping to make my first visit to the Caribbean later this year – very exciting!