Boatyard, Harbot lights or somewhere else?

Cruising to Barbados next month and looking for a beach day where we can relax. I'm hoping to snorkel with the turtles and the wrecks while my wife enjoys one more rum punch. :cool:

I've read lots of reviews of the Boatyard and am concerned about the "party" atmosphere. We're active 50 somethings and don't mind some music, but not loud, blaring non-stop music. Can we find some chairs and relaxation (plus good food/drinks) at the Boatyard? :confused:

Would Harbor Lights or another beach club be a better fit for us? :confused:

We are not interested in a catamaran/sailing tour. Any other good ideas I might have missed? :confused:

Bump. :o

easy to do at end of pier. unsure what beach we went to but a favorite of all! Locals on beach offered swim with turtle tours.

We have went to Lobsters Alive which is the beach club (more of a restaurant with chair rentals) next to the Boatyard.

We thought the Boatyard looked more suitable for families who wanted the water toys or party folks who enjoyed the music and drinking games.

Lobsters Alive itself doesn't look fancy but rents 2 chairs and a large umbrella for $15. You can buy drinks and food. They also have free wifi.

I think Harbour Lights, a little further down the beach probably offers the same.

The sand is soft and water is warm and clear! We are looking forward to going back early in March for a day!

Btw, we enjoy the nice walk to the beach from the port, no need for a taxi.

Ontario Traveler,

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions. :D

We have went to Lobsters Alive which is the beach club (more of a restaurant with chair rentals) next to the Boatyard.

We thought the Boatyard looked more suitable for families who wanted the water toys or party folks who enjoyed the music and drinking games.

Lobsters Alive itself doesn't look fancy but rents 2 chairs and a large umbrella for $15. You can buy drinks and food. They also have free wifi.

I think Harbour Lights, a little further down the beach probably offers the same.

The sand is soft and water is warm and clear! We are looking forward to going back early in March for a day!

Btw, we enjoy the nice walk to the beach from the port, no need for a taxi.

Thanks for this info. We are planning on doing Harbour Lights beach in a couple of weeks. Looking at the water from the boatyard, which way is Harbour Lights? To the left or the right? How far would the walk be from the port? Are there signs and sidewalks?

Thanks!!

it looks to be a 30 minute walk?

https://goo.gl/maps/HEz1a8EcNcE2

It is to the left. The restaurants/beach clubs with chairs are all on a same bay. You come across the boatyard first, then Lobsters Alive then Harbour Lights. The Hilton is at the end of the crescent shaped bay.

I don't think the walk took us more than 20 minutes and we are not particularly fit!! It is a nice walk, we stopped at little markets and an art centre (Pelican Place?) on the way back.

A beautiful place!

It is to the left. The restaurants/beach clubs with chairs are all on a same bay. You come across the boatyard first, then Lobsters Alive then Harbour Lights. The Hilton is at the end of the crescent shaped bay.

I don't think the walk took us more than 20 minutes and we are not particularly fit!! It is a nice walk, we stopped at little markets and an art centre (Pelican Place?) on the way back.

A beautiful place!

That definitely sounds doable. We like to walk a lot too so that's a great option!

So, leaving the port, which way do you go? Are there signs to Carlisle?

it looks to be a 30 minute walk?

https://goo.gl/maps/HEz1a8EcNcE2

I'm wondering whether you can walk on that highway? Not sure which route would be the best or if lots of people walk and we can just follow them. Hard to tell from Google maps what kinds of places you have to pass through to get to the bay...

It is easier than it looks. The map makes it look further than it is. If you go to the google map in the post above and zoom in you will see landmarks- a bus station, Pelican village craft market...you really do just follow the water around. It is called a highway but not as we would think of it and has a sidewalk on both sides. Once you cross the bridge you can see the beach. You may see others walking and any locals can point you in the right direction. Be warned the cabs will stop and try to get you to take a ride.

It is easier than it looks. The map makes it look further than it is. If you go to the google map in the post above and zoom in you will see landmarks- a bus station, Pelican village craft market...you really do just follow the water around. It is called a highway but not as we would think of it and has a sidewalk on both sides. Once you cross the bridge you can see the beach. You may see others walking and any locals can point you in the right direction. Be warned the cabs will stop and try to get you to take a ride.

Perfect, thx!!

We went to Harbour Lights and enjoyed the day.

Would take a taxi rather than walk.

We went to Harbour Lights and enjoyed the day.

 

Would take a taxi rather than walk.

Am interested in knowing why'd you rather taxi? Distance? Sketchy neighbourhood?

Thanks!

Cruising to Barbados next month and looking for a beach day where we can relax. I'm hoping to snorkel with the turtles and the wrecks while my wife enjoys one more rum punch. :cool:

 

I've read lots of reviews of the Boatyard and am concerned about the "party" atmosphere. We're active 50 somethings and don't mind some music, but not loud, blaring non-stop music. Can we find some chairs and relaxation (plus good food/drinks) at the Boatyard? :confused:

 

Would Harbor Lights or another beach club be a better fit for us? :confused:

 

We are not interested in a catamaran/sailing tour. Any other good ideas I might have missed? :confused:

We were in Barbados last month and did not have the best experience. We sat in a cab for nearly an hour with 10 other people because the driver wouldn't leave until he found 1 more person to put in this little fold down jump seat. One poor lady had to climb out because after an hour in the van without any A/C and fumes from all the cabs waiting she started to have an anxiety attack. All 11 people wanted to go to the boatyard, none of the people had ever been to Barbados before so we didn't know that it shouldn't have taken 45 minutes to get to the beach. We get to A beach and the cabbie got out, told everyone The Boatyard is full and refuses to take anyone there. Now nobody is sure what to do, we find out we are at Harbour Lights and the cabbie is friends with the owners and vendors, what a scam. So we all pay our $15 to get to the beach and realize we can walk to The Boatyard, which is far from full. Since we had already paid Harbor Lights we ended up staying there. Yes the sand and water are beautiful, but the non stop locals trying to sell jewelry, pot, and sea turtle excursions was ridiculous. We have been all over the Caribbean and the locals on the beach at Harbor Lights were by far the most relentless. Before we left we did walk over to look at The Boatyard it looked like a great beach. Very clean, lockers so that you don't have to stay with your stuff all the time, restaurant, etc. Best part is the people trying to sell jewelry, pot, sea turtle "excursions" either are not allowed on the beach there or stay away because they know what they are doing is shady.

Thanks for the feedback - although now I am more confused and concerned than before. :(

john, dont be confused or concerned. i just got back from a 14 day cruise with many ports, and Barbados was everyones favorite. just go to the bus area and get on the most crowded beach bus.

Thanks for the feedback - although now I am more confused and concerned than before. :(

I'm sorry for adding to your stress. I do know that all of our shipmates who went to The Boatyard had a blast. We also had a group we met on the cruise who went to the Tiki Bar Beach and had a blast, they said there were not too many people and no vendors. I have 2 teenagers and just felt that I should be very blunt about the locals coming by multiple times with pot because that would be a huge concern for anyone with kids. I don't know the laws in Barbados so maybe it's legal there. I'm sure whatever you do you will have a wonderful time. Like I said the sand and water are beautiful, we probably just got off on the wrong foot from the moment we got into the overcrowded cab/van.

Thanks! :)

Just two of us, unless we pair up with others from the cruise; can we just grab a taxi for 2 without waiting for a van/bus to fill? :confused: Cost? :confused: Thought I read that it was about $5-6 each for a cab, but I am not waiting an hour (or even 5 minutes) for the last seat to fill up. :(

I don't usually say bad things about the places I visit but after two visits in less than a year to Barbados I have to say that, out of all the islands we visited (and even compared to the taxi services here in Puerto Rico), Barbados has the most shady, disorganized and overall bad taxi service. Even the conditions in which some of these "taxis" are in (no AC, interiors all torn up, ect.) lets you know about what's going on. And there are a BUNCH of stories of drivers trying to convince tourist to change their plans ("don't go to Boatyard, go to _______"). I'd walk the 20-something minutes to Boatyard (or Carlisle Bay, where Boatyard, Lobster Alive, Harbour Lights, etc. are located) than take a taxi but I want to get there fast and not be tired when I get to the beach to snorkel. But that's just me.

Thanks! We ill be prepared to hoof-it if the taxi thing does not work out.

We have seen this on other islands as well where the taxis want to fill up every seat. In this case it is ridiculous when it is a 5 minute cab ride, if they have 10 riders at $5 each.......definitely find a cab that will take you right away!

Again, we find the walk very nice especially in the mornings before it is really hot. It is not a hike....and very safe. On the way back we stop at a craft market.....

Also, we find the beach venders very annoying, most selling tours but also boat rides, jewellery as well. We say no nicely and then don't make eye contact. They walk back and forth on the beach, even in the water and even in front of the boatyard!

That being said, the beach is beautiful, great for people watching.

...the beach is beautiful, great for people watching.

That's what we want! :cool:

We would walk to Harbour Lights if the taxis were waiting to fill up- those must be van taxis?

We had a good experience at Harbour Lights- the vendors did not come to the beach area.

We enjoyed the Boatyard - quick $5 cab ride and we arrived early and set up in chairs on the front row; water was beautiful. Enjoyed our two free drinks - I preferred the shark bite over whatever my wife chose, and the water toys. The bucket of beer special was a good deal spread out over the day. A few vendors came by but moved on after a simple "no thanks." Music was not loud and mostly reggae, Jimmy Buffet, or country (:confused:). When we were ready to leave we listened for the announcement, cleaned up and enjoyed the free short van-taxi ride back to the port (I tipped the driver).

I walked past Harbor Lights and it looked similar, just without the water toys, etc.

Ignored the warnings (I suspect it is a liability issue) and paid $20 to go out and snorkel over the ship wreck and then with the turtles - fabulous! And the free cup of rum punch was more rum than punch. :D