Anyone been to Barbados?...

[Stockjock]

I originated this thread. Now that I'm back, I posted what I thought was good information learned from my trip, but apparently it was deleted. I did mention a tour company that took me around the island all day for $30, but I certainly have zero affiliation with them.

 

I've had problems here before with what I perceive to be overly-aggressive deletions. I don't get it.

[ming]

You are not allowed to offer unsolicited advice.

 

Someone must request it from you.

 

Sounds harsh, but it really isn't as there have been many attempts at self-promotion by certain tour operators and their friends stateside.

 

So, please let us know what tour operators that you used and how you liked them. ;)

[Stockjock]

Well, since you asked...

 

The general theme of my post was that I enjoyed Barbados but I decided not to do the Banks Brewery & Mt. Gay tour, as I was originally considering. Instead, Scenic Barbados Tours drove us around the island all day for $30 per person.

 

I had him take me to the Mt. Gay distillery towards the end of the day and it was somewhat boring. Might be worth a quick stop to check out the gift shop or the bar immediately behind the gift shop, but the tour itself ($7 per person) was longer than I would have liked and somewhat boring, as much of it was a multimedia presentation. They also did rum tastings during the tour, but even though Mt. Gay is a good rum, the rum used in the tastings is too strong and harsh to drink straight and that's what they offered. The gift shop's clothing was somewhat pricey but the rum prices were good.

 

We ended the day at Carsile Bay, which was very nice. In retrospect, I think I made the right call by doing the more comprehensive tour rather than just hitting up couple of breweries/distilleries. We also stopped at a traditional Bajan restaurant where I bought the driver lunch. We had flying fish (good), some chicken & rice dish (good), mac & cheese (not so good) and some sweet potato thing that was good.

 

Again, since you asked, I do recommend Scenic Barbados Tours. Even though you only supposedly get something like 4 hours in the cruise ship special, the reality is that we were driven around the entire day.

 

To repeat, I have no affiliation whatsoever with this company. I am the original author of this thread and was initially looking for ideas. Now I'm back from the trip. I simply picked them and they were good and cheap plus the e-mail communication was excellent as well.

 

Here's a pic of Carisle Bay Beach

 

and another pic around Bathsheba:

 

Bathsheba from a distance:

 

Inside of the Mt. Gay Distillery:

 

Green monkeys all over the place. This momma & baby were cute:

[ming]

Thank you!

 

Your post with the beautiful pictures will assist many travelers.

 

Thank you for taking the time and trouble to share your visit with us.

 

It is appreciated! :)

[Stockjock]

No problem. I have quite a few more that I haven't posted. One of these days, I'll have to break down & write the review w/links to the photos.

[peptobysmol]

I just returned last week from 6 days in Barbados. I love Rockley beach but was really too far of a walk from the St Lawrence Gap. We mostly went to Dover beach and it was Fantastic. We did a private tour of the island and was rather disappointed in Crane beach. I remember loving it 10 years ago, but was rather sad that it didn't live up to my memories of it. We did the Cool Runnings shipwreck snorkel and swim with the turtles. That was probably one of the best excursions we have ever been taken. The owner/manager is the captain and the whole crew was very cordial and the food/drinks were the best we had on the island. There were 4 turtles at the time of our snorkeling and we all had the opportunity to touch them - multiple times. We've been to many of the Cruise Ship islands but have fallen in love with Barbados. We are definitely going back and next time taking the kids!