Eight Things I Loved About Barbados (And Four Things I Didn’t Like).

There is a lot to love about Barbados.  While the island is 21 miles long and, as some like to say, a smile 14 miles wide, that space feels so much bigger when you experience the fun, friendliness, and beauty throughout.  Visiting Barbados was my second foray into the Caribbean and the trip furthered my obsession with wanting to visit each and every gorgeous island in the region.

What I loved the most about Barbados was the extremely friendly people!  I could go on and on about all the Bajans who were kind to us during our trip.  I also loved the wildlife (especially the monkeys), the stunning nature, the windmills, the rum punch (!!), and so, so much more.  Yet, like all destinations, there were a few things I wasn’t crazy about, such as the outrageous amount of money we spent on groceries.

In this post you’ll find lots of inspiration for a trip to Barbados and read about a few negatives, which certainly aren’t deal breakers, but are useful to know about ahead of time.

Things I loved about Barbados.

Friendly locals!

The genuine friendliness of locals was apparent from the moment we arrived.  We stepped off the plane via a ramp and were greeted with smiling Bajans holding out trays of flavored lemonades!  I could hardly believe it.  The airport staff were happy and eager to assist with everything.  We were practically surrounded by people wanting to help with our luggage (although I’m sure they were partially motivated by tips) and offering us taxis.  It was a stark contrast to our arrival in Curaçao, where we had several issues and could hardly get any of the airport staff to help us.  Receiving such kind greetings at the airport put us in a great mood and was an excellent start to our trip.

As we began driving – a bit nervously as we were on the left side of the road – we noticed that other drivers would not hesitate to help out.  Most Bajans will flash their lights at you to pass or go ahead of them without a second thought.  Once we were passing a large truck and another car suddenly turned into the oncoming lane and the car immediately stopped so we could finish passing.  We had similar experiences while walking; while we generally tried to stick to the crosswalks, we occasionally found ourselves crossing without one and cars would stop and urge us to go ahead with a smile.

According to Go Barbados, visitors find the friendliness to be the island’s greatest and most pleasing asset.  It likely plays a role in the 39% repeat visitor factor, which is the highest in the region.  We met several people who proudly told us they visit Barbados for a month every year.

So many people, from our host, to our various tour guides, to locals who wanted to say hello to Toddler Meena, felt like friends moments after we met.  Of course, we did encounter a few curmudgeons and the occasional overfriendly hawker.  My personal favorite experience with a friendly local was a man who sneezed while he was driving by with the window open and yelled out to excuse himself, smiled, and waved at us.

Rum punch.

I was so excited to try Bajan rum punch.  I wanted to try it in every place we visited, as everyone tends to serve it a little differently.  I’ve seen a few heated discussion about who does it best.  My favorite rum punch was at the Animal Flower Cave (for $5 USD), closely followed by the (much more expensive) punch at the The Fish Pot, which is a highly recommended restaurant near Speightstown.

I thought it was rather fun that you could buy rum punch pretty much anywhere – even at the Wildlife Reserve and the Welchman Gully – and at any time of day.  Since we were on vacation, a 10am rum punch definitely hit the spot.

The rum punch on the island is often spiced with nutmeg – I never knew putting nutmeg in a drink could be so delicious.

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A classic Barbados rum punch recipe includes rum, something sour, something sweet, and a filler such as water or juice – plus nutmeg sprinkled on top.

We purchased two varieties of Mount Gay Rum at the grocery store for about $10 USD to make our own rum punch.  Mount Gay Rum is made in Barbados, in fact it’s the world’s oldest commercial rum distillery, and it is known and favored worldwide.  How neat that we could buy it so simply and cheaply at the grocery store!  The rum has distinctive flavor, which we especially enjoyed during evening sunsets on the deck after Toddler Meena was in bed.  (Check out our budget-friendly Barbados oceanfront cottage rental – this is an affiliate link.)

Beaches.

What kind of list about Barbados would this be if it didn’t include beaches?  The beaches of Barbados have nearly everything you could want.  On the west coast you’ll find calmer swimming waters while the east coast has massive waves.  I would never dream of swimming in those rough waters, but people come from all over the world to surf in them – we saw a few doing so during our visit.

There were so many beach options; we were a bit overwhelmed trying to research them all.  We visited many beaches as we explored the island and we were able to swim at Mullin’s Beach (our home rental was within swimming distance of it), Carlisle Bay (the Pebble Beach area), an unnamed beach that was near Payne’s Bay (which was our original destination but we couldn’t find parking), Heywoods beach, and Folkestone Marine Park – which was recommended to us by locals during our trip as a great snorkeling spot.

The beach near Payne’s Bay.

I will go into more detail on those beaches when I share our Barbados itinerary, but out of all of them I recommend Carlisle Bay, Heywoods beach, and Folkestone for snorkeling.

At Carlisle Bay I saw sea turtles and a manta ray.

At Heywoods beach I saw crabs and interesting fish.  It was a nice place to visit at sunset.

There was a good deal of coral at Folkestone to see while snorkeling, plus a neat yellow building and our own little cove to hang out in.

We got this cool pop up tent from Amazon to shield Toddler Meena and me from the sun – it hardly took up any space in the luggage and was great for the beach.

Windmills.

There are windmills all over Barbados.  There is the large Morgan Lewis Windmill that you can tour for $2.50 USD, but there are smaller windmills sprinkled throughout the island.  Most of these are in a state of ruin, but a few have been restored and even turned into homes.  I tried to research windmill locations before our trip but didn’t have much luck.  I expected we would see several as there was once 506 windmills built on the island.

The Morgan Lewis Windmill.

Unfortunately I only saw about a dozen windmills during our trip; most were from a distance or a blur as we drove past on a road where we were unable to safely stop.  My favorite windmill was one we found when we were a bit lost near Corbens Bay.  No one else was around and I was able to appreciate it up close.

If I ever return to Barbados I will definitely take more initiative or perhaps engage some locals in helping me see more windmills.

Monkeys and other wildlife.

I actually did not know about the green monkeys of Barbados until after we booked our trip.  They came over from West Africa in the 17^th century and many have sought refuge at the Barbados Wildlife Reserve as it’s a protected habitat.  While you can go to the reserve to see the free roaming, green-tinged monkeys, you can also see them spontaneously in other places with a bit of luck.

I enjoyed our unplanned monkey sightings; we saw one run across the road in the suburbs near Bridgetown and we also saw a handful enjoying local fruit on a porch near Bathsheba.  We were fortunate that we saw a ton of monkeys during our visit to the Wildlife Reserve (it’s not guaranteed that you’ll see them) despite having missed the feeding time.

We even saw baby monkeys!  They were so cute.

However, if you see someone holding a baby monkey on the street or at a tourist attraction please avoid them.  We were told that these people steal the baby, kill the mother, use the baby for tourist photos, and then abandon the monkey once they mature and start the cycle over again.  One man did approach us with a monkey in Bathsheba Park and he was rather aggressive.

There’s a lot of other wildlife to enjoy on the island, including deer, turtles, horses, and birds – so many birds!  My inner bird fanatic was thrilled.  I saw everything from your average chicken to the most beautiful black hummingbirds.

Oh, and let’s not forget this giant African snail.

Abundant flora.

Shortly after we left the airport I started seeing the most beautiful flowering trees.  Their bright, reddish orange flowers were practically everywhere on the island.

I saw these breathtaking trees up close in parking lots and on nearly every street.  They are called the Flamboyant Tree or Flaming Tree (also known as the Royal Poinciana) and they are a fantastic reason to plan your visit during their flowering season – May to September.

I also got to see a baobab tree in Barbados.  I’ve been dreaming of seeing a baobab tree for nearly a decade – ever since my horticulture classes in university – but I didn’t realize they existed in the Americas (they are primarily located in Africa, Madagascar, Arabia, and Australia).  But there is a huge one in Queens Park with a girth of 81 feet.  It was amazing to see!

Here I am next to it for perspective.

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It’s thought that the seed for this tree came from West Africa and took hold in a lagoon, although the space has now become a park.  There are actually five of them on the island, but this one is the oldest and largest; it’s estimated to be over 1000 years old.  We saw a much younger one in Welchman Gully, but I wouldn’t have known it was a baobab tree without the guide telling me so.

Barbados is full of beautiful flowers, trees, and plants.  We weren’t able to fit in any of the numerous gardens on the island, such as Orchid World, Hunte’s Gardens, Andromeda Botanic Gardens, and the Flower Forest into our itinerary, yet we still enjoyed so much flora on the island.

The variety of landscapes.

From relaxing on white sand beaches, seeing rugged hillsides, walking in a tropical gully, to standing on the edge of cliffs looking at fierce waves, there is so much diversity to experience in Barbados.  There were sweeping palm trees in Bottom Bay, expansive ocean views at Ragged Point, and huge rocks in Bathsheba.

There’s also the cityscape in Bridgetown, suburban areas, and small towns dotted with renovated slave huts.

Public spaces.

All of the beaches in Barbados are public – no one can be denied access to a beach.  It’s wonderful.  Wander down a bit from a popular spot and you’re likely to find a more secluded beach area to enjoy.

Along the South Coast Boardwalk we saw natural fountains built into the beach.  They were stone outcroppings that let the ocean water splash in and then stream out, and sometimes the waves would crash against them and shoot up into the air.

These help protect the beach by breaking up some of the harsh waves, but the people who made it obviously went beyond necessity to turn it into a beautiful fountain.  We thoroughly enjoyed it.

There are also a ton of public spaces for people to enjoy.  There are beautifully landscaped, free parks throughout the island as well as smaller playgrounds in more remote areas.  It’s excellent for small children who might need to run around and get their energy out during a trip.  Toddler Meena was a bit too young for this as he was just starting to get the hang of walking on our trip, but I’d definitely recommend Barbados as a good place for young children to play.

Chefette, a local fast food chain, has stores throughout the island with playgrounds.  I saw one with a three story tall playground with a huge slide and I wanted to go play on it myself.  We were pretty excited about trying Bajan food at Chefette (since Toddler Meena was not quite ready to join us at most of the nicer restaurants on the island) but unfortunately we really did not like their food.  But they have a ton of good reviews so definitely try it for yourself if you get a chance.

A few things about Barbados that I didn’t like so much.

Expensive groceries.

We were a bit overwhelmed during our first trip to a grocery store in Barbados, and it wasn’t just because we had endured a five hour flight with a toddler in lap and then figured out how to drive on the left side of the road before going out in search of food.

We spend $175 USD on two days of food and a weeks worth of staples that we needed for staying in a rental house.  The produce, bread, and meat weren’t overly expensive – it was similar to what we spent in Curaçao and what you’d generally expect to pay on an island.

The staples were the really expensive items; a 15 pack of trash bags cost $30 USD!  We ended up buying the store brand for around $13 USD and continued to choose the cheapest option for all our staples except for diapers.  Unfortunately, the cheap laundry detergent ruined one of my dresses.  Lesson learned.  Buying milk, yogurt, canned foods, coffee, and other things like that were mid-range expensive.  We also purchased water, only because the tap water tasted bad – it was in all likelihood safe to drink.  We were blown away when our groceries, which filled up one third of the cart, rang up to $175 USD (about $350 Bajan dollar).  At home we would have probably spent $80 USD for the same things.  We did receive excellent customer service on our way out, however.

If you’re staying in a hotel and eating out frequently then you likely aren’t going to need to buy the pricey staples such as paper towels and toilet paper.  But if you’re planning on staying in a house, like we did, it might be worth throwing a few trash bags into your luggage if you have room.  I certainly would have if I had known about the cost of staples in Barbados beforehand.

Stopped traffic.

People stop on the road for any and every reason.  It doesn’t matter if it’s a main road where people drive fast or a small road with a blind curve ahead.  The weirdest part is that no one seems to mind.  Traffic will back up to a dozen cars while people patiently wait for either a chance to pass or for a conversation to be over – without a single honk.  I couldn’t believe it.  I guess this is flip side of people being so courteous while driving is that it extends to sometimes being inconvenienced on the road.

We also saw fruit stands on the shoulder of a major highway – some of them actually set up their fruit tables with them sitting about a foot into the lane!  People would just pull partially onto the shoulder of a major highway to buy fruit.  It seemed very dangerous to me.

You will probably be lied to at some point.

The locals are super friendly, but they aren’t always truthful.  For example, the tour guide at the Animal Flower Cave told me that there are no snakes on the island, but shortly after that I went to Welchman Gully and read about the native snakes on the island.

The Animal Flower Cave.

You may also be lied to by people who want to sell you things.  There are more than a few pushy street vendors around.

Swimming at the beaches can feel dangerous.

I was a little afraid to swim out in front of our rental house because boats and jet skis would go fast pretty close to our beach.  I figured as long as I stayed in the shallow area I’d be okay, but it was still nerve racking.  We saw a few people snorkeling with flags and buoys attached to them, but at the speed the boats were going I wouldn’t trust them to see me.

Even the beaches that have roped off areas for swimming aren’t a guarantee.  When I was swimming at Carlisle Bay several boats came right over the buoy line into the roped off swimming area!  While I was distracted watching a sea turtle, a fishing boat came within about 10 feet of me and totally freaked me out.  I was really uncomfortable after that.  Even at Mullin’s Beach the jet skis riders would skim along the buoy line.  It was a stressful experience.

I swam into a lot of strong currents and powerful waves; I was even knocked me into rocks a few times.  Being tossed by waves and pulled by currents made it difficult to swim in the direction I wanted to go.  I ended up mostly just swimming with the current or using the waves to propel myself along.  Perhaps I was just unfortunate that I visited beaches during high tide or heavy winds.

Looking back on our trip.

Overall, the good things about the island far outweighed the bad.  And now that you know about the few negatives in advance you’re better prepared to have a good time regardless.

I’ve listed eight things I really loved about Barbados, but I could certainly list more and talk your ears off about the beautiful, unique island.  We saw a lot during out trip – so much more than I have talked about here (but I covered a lot more in my seven day itinerary).  And yet there is so much more we didn’t have time for; we could have easily spent another week going full throttle through fun island activities.

What are your favorite things about Barbados?  Or something you aren’t crazy about?  Are you planning a trip there?  I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

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