Barbados

Arriving in Barbados

We arrived at Barbados on the 8th January at the cruise port of Bridgetown on the ship Marella Discovery 2. Considering it is Barbados we expected the port to be nice but it wasn’t as nice has other cruise ports we had been to in the Caribbean.

Cruise Port

The port itself has duty free shops has you would expect at a small airport. Outside of the shops the area looks like it is in a commercial area next to a container port.

It was extremely busy with many people not from our ship but had come to the cruise terminal from other ships wandering around with suitcases and looking for transport. It appeared that a lot of people were on there way home.

Swimming with Turtles

Prior to going on the cruise we had read about swimming with the turtles and this is something that we had wanted to do. Therefore we contacted a tour operator called Viator who had offered this at £25 per person.

After going through security we made our way to the boat which was around 25 minutes walk away. Fortunately we had downloaded the map of the island prior to leaving the ship.

It was a Sunday when we were in Barbados therefore all the shops apart from the shops at the port were closed and all businesses. Looking at the buildings alone the way to the marina it was clear that there was a colonial influence.

Marina

We walked to the boat which was moored in a lovely marina with various other private and commercial boats. It wasn’t a big marina but did have a few boats. There are little bars and restaurants near the Marina but unfortunately they wasn’t open as it was a Sunday.

Beach

As we were a bit early we walked along the lovely golden sand of the beach. The sea was a lovely turquoise colour. There were two men throwing water over two horses in the sea. We assumed this was to cool them down. The horses were lovely and appeared well cared for. The beach had what you would expect sunbeds, places to buy food and drink etc.

When we arrived at our boat which was run by Tranquillity Cruises we were advised that we needed to remove our shoes before boarding the boat. The boat was lovely and well maintained. Ourselves and another couple had the full top deck to ourselves which was nice. They were staying in an hotel not far from the Marina. They advised that the hotel was lovely but not much around it.

We set off to where the turtles are usually seen but had to pick up another two guests which were waiting on the beach. It seemed a bit strange that they had to actually swim to the boat.

Turtles

Finally we arrived at the area where the turtles were usually sighted. In Barbados there are 4 different types of nesting turtles. There were many other boats with people in the water also looking for the turtles. The boat crew supplied guests with snorkelling equipment and life jackets. We had brought our full face masks as we preferred them to the snorkel and mask separate.

Getting close with the Turtles

Once in the water the guides were looking for turtles. Once they saw any they directed passengers people from our boat to the area. We saw many turtles at the bottom of the sea which originally we found a bit disappointing then turtles were swimming up to the top of the sea directly in front of our eyes. One turtle came that close it hit its shell on the snorkel mask.

As there were a lot of people in the water at the same time you had to constantly look to ensure that you stayed with the right group and did not get hit by other incoming boats. The guides were very conscious about ensuring we all stayed together. The sea was very calm and with our life jackets on it made snorkelling very easy and enjoyable.

They took us to a ship wreck where there was hundreds of lovely coloured fish. After a short while the numbers of fish diminished. Not sure if they had fed the fish before we had arrived either way it was a lovely experience.

When we returned to the boat we were able to have some free time sliding down the slide which was attached to the boat which was great fun.

The whole experience on the boat was brilliant. All the staff on the boat were very friendly and had great senses of humour which added to the great day.

Summary

Unfortunately with visiting places on a cruise you do not get to see enough of the island but on the plus side it gives you a taste so if you do decide to go back for longer you know this is an island that you want to spend more time on. A lot of people on our ship went around the island and stated out beautiful it was. We will definitely go back to Barbados whether that be on another cruise or a beach holiday as we would love to see more of this island

Images of Barbados

Things to do

• Swim with the Turtles
• Tale an island tour
• Spend a day on the beach
• Visit St Nicolas Abbey
• Visit a rum distillary
• Visit Queen’s Park
• Sample the local cuisine
• Have a horse ride in the sea

Top Tips

• If on a Marella Cruise book your island tour with the locals as their much cheaper
• If booking with Tui book in advance as the excursions get booked up.
• We booked the swimming with turtles and the shipwreck with Viator at a cost of £25 each but had to get our own way there.
• If time is limited plan your itinerary to ensure you see as much as possible.
• Barbados currency is Barbados Dollars (BBD) which are worth a lot less than the us Dollar (USD). Ensue you are aware when paying for something.
• Check out UK government travel advice before going to Barbados https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/barbados
• Check out weather below for best time to travel to Barbados.
• Hurricane season is officially from June to November
• Check out other places we have visited in the Caribbean Jamaica, Cuba, Mexico , Dominica , Antigua , St Maarten
• Check out our general travel tips. Click on the following link Travel Tips

Weather

Temp – Celsius Rain – mm	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
High Temp	28	28	28	29	29	29	30	30	29	29	28	28
Low Temp	23	23	23	24	24	24	24	25	24	24	24	24
Rainfall	66	28	33	36	58	112	147	147	170	178	206	97
Number of days	13	8	8	7	9	14	18	16	15	15	16	14