Ikon

I've been on the island with my family now for a few months and was thinking the other day it would be nice to do some trips to other islands but we seem to know absolutely nothing about how to go about arranging them, or which might be good islands to visit.

Does anyone have any advice of islands that are quick to get to (we have an almost-4 year old, an 11-month old and we'll possibly be accompanied by a friend with a blind 18-month old so don't want a very long boat trip for example), and what kind of activities we might try on them on 1-3 day outings??? All advice and 'insider info' much appreciated!!

Foxy_fromCanada

I haven't done this, but apparently it's cheap and easy to grab a cruise from here to some of the other islands. I know some people who did it for 3 days. I think they booked through a travel agent. It's something I'd like to do sometime.

Good luck! Let us know what you end up doing... some of us may want to copy

vikki85

There is not a ferry that can get you to other islands from Barbados, so as Foxy said the option would be a cruise or fly. St Lucia is probably the closest island, but even to there flights are not cheap. A short cruise would prob be the best option.

shines

You can fly to other Islands on LIAT, book via here

http://www.liatairline.com/

Ikon

Thanks shines, we were looking at their site earlier today for some ideas funnily enough. We're actually thinking of trying Trinidad as it's somewhere we've never been and it will probably be a completely different experience to Barbados and quite un-touristy.

Anyone on here been? Any hotel recommendations/things to do??? We've got young kids so anything suitable for families would be good to hear about!

Foxy_fromCanada

I'm not sure I'd recommend Trini... can be unsafe (sorry to any Trinis out there)

Ikon

Really?
What about Tobago - any info on that?

We've been to Grenada, St Vincent and St Lucia before so didn't want to repeat those. Might investigate flying up to Antigua too, although have a feeling it might be similar to here?

Foxy_fromCanada

Well, at the risk of offending Trinidadians (apologies again), yeah, Trini is a bit tumultuous right now. Kidnappings are high.

Tobago, I'm not sure. Maybe someone else can comment.

My bf went to Curacao last fall - said it was pretty cool. Not sure how cheap/easy it is to get to, though. It's almost South America!

Most of the other islands are volcanic, where we're coral, so you'll almost always get different scenery. Didn't you love the pitons in St. Lucia? That was astounding to me.

Would love to hear about your experiences on the other islands, Ikon. I'd like to visit more too, and it would be great to hear how they were! My bf loved Grenada (I, sadly, didn't get to go on that trip).

Take care,
Fox

zanne

What about Bequia via St. Vincent, I am dying to go there!

vikki85

My H2B would like to visit St Vincent as that is where his mum was born. We have been looking at diff options for our honeymoon, but due to lack of funds, may just end up on the south coast for a few nights - will still be like a holiday for us 'northerners' lol!!

Foxy_fromCanada

The Crane would also be nice, Vikki. Or Little Arches.

Ikon

I did like St. Lucia, it's got a really nice feel too. Grenada's perfect for relaxing, much slower pace than we've got here. I may be tempted to go back there actually, though we'd like to go somewhere new! Decisions decisions

pgtips

I would have to agree, give Trinidad a miss for now, just way too much negative stuff happening right now. I used to go in the good old days and it was pretty cool then. Tobago is much slower paced with nicer beaches, but stuff from Trinidad unfortunately is spilling over to the sister isle. Trinidad is not the prettiest of islands, but the people in general are a great bunch and have a good spirit.
Carnival is awsome, very pretty women, great music, but all of this is spoiled by the callous bandits who seem to think anybody no matter what their background can become their next victim of crime. I think the murder count was about 450 last year and already on target to match or surpass this figure this year.

There may be less excitement in the smaller islands but at least you will have more peace of mind.

Ikon

It certainly sounds that way! Maybe Grenada is the one then.... It'll just be nice to try somewhere different for a few days, it'll remind me why I picked Barbados no doubt.

Foxy_fromCanada

Grenada is the spice island! My bf brought me back loads of cool spices from Grenada. I'm dying to go, to see for myself. Hope you enjoy it!