Tobago Retreat - a luxury Caribbean holiday apartment
To know Tobago is to know that size is not to be measured in miles. Visitors to the island (a mere 116 square miles) enjoy such a breadth and depth of experience that it is hard to imagine the furthest point is just a few hours drive away. Rugged coastline, ancient forts, pristine white beaches, miraculous coral reefs, more species of birds than can be found in the whole of Canada, the oldest rain forest preserve in the western hemisphere, waterfalls, river pools, brilliant sunshine, horizons where sea always meets sky and calm turquoise water are all within moments of each other.
And the people are just like the place, unspoiled, friendly, hospitable and everybody knows everybody else, or at least has friends in common. Things could hardly be otherwise on an island with abundant natural resources, natural beauty, good communications and a family oriented culture.
Tobago is the smaller of the two main islands that make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located in the southern Caribbean Sea, northeast of the island of Trinidad and south of Grenada. Tobago has a land area of 116 square miles and is approximately 42 kilometres long and 10 kilometres wide. It has a population of just over 54,000. The climate is tropical, and the island lies just south of the Atlantic hurricane belt. Average rainfall varies between 3,800 mm on the main Ridge to less than 1,250 mm in the south-west of the island.
The principal economic forces in Tobago is tourism. Conventional beach and water-sports tourism is largely focussed in the south around Crown Point, Store Bay, Pigeon Point and Buccoo Reef. Tobago has many idyllic beaches around its coastline, especially those at Castara, Bloody Bay, and Englishman's Bay; however, ecotourism is growing in significance, and much of it is focussed on the large area of protected forest in the centre and north of the main island and on Little Tobago, a small island off the north east tip of the main island.
Tobago is linked to the world through the airport at Crown Point, and the Scarborough harbour. Domestic flights connect Tobago with Trinidad, and international flights connect with the Caribbean and Europe. There is also a daily fast ferry service between Port of Spain and Scarborough.
Tobago has a multitude of activities from simply sitting on a beach enjoying teh caribbean through to the most active treks. We have set out below a small sample.
Coco Motion is a luxury 31ft speedboat. It has twin 200 horsepower engines and is a luxurious and thrilling way to explore Tobago’s coast. The Coco Motion team will take you snorkelling and sight seeing - and if you’re lucky you can see bottle nose dolphins and listen to them with a hydrophone.
Tobago’s sparkling waters are teeming with life. The Tobago International Game Fishing Tournament is held each year in March from the beautiful fishing village of Charlotteville, Tobago has some of the Caribbean's most productive big game fishing grounds.
Tobago’s offshore fishing season starts in October and runs right through till June. Coastal fishing is all year round and is excellent. many local companies, including Play hard, offer fishing trips.
Each spring, March to June, giant Leatherback turtles come to Tobago's North shore beaches to lay their eggs. The baby turtles emerge 55 to 70 days later. A number of companies offer turtle watching tours.
Tobago offers some of the best bird-watching in the Caribbean. TIt is home to around 220 species of bird, including the Red-Crowned Woodpecker, the White-tailedSabrewing, the Red-billed Tropic Bird and the turkey-like Chachalaca, which is commonly known as the Cocrico and is also the national bird of Tobago. Keen birders will be interested to learn that there are also a number of sub-species of bird in Tobago that do not occur elsewhere, including the Tobago variants of the Red-legged Honeycreeper and Blue-grey Tanager.Tobago is forunate to have a number of highly qualified individuals who offer bird watching tours on a one to one or small group basis - including the renown David Rooks.
