Life in Manchester

Barbados Naked

Welcome to my Barbados naked series. Here I will provide you with details of things to see and do on the island and recommend restaurants, bars and excursions that I have either experienced myself or had guests tell me just how good they really are. I hope that you find the information useful for your trip or research of the island and would be very pleased if you feel you could add anything to my information. If you do please do drop me a line at Admin@VIPvillas.com and we’ll look to add it to our ‘Barbados Naked’ feature for future readers. Please enjoy reading the articles which I will be posting weekly. The series starts this week with an introduction to Barbados, the main tourist knowledge points, some history and facts and figures.

Next week we’ll find out about restaurants and food on the island. I’ll be supplying details of the best restaurants in each town and district and giving you a flavour (if you’ll pardon the pun!) of what they offer. I’ll also detail some of the local dishes that you should try and while there.

Then comes activites. Barbados really does make the most of it’s weather. There are lots of activities to get engaged in from relaxing on the beach to the more energetic pursuits such as diving, watersports and or course golf.

Excursions follows that with a guide on what to do and when. This guide gives you all you need to know to actually ‘do it yourself’, so standby for a full breakdown of the island with contact details for excursion providers and tour operators.

You really can’t go all the way to Barbados and not sample the nightlife now can you!! Well click through during week 5 of my Naked Barbados series to find out which are hot and which are not. From beach bars to the high life of the West Coast this instalment has it all. Barbados naked it most certainly is!!

I have previously completed the top ten beaches in Barbados. Tune in to week six for an indepth look at the best beaches. I’ll be reviewing nearly all of them on the island so you can feast your eyes on those that the tourists don’t know about.

Week seven provides a calendar of events for 2009. Make sure you don’t miss a thning with an indepth study of all that there is going on in 2009.

And we finish in week eight. A whistlestop tour of all that is Naked Barbados!! I’ll round off my series for those specialist trips, getting married? Then tune in, fancy a nature trail? Then click through… it’s all here in this last ‘round up’ week.

So with no time to waste here is my opening piece. Please enjoy!!

FLIGHTS/GETTING THERE

Barbados is well connected to Britain and North America, and currently has a limited service from Continental Europe. With so many incoming flights it acts as a hub to other islands within the South Eastern Caribbean. This makes the island an excellent island hopping base if you intend on visiting other islands. VIPvillas.com can organise separate stays in luxury villas on more than one Caribbean island for you.

The following airlines serve Barbados:

UK:

British Airways from Gatwick

Virgin Atlantic from Gatwick and Manchester

Caribbean Airlines (former BWIA) from Gatwick using British Airways codeshare

BMI from Manchester.

Europe:

Martinair from Amsterdam

Condor from Frankfurt

USA:

US Airways from Philadelphia

American Airlines from New York & Miami

Air Jamaica from New York (JFK)

Delta Air Lines from Atlanta.

Canada:

Air Canada from Toronto

Regional:

Caribbean Airlines (former BWIA), Air Jamaica, LIAT, and American Eagle, which have flights across the Caribbean. Flights to the Grenadines are served by SVG air, TIA 2000 and Mustique Airways – the three airlines also operate together as Grenadines Airways.

ISLAND HOPPING

One very useful fact to know is that there are a number of flights from Barbados to the Grenadines, both as day tours and as transfers, that are known as ‘shared charters’. Practically speaking they run every day, but because they are run by charter airlines, rather than scheduled companies, they are not listed on the international computer systems. See below for the airlines that offer shared charter to the Grenadines.

REGIONAL AIRLINES

LIAT

Caribbean Airlines (former BWIA)

Air Jamaica

SVG Air

Mustique Airways

Trans Island Air/TIA 2000

Day trips to other islands:

Grenadines Discoveries

Fly to Union Island and join a Catamaran for a day sail, with snorkelling and swimming stops in Mayreau, Tobago Keys and Palm Island. 0 including lunch and drinks.

One day air tours to the Grenadines, St Lucia, St Vincent and Young Island, and Grenada.

If you would like to charter a plane, then they are available through:

St Barth Commuter

A local airline based in St Barths, which offers scheduled flights from there to St Martin/St Maarten and Caribbean private aircraft charters to islands all over the Eastern Caribbean. They have a fleet of five twin-engine planes and five specially trained (STOL) pilots with permission to land in St Barths.

SVG Air

A local Caribbean airline that offers charters to the Grenadines from around the region, often from Barbados, but also from St Lucia and Grenada, even from as far as Puerto Rico. SVG Air has around a dozen 5-19-seater planes and also offers island hopping and air ambulance services.

AIRPORT

Grantley Adams International Airport (airport code BGI, after Bridgetown, the island’s capital) is located approximately 10 miles/16km south east of Bridgetown city centre. VIPvillas.com have luxury portfolio of West Coast Villas in Barbados for you to choose from; they really are sheer luxury!

The airport has recently undergone a multi-million dollar expansion with the major phase completed in 2007. This included the construction of a new, much larger arrivals terminal which now houses 22 immigration work stations, five large luggage carousels and two duty free shops. The old arrivals hall has become part of an extended departure lounge and houses a new airside food court and retail concourse. Other facilities include a bank and postal services. Approximately four air bridges are part of the next set of improvements and there has been talk of enclosing the check-in area and installing air-conditioning.

PASSPORTS & VISAS

As a visitor to Barbados you will require a passport which is valid for at least 6 months from your date of entry, along with a valid return airline ticket. This now applies to all American and Canadian citizens, whilst British citizens are required to hold a full 10-year passport. American, Canadian, British and EU citizens do not require a visa for short stays. Other nationalities please check with the Barbados High Commission or with your travel organiser for entry requirements

LOCAL TRANSPORT

The bus system in Barbados is a good one and the fleet of blue and yellow buses (BM licence plate) reaches every corner throughout the island on a regular basis. You will need exact change for the buses and they stop only at official bus stops, which are marked either ‘To City’ or ‘Out of City’ in a red and white circle. The destination is displayed over the front windscreen.

The Government service is supplemented by privately operated mini-buses (B licence plate) that are painted yellow with a blue stripe down the side, and route taxis (ZR licence) which are white with a burgundy stripe. These buses do give change, and they also play local music (somewhat loud at times) and can be hailed down anywhere on route. Destinations are usually on a sign placed in the bottom left-hand corner of the windscreen, and routes normally painted on the sides of the buses. It should be noted that ZR vans are an adventure as well as a mode of transport. They tend to stop at the drop of a hat and travel at speeds which are not for the faint hearted. But then they’ll go out of their way to drop a granny with her shopping outside her house. Avoid travelling at peak times when buses are packed to the limit. The fare to any destination is Bds.50 one-way. Depending on the routes, during the week buses can operate from as early as 5.30am to as late as 12.30pm.

For more information on the Government Transport Service, telephone Barbados 436 6820

CAR HIRE

Hiring a car is an excellent addition to a visit to the Caribbean, but particularly so in Barbados because there is plenty to do and because the island is surprisingly good to explore. There are some delightful beaches cut into the cliffs of the south east, which make for an excellent day out and picnic, and the Atlantic coast is wonderfully dramatic. Getting lost in the canefields is almost par for the course, so don’t worry when you do. Just stop and ask and someone is bound to help. Finally, there are all the restaurants to visit in the evening. From an island perspective, cars are a vital aspect of local life. The Bajans would prefer to drive a few hundred yards