wrote in message
...
My wife and I are travelling for five nights in Tobago and three nights
in Barbados, in March 2004. We like diving, snorkeling, hiking, walking
and swimming. Also tennis players and avid eaters.... (good thing we do
all the walking etc).


I was in Barbados last October and I highly recommend the Holetown area,
especially if diving and dining are more important to you than nightlife. I
was at the Discovery Bay Beach hotel and was very happy (with one major
caveat *). It is not an all-inclusive place, which is just fine by me, since
there are many very good restaurants right next door in Holetown itself.
Also, the very fine Dottins Reef is about a 1/2 mile offshore. I think a
step up from the Discovery Bay is the Mango Bay Hotel, a little further up
the coast, which I saw when I went diving with their dive shop.

On the near shore, between the D.Bay and the M.Bay, is a pleasant underwater
snorkeling park, where I saw many sea turtles, eels, etc. There isn't much
coral, as unfortunately, agricultural runoff has mostly wiped it out, but it
was fun anyway. It is a vigorous swim from the D.Bay hotel beach to the
park, but easily done if you are in decent shape (though see major caveat
#2, **, below).

(*): The major caveat: during a heavy rain, the creek that runs along one
side of the hotel turns a very unpleasant color and dumps a lot of silt into
the bay in front of the hotel. If this happens (as it did once while I was
there), you should not go swimming in the bay until the water clears again
(which took about 36 hours in my case).

(**): Caveat #2: there is a tremendous amount of small boat traffic near the
shore in Barbados. If you plan to do a lot of snorkeling or diving on your
own, you should definitely bring a "Diver in the Water" float and tow it
with you at all times. Failing to do so will probably turn you into sushi.

Good luck,

Patrick