Barbados and..?
 

Hi all,

Husband and I have flights only booked to/from Barbados for 2 weeks next Feb/March.

Plan is to watch some cricket (waiting for fixtures to be confirmed), and we can probably fill another 3-4 days, but we don't think we can cope with 2 whole weeks in one place (we like the sun and the sea but after a couple of hours on a beach we're done).

Any suggestions for another island to pair with Barbados? We like history and nature, and are happy on boat trips, snorkelling, hiking, kayaking, and enjoying the odd beer in the sun.

I'd love to go to the Asa Wright centre on Trinidad to see the birds, but I'm not sure I fancy a whole week there. Grenada also appeals, while we like the history aspect of Antigua but think it's probably too similar to Barbados beyond that.

We did a Caribbean cruise cruise in Jan and visited St Thomas and St John, St Kitts, St Maarten, Barbados, and St Lucia, while the cruise started and finished in San Juan PR.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Hi saint_em,

Antigua (hilly) and Barbados (mostly flat) are quite different. Nelson's Dockyard is certainly worth a visit, but two days around the Dockyard and English Harbour is probably enough. What you could do is use ANU as a base for exploring Montserrat (20 min flight 2-3 times per day) and Antigua's sister island of Barbuda. I've been to Barbuda only once, but I remember lots of birds, mangroves, lobster and sand. I believe there are places to stay there now.

If you are into hiking, consider Dominica, the Nature Island.

One caution, during major cricket events, it can sometimes be challenging to secure seats on Liat Airlines (the largest regional carrier), but if your schedule is flexible you should be fine.
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13F

You're very brave to have your flights booked already without the dates of those matches being announced.;)
I'm kinda hanging on to see where they'll be played although at a guess I'd pick Barbados and Antigua for at least two venues they'll be played at.
Grenada works as a good second destination with Barbados for all the things you mentioned.
You probably know this already but don't bother buying cricket tickets in advance - games are never sold out and there's always tickets at the grounds.And as these are only ODIs I don't expect a huge travelling contingent.

Thanks both - will look at the Dominica idea for sure, that hadn't really got on my radar.

Are the local flights generally reliable? I've heard horror stories about LIAT! Would always fly back to Barbados the day before our flight home, but would be useful to know if any routes are particularly problematic.

Clint Bint: everything I've seen has the 3 ODIs in last week of Feb/first week of March (see here: http://www.icc-cricket.com/about/305...-programme-ftp, so we've hedged our bets! Needed to use an Amex 2-4-1 before it expired too. Either way we've got a nice holiday in the sun!

I second Dominica
 

Give Dominica a shot. It is a gorgeous island, full of outdoor adventure. You can hike, kayak, go river tubing, repelling, paddle boarding, boating, etc. The island is very fertile and has no shortage of fresh fruits. There are all sorts of springs and thermal waters. Visiting the boiling lake is interesting, as well. One of my favorite things about the island is the lack of mosquitos. The Dominicans are the kindest people, always happy.

March 3,5 Antigua
March 9 Barbados

Pretty much as expected.Booked a flight into Antigua and out of Barbados for £640 which is pretty good for that time of year and the cricket interest.
Hotel prices beginning to climb as more interest is being shown.