Travel: Adventure Barbados

Surfing, fishing and sailing, Bajan style

Barbados attracts the A-list: George Washington vacationed here for nearly two months in 1751. Tiger Woods married his Swedish wife Elin Nordegren on the greens of Sandy Lane, an exclusive golf course on the west coast. And Kelly Slater calls Soup Bowl, a fierce stretch of Atlantic rollers on Barbados’s east coast, his favorite place to surf in the West Indies.

So it’s not surprising that when I roll into Miami Beach, just south of the capital city of Bridgetown, early one Saturday morning, the guy with the moustache sitting on the steps of the bath house is Gus Hall, a former senator and Barbados’s most famous cricketer. The bikini-wearing beachmongers pay no mind that they’re in the midst of celebrity—they just want to lie in the sun.

That’s what makes this 167-square-mile “British Commonwealth Realm” (Barbados gained independence from Britain in 1966, but Queen Elizabeth is still the figurehead) of 280,000 citizens so cool: Whether you’re a 17th generation Bajan, a Brazilian supermodel escaping the paparazzi, or a sailor crossing the Atlantic, Barbados’s beaches are 100 percent open to the public. Call it a tropical melting pot.

Surfers' Paradise

The surf is as democratic as the sand. Slater may love Soup Bowl, with its wicked-powerful waves and riptides, but Melanie Pitcher, a Bajan pro surfer and instructor, starts me out on the gentle rollers on the Caribbean side just south of Miami Beach. The left break with a mostly sandy bottom is the perfect spot to build confidence and quickly ride a wave, which is key for a desert dweller like me.

If you’re here on vacation and not involved in an activity that requires the use of both hands, like surfing, sailing, or swimming, chances are, you’ll be drinking rum - Mount Gay Rum in Bridgetown has been distilling the spirit here since 1703 and, more than 300 years later, still produces up to 40,000 bottles per day. Which is why, as the saying goes, wherever there’s a church in Barbados, there’s also a rum shop right around the corner.

Sail on, Sailor

As the world HQ of Mount Gay, Barbados should also be the epicenter of Caribbean sailing—or one would think, anyway. Its largest competition is the Mount Gay Regatta [read WideWorld’s race report here], a festive and somewhat leisurely three-day event that, this spring, had 37 sailboat entries in five classes. But Barbados has big plans to step it up a notch.

“We would like to make Barbados a serious stop off point for a transatlantic crossing,” Senator Peter Gilkes tells me on a Saturday night at The Mews, a hotspot in Holetown decorated with beautifully ethereal Bajan art and thumping with a great local band playing covers from U2 and The Goo Goo Dolls.

“The Mount Gay Regatta is only part of an overall picture, Gilkes explains. “We’re also holding the Fireball Worlds in 2010, the one-meter yacht world championships, and eventually a world-class J-24 event. We are very much open for business when it comes to sailing in Barbados.”

It’s way past midnight and it seems like everything on the island is still open for business. Jimmy Choo-wearing revelers are spilling out the door at The Mews and the outdoor tables at the TML One Love rum shop one street over are overflowing with bottles of Banks, the local brew. I have to leave for the airport at 5am, but even though I haven’t even left yet, I already know that I’m coming back.

Get Barbados

Stay

Beach View, a beautiful condo hotel on Paynes Bay in St. James, on the west side of the island between Holetown and Bridgeport, opened in January. Hotel rooms on this side of the island average £455 per night in the high season, so these spacious, airy units with full kitchens, overlooking an hour-glass-shaped pool and the Caribbean beyond, are an incredible value, starting at £120 per night (based on double occupancy) for a one-bedroom in the summer season. 246-432-2300; beachviewbarbados.com

Surf

Melanie Pitcher of Barbados Surf Trips can customize any surf adventure you can dream up, from surfboard rentals to one-day lessons to a week-long surf safari. 246-262-1099; surfbarbados.com

Fish

Robert Atwell, a sixth-generation Bajan, will take you fishing for dorado dolphin, wahoo, marlin, barracuda, sailfish, and tuna aboard his 40-foot High Seas turbo diesel yacht. Call 246-233-2598 for prices on whole- or half-day charters.

Sail

Cool Runnings Catamaran Sailing Cruises offers a Snorkel Lunch Cruise that includes snorkeling, swimming with sea turtles, unlimited drinks, lunch, and a trip to a secluded bay. (£51 per person). Or try the sunset dinner and snorkel cruise (£45 per person U.S.) coolrunningsbarbados.com; 246-436-0911