how to spend 10 days in barbados
where to eat, drink and be silly in the jewel of the caribbean.
Picture the scene. It’s the first day back at work in January just after the Christmas holidays. People are talking about new projects and new changes with a fresh lease of life and a newfound enthusiasm. Some are (many aren’t) confessing that actually, a lot of those old projects and old deadlines mysteriously did not get finished before we all went off for Christmas. But you. YOU are glazing over like Homer Simpson because you, not even three days from now, are heading off to Barbados in search of warmer days, rum and no Slack.
Only once before this trip had I gone away in search of 'winter sun’ (as they say in the old travel brochures). It was to New Zealand for a wedding (and then a month of travelling) and let me tell you – that feeling of waving goodbye to the cold, grey slog of the UK’s January (which, by the way, I think is getting longer as a month every year) is unbeatable.
Barbados hadn’t specifically been on my bucket list, but our friends Elsie and Mike (hi Elsie and Mike!) had asked us to head to their favourite place with them (where they’d even spent some of lockdown) back in December 2021. We’d booked – but then had to cancel due to them both testing positive for Covid. So alas, we had to cancel the trip, and take the flights as flight credit with Virgin Atlantic– which we had to use up within the year.
We forgot about the flight credit until last October, then suddenly realised we had three months to use it. Our choices were mainly cold places, middle-of-America places, Islamabad or the Caribbean. And after a particularly tough year last year, we decided to opt for some sun, blue skies and seas.
Six days before we were due to fly away on our trip, Jonny proposed (!), which was a very unexpected and wildly brilliant prologue to the trip, which made it even more exciting that we were diving straight from Christmas and NY into three days of work (read: saying, ‘cool! I’ll look at this when I get back!’ on repeat) and then running off into the (really nice) sunset together.
SO! If you’re a person that has ever thought of heading to the jewel of the Caribbean, here are all the things we did that I’d recommend you do too. And if you’re a person who, like me, thought that Barbados was only about fancy resorts that were made for fancy people – our entire trip showed that this is definitely not the case.
USEFUL THINGS TO KNOW
FLIGHT TIME: 8 hours 10 mins from London Heathrow to Grantley Adams International Airport. We’d booked the flights over two years ago on a cheap(ish) deal. As we were getting off the plane, I turned to Jonny and said, ‘Wow! That actually felt fairly fast?’ and a woman overheard me and scowled and said, ‘you OBVIOUSLY don’t have children’. I think she hated me and also her life choices.
ACCOMMODATION: There are so many fancy hotels up on the West coast but if you’re heading to Barbados for the first time on a tighter budget, then head south to Oistins and St Lawrence Gap. We stayed at one of the beautiful, excellently-located Kismet Garden Cottages, which is owned by this magical woman Mampta, who we talked to every day – and who organised a load of trips and recommendations for us.
GETTING AROUND: We landed and picked up our Suzuki Jimmy, which I can only describe as the Action Man jeep my brother had when we were growing up. It is basically a land cube. Much needed on the very bumpy Bajan roads. If you’re heading to Barbados, definitely do hire a car. There’s so much of the island to see and so much to do. And although there’s a load of taxis and buses you can very easily hail, the journeys take quite a while. A car is definitely easier for all the exploring and adventuring.
GROCERY SHOPPING: We’d heard that groceries are notoriously expensive in Barbados (because of some trade deal, Waitrose products are their cheapest in supermarkets?! Wild.) so we brought our own porridge and a load of other staples (porridge oats, salt, pepper, oregano, cayenne pepper, paprika, honey, rice etc – basically any leftover bits and bobs I save from my Gousto boxes). Definitely worth doing if you can spare the luggage space. It saved us a fortune.
WHERE WE ATE
TIKI BAR
Our first stop of the holiday and I could’ve sat here and watched the waves, sipping rum-based drinks for the entire 10 days. There’s a deck that overlooks the beach, perfect for plonking yourself down as you make your way through their extensive cocktail menu. The fishcakes are really good, too.
SALT CAFE
This place is so good. Great for brunch, they do really delicious fish bao buns. The portions are huge though, so either come hungry or ask them to box up your leftovers. We took our leftovers with us and ate them later that afternoon on Crane Beach.
OISTIN’S FISH FRY
Ask anyone who’s ever been to or lived in Barbados what to do on a Friday night and they’ll tell you to go here. Packed with locals and tourists alike, this place bursts into life after dark with live music and stalls of some of the finest fish dishes the island has to offer. You’ll be queueing for a long time wherever you go, but it’ll be worth the wait – especially if you do what we did and get needlessly drunk on rum punches. Once you’ve eaten, go for a wander. There’s a main stage with performers and loads of young people dancing, but go further into the market and you’ll find older locals waltzing and jiving together to sixties music.
PS. You’ll see dolphinfish on loads of menus but fear not, it’s not actually dolphin – it’s just another name for mahi mahi.
LA CABANE
Walk through these palms and you’re suddenly in what feels like an exclusive beach club. We turned everything into tapas so we could try lots of small things, including tuna steak, some outrageously good mushroom and parmesan thing (I can’t remember what it was called), plantain and mango-topped pork belly. It’s on the pricer side of life, but totally worth it if you’re looking for something special.
THE GOLDEN ANCHOR
Blink and you’ll miss it, but this tiny little roadside shack is home to some of the best fish cakes and best fish cutters (sandwiches) on the island. It’s run by an extremely kind, laid back old man – but his food is worth the wait.
SEA SHED
This is on the west coast and was the location for what I would still describe as one of the best days of my life. We had lunch here after an intense morning of surfing, and I refused to move until gone midnight. We ate the loaded plantain nachos (I will dream of these forever) and ceviche tacos on the deck overlooking the beach, then moved down onto the beach where we pissed the rest of the day away between ordering rum punches and dipping in and out of the sea. A perfect day.
LOBSTER ALIVE!
This place is right on the beach and you won’t be surprised to learn that it’s known for its lobster. We shared lobster bisque to start, then Jonny had half a lobster with fries and I had lobster thermidor (which I’d never eaten before but used to regularly make on The Sims 4). It felt so laid back and decadent. Flick your shoes off and feel the sand on your toes as you sip your wine. Dreamy.
BLISS CAFE
Just 10 mins walk from our AirBnb, this could easily have been the place we went back to every single morning. They do really great savoury versions of sweet things (my favourite), and these egg and hot sauce waffles were delicious. Super chilled, bohemian vibes.
CAFE LUNA
This was recommended to us by a brilliant pal who sent me the longest email full of her recommendations, collected thanks to a significant amount of time spent living in Barbados. We nearly died over the tuna ceviche and the walnut and stilton salad, and when we told them we were celebrating our engagement, they brought out the cutest little dessert for us to share. Such nice people, such good food – on a balcony overlooking the sea. Dream.
ROUND HOUSE
This is the only place we ate on the east coast of the island. You can’t swim on this coast – it’s on the Atlantic side and it’s just too rough. But the Round House is a gorgeous spot that looks out at the waves, and serves up a great brunch. We went for yoga on the Sunday morning, then filled up on omelettes before heading off on a hike that I hated.
WHERE WE DRANK
CATAMARAN TOUR
If you do one boat-related thing, please promise me you’ll do a sunset catamaran tour. The Cool Runnings one includes unlimited drinks, a fab local buffet and the chance to jump off, dive into a shipwreck and swim with fish, sting rays and turtles. The trip lasts a few hours and after the sun has set, they turn up the music and the boat turns into a dancefloor. On the way back in, I sat at the front of the boat while ‘We Found Love’ by Rihanna blasted and I got all emotional, felt like I was on an Oceana dancefloor again. I was drunk and cried. Probs in the top 10 moments of my life.
PIER ONE RESTAURANT
Don’t come here for dinner. The menu is really boring and it feels like a bland hotel resort. However, do definitely come here for drinks – you sit at the bar in the pool overlooking the sea and dosing up on frozen pina coladas.
WHERE WE HIKED
CHALKY MOUNT TRAIL
I am not a hiker and the smile in this photo is definitely fake, but the views of the east coast that Chalky Mount delivers (when you finally get to the top) are undeniably good. Try to go early in the morning when it’s cooler!
WHERE WE GOT THE GOOD VIEWS
ANIMAL FLOWER CAVE
Sat on the north point of the island, the animal flower cave is named so after the tiny little sea anemones that live in the shallow rock pools. They’re very cute. You can go into the caves with a guide and swim in the rock pools, looking out over the rough north coast (you can’t swim in this bit, either).
HARRISON’S POINT LIGHT HOUSE
This was a very cool abandoned lighthouse about a 15 minute drive from the Animal Flower Cave that you could just climb up (dodging a lot of broken glass) and look out at the north coast. It’s actually kind of spooky, but very cool. Look out for creepy messages left on the walls.
PEBBLES BEACH
Every morning before 7am, the race horses from the Garrison stables are led down to the sea for a bath. They get on the sand, stamp about and roll around until it’s their turn for a bath in the sea – where they splash and swim (did you know horses could swim? I didn’t) and have a lovely wash from their grooms. It’s such a joy. You need to be there early though, so get up at 6am and take coffee!
WHERE WE SURFED
DREAD OR DEAD SURF SCHOOL
Sunny skies, crystal waters and easy, gentle waves on the south west coast make Barbados the perfect place to feel like a confident surfer. Having only ever surfed in Wales or Cornwall, I couldn’t believe how much easier it is to surf when you’re not being beaten up by a cold, unruly sea.
We did a surf camp over three mornings with Dread or Dead Surf School in St Lawrence Gap. By the end of the first two hour session, we were both popping up and riding waves as if we’d been doing it for years. After that, we spent the other sessions learning how to spot a good wave and how to really ride it well. The instructors are so lovely and so good – they really push you out of your comfort zone and get you going!
WHERE WE GOT RUM PUNCH
BOTTOM BAY
When we rocked up at Bottom Bay, this guy was sleeping on a broken sun lounger behind his bar. His bar is at the top of the stairs that lead down to the beach, so it’s a no brainer that you should probably get a rum punch to take with you. They’re strong as hell, so designated drivers need not get their own – because their partners will just have to finish it off for them and get silly drunk.
So there you go. I’m already trying to convince Jonny that we need to start every year with a repeat of this trip – even if we eat those Sea Shed nachos and nothing else.
There’s so much more we did and so much more we could’ve done, but these were just a few of my highlights. If you’d like to have my full list of all saved places on Google Maps for yourself, upgrade to a paid subscription for £5 a month (or £50 a year) and scroll down to get them.
Oh, and if you’ve got any questions or you’ve been yourself and have even more recommendations you’d like to share, pop a comment below!