Barbados has become one of the most interesting islands in the Eastern Caribbean where you can spend a week’s daylight hours. The newest attraction is a wetland that has been closed to the public for nearly 20 years, and its most talked-about rum experience comes with its own private sand attached.
There’s a reason this island keeps appearing on best lists that has absolutely nothing to do with hotels. Barbados is truly stacked with things to do, including mangrove walks, distillery decks, underground caves, outdoor food gardens, and roadside fish tents that have become destinations in their own right.
Airlift to Grantley Adams International Airport remains active even in the winter, and the island’s list of attractions has expanded faster than almost anywhere else in the region. The result is a destination that rewards anyone willing to rent a car and hit the beach for a few hours.
Here are 12 experiences you can take advantage of on your next Barbados vacation.
Graeme Hall Nature Reserve
Start with the new best reason to visit the island: Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary, Christ Church, on Worthing’s south coast. The 35-acre site is Barbados’ last significant mangrove swamp and Barbados’ only Ramsar wetland of international significance.
The reserve was closed for several years before reopening and now offers a mile-long walking trail through red and white mangroves, a gully aviary filled with macaws and parrots, and guided tours of the lake aboard a boat called the Mangrove Princess.
A new elevated boardwalk, the Richard Carter Mangrove Boardwalk, will add a 1,300-foot boardwalk and observation deck inside the mangrove forest.
Herons, egrets, osprey and Caribbean coots all stop here along their Atlantic flyway. Most visits last 90 minutes to 2 hours, and a daily visitor pass costs $40 for an adult.
“What we have seen since reopening has exceeded all expectations,” said Anthony Da Silva of the Barbados Wetlands Trust.
