The second part of our Trinidad and Tobago vacation was several days relaxing on the beach! We got up early to attempt to catch the first ferry over to Tobago, but unfortunately, so did everyone else in Trinidad. Apparently the entire population was headed to the other island for a little relaxing over the holiday weekend.

To pass the time until the noon ferry, we walked over to the same hotel we were at the previous evening and had a huge buffet breakfast. It was amazing and the first time I felt full the entire trip. Then we walked back to the ferry terminal and found some decent seats on the boat. If you choose to take the ferry from Port of Spain to Scarborough, there are two different boats you can take. The 2.5 hour express (~ $8) and the 6 hour cargo ship (~ $6). We took the express.

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We sailed around the islands and along the coast of Venezuela.

After a pleasant ride, we arrived in Scarborough, Tobago. This is the main town on the island, but we weren’t interested in anything but getting to the beach, so we didn’t hang around. We were met by a driver from our hotel, The Naturalist located in the tiny fishing town of Castara (about half way between Moriah and Charlotteville on the map above). It was about a 45 minute trip around the island, mostly through dense jungle, to get there.

This is the bay where the hotel is located. It had rained all morning, so the river had dumped a lot of clay and dirt into the ocean. It was gone by the next day.

This place is exactly the opposite of our place in Trinidad. It’s clean, located far from town, and right on the beach! And at $60 per person for 4 nights ($45/night for the room), not too expensive, either.

We would end up spending most of the next 4 days on this beach, floating in the water and just enjoying life.

This is the porch where I would sit every morning before everyone else was up, reading and enjoying the views.

The sunsets were also quite stunning.

I loved all the little fishing boats anchored in the bay for the night.

Our first night here, the locals told us they were having a BBQ to celebrate Independence Day and everyone was invited. The fish was fresh caught that day, and the hot sauce was the hottest I’d ever had! Then we spent the evening drinking and talking to everyone, learning about their island and way of life.

For dinner on other nights, a short walk up the hill from our hotel was an amazingly delicious restaurant and guesthouse called Sandcastles, run by an English guy who had moved to the island 30 years ago. Every night he served something different, depending on what was caught that day. We had lobster stuffed red snapper, vegetables with capers, carrots and potatoes. It was perfection. The next night we had seared albacore tuna, which was also great, but sadly no pictures of it.

The locals also showed us a little waterfall tucked back in the woods a bit that made a wonderful and shady swimming hole!

This waterfall is of extra special note because, after several days of uncertainty, this finally happened!

Keith and Lara got engaged!! It was such a joy to get to be there for this special moment, and capture it all on camera! She had been waiting all trip, hoping this would happen. They have now been married for nearly two years! Congrats again you guys!

After the proposal, Katie, Keith and I went swimming. I handed my camera over to Lara since she wasn’t really in the mood for swimming anymore, and I actually got to be in a picture or two! Yay for photos of the photographer!

This place is definitely filled with some great memories and is a wonderful place for a little r & r.

I have one more post about Tobago tomorrow – our fishing trip where we went snorkeling, saw dolphins, and had a blast BBQing on the beach! Stay tuned!