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- Quick stats about this trip:
- ✈️: 6,740 miles
- 💳 : 45,087 Chase points
- 💰: $83.64 per person per day (double occupancy)
Similar to our trip to Puerto Rico, we were looking for a destination that would require just two days away from work. We decided to head to Barbados from Sunday- Tuesday, a tiny Caribbean country that requires very little time to explore. An additional factor in deciding on this destination was the cheap JetBlue mileage flights available for our dates.
While July is rainy season in Barbados, we decided to go for it since all my research seemed to indicate that there are occasional rainshowers in dry season as well, and showers in rainy season are not that much worse. This turned out to be partly true for our stay in Barbados.
Sunday morning, bright and early, we loaded our meager backpack into the car and headed to JFK airport for our flight to Bridgetown, Barbados. Other than our backpack we had just a small cooler bag with our mini-betty crocker, frozen shelf-stable CY milks (even though these bottles are 8oz, they can be taken past TSA as long as it’s solid frozen), and CY cheeses- we purchased the rest of our foodstuffs in Barbados. We parked in an area with no ASP (in this neighborhood) and walked to the nearby Howard Beach AirTrain station for a free train ride to Terminal 5. TSA Precheck in Terminal 5 was a breeze, and within minutes we were at the gate.
While Blue Basic fare had been just 19,200 points per person, there’s a hefty airport/visitor fee to Barbados, which added $125.71/pp on top of the mileage fare. Boarding was completed on time, but after several minutes of sitting on the tarmac with no movement, the pilot announced that due to weather-related traffic on the runway we’d be delayed by 40 minutes, with an additional 40 minute delay in the air for weather-related flightpath changes. Sigh.
We finally took off an hour after schedule, and after what felt like a very long flight, landed in Barbados 50 minutes behind schedule. We then had to wait at the foot of the plane, in the heat, for a bus to take us 5 feet away to the terminal entrance. Thankfully we had completed a pre-clearance form prior to take-off and were able to skip the lines, and were out of the airport within minutes.
We headed to the nearby Enterprise/Go Car rental counter, where we had reserved a small vehicle utilizing 6.7k Chase Sapphire Reserve points. We paid an additional $16.57 at the counter since we were not aware that a) Enterprise charges a second driver fee of $5/per day outside the US and b) Barbados charges a $10BD ($5 USD) driver’s permit fee for all foreign drivers. The permit is valid for two years, and we were only charged once, not per driver. The Barbados Dollar is pegged to the USD at 2:1, so $2BD= $1USD.
The rental clerk showed us to our vehicle, gave us some pointers for driving on the left (in a nutshell: be vigilant), and informed us that since the price of gas is set by the government, all gas station prices are exactly the same. Cool! (or so we thought). We then inquired as to where the closest supermarket is, and the clerk informed us that supermarkets in Barbados mostly close at 3PM, so our only option at that point is a gas station (at a later point we did find some supermarkets in the cities that are open til later).
We proceeded to the resort we had booked for two nights, the Hilton Grand Vacations Club The Crane Barbados. We booked two nights here via two reservations- one prior to 6/30 and one after 7/1, to utilize the bi-annual $200 Hilton Aspire Amex credit. This brought down our effective cost to just $125.18 for our stay here.
As we pulled into the resort’s private drive, I noticed a green monkey (which is not actually green) run across the road. These monkeys are popular in Barbados and can supposedly be seen in many areas on the island, but this was our only sighting on this trip.
The first thing that hit us when we exited our car was the rotten smell. Due to huge mounds of sargassum washing ashore in the Caribbean, many of the beaches are currently inundated with this ugly seaweed, and on top of rendering beaches inaccessible, it causes a foul smell to boot. One of the nicest beaches in Barbados, Crane Beach, located on the resort’s property, was inaccessible due to this issue. Thankfully beaches on the West side of the island are pristine since they don’t face the open ocean, so our experience wasn’t entirely marred by saragassum.
We were fairly disappointed by the service and accommodations at the Hilton. We did not realize prior to our stay that this location was primarily a timeshare property, and hotel guests are treated as second-class citizens. The brand does not honor Hilton status, so being a Diamond member was worthless here. The rooms are dated, and additional issues in our room included a shower whose hottest setting was lukewarm and a broken shutter in the bathroom which allowed everyone passing by the path in front of our room to see into the bathroom. When we complained to Hilton after our stay they told us to have a nice day. Note that the resort is not ideal for Shabbos since the bathroom lights have auto sensors and are activated by movement.
After settling into our room, we headed to the closest gas station to stock up on some food. Gas stations in Barbados are modern, and the shops carry a small assortment of groceries. We paid $27BD for a dozen eggs and some water, and attributed the steep price to it being a gas station, before realizing the next day that groceries in Barbados are exorbitantly expensive, no matter where you buy.
Back in our room we cooked supper and then headed down to check out the many pools on the property, to find an empty one. Since it was after dark the pools were all deserted, and we were able to enjoy it fully.
The next morning, we decided to take a mini-road trip of sorts, and circle the island. Barbados is 21 miles long and 14 miles wide, but since the roads on the East side are less than stellar, and there’s always traffic on the West side, it takes a good 2.5 hours to complete this circle, without any stops. While the East side is the quiet side of the island, and there are some beautiful deserted beaches to be found on this side, this was also the side that was unfortunately inundated with sargassum. The West side is crowded, but the beaches were accessible and clean.
Our first stop was Bottom Bay Beach- beautiful yet full of sargassum.
Next, we headed to Spring Bay. On the drive over the skies opened up and let out a good cry, but within a few minutes it was sunny. The spot doesn’t have the nicest views, but it was a blast trying to walk with our flip flops in the mud.
Next up we headed to Bathsheba Beach- there are supposedly some nice formations here but there was too much sargassum to even attempt to step onto the beach.
The rain continued on and off every few minutes- it felt like someone was playing with a high-powered shower- the skies would go from grey to sunny and then back to grey within minutes. While at first it was wondrous to watch, after the 10th thunderstorm within an hour it was getting a bit old to wait in the car for the rain to stop, run out for a few minutes of sun, and then run back to prevent getting soaked.
Our next stop was Animal Cave, but the access road is via a restaurant that is closed on Mondays, and they lock the road when the restaurant is closed. We encountered a similar issue to access North Point, and instead headed towards Speighstown to find a supermarket. We were hoping to find packaged hechshered lox, but no such luck. We did find a large selection of US imported items (read: OU certified), and ended up getting some pizza sauce for homemade pizza that night. What shocked us most were the prices- even on the few local goods they were 2X-3X the price that we pay in the States.
Next, we headed to Folkestone Beach near Holetown. This was our first sargassum free beach, but once again we had less than 10 minutes of sun before the skies opened up again.
We stopped by another large supermarket in Holetown for some fruits and snacks, and the prices were once again jaw dropping.
We then headed to Payne Beach, a nice quiet beach where we finally experienced 30 minutes of uninterrupted sun.
For sunset we headed to Pebbles Beach/ Carlisle Bay, but being located in Bridgetown it was pretty full, and the sunset was ok at best.
I had read online that St Lawrence Gap and Oistins fish market are great places to visit at night, but both were dead when we drove by- perhaps because it was a Monday night, and not a weekend.
Back at the resort, after filling up on delicious homemade pizza, we once again headed down to enjoy the empty pools.
We awoke Tuesday morning to a cloyingly hot room- the AC had malfunctioned overnight- once again when mentioning this to Hilton they were sorry for our experience and content with their apology (so much for Diamond member treatment).
After lounging around the resort for a bit, we headed into Bridgetown for a walking tour of the city.
Being that we were the only participants that day, it ended up being a private tour. While it was hot during our tour, I found it to be more bearable than San Juan, PR. Our guide was phenomenal, and was especially knowledgeable about Barbados’ Jewish history, of which there is a lot.
Jews first settled in Barbados (then an English colony) in 1628. In 1654, a large group of Jews were expelled from Recife, Brazil, by the Portuguese inquisition, and headed to Barbados. They brought sugar with them and the plant bloomed in Barbados, which caused the island to become one of the most important ones to the British. They built the Nidhe Israel Synagogue, which was mostly destroyed in 1831 by a hurricane. It has since been rehabilitated by Sir Paul Altman, a Jewish property developer from Barbados, and is now a Conservative synagogue. A mikvah was recently discovered on the premises, dating back to the original shul. There is also an old Jewish cemetery nearby from the 1600’s.
Throughout our time in Barbados we noticed that there are almost no resorts or other tourist amenities. Our guide informed us that Altman is developing a huge beachfront property right near the old town of Barbados which will boast a Hyatt resort, along with a mall, and several other attractions. If you visit Barbados in five years from now, comment on this post with your experience .
Another interesting point that our guide informed us of, is that the previous day’s weather was extremely rare, and that occasional bursts of rain are the norm in rainy season, while constant on-and-off rainshowers like we experienced are not.
After this incredible tour we headed towards the airport for our flight home, and stopped at a random gas station (since prices are uniform throughout the island) to fill up. Since prices are not posted anywhere, we were not prepared for the cost- it set us back $37.35 (USD) to fill up the ¼ of the tank we had used (we were driving a mini, not a pickup).
Returning the rental car was a breeze, and with no lines at security we spent a few minutes at the priority pass lounge before proceeding to our gate for boarding. We landed at JFK 20 minutes behind schedule, but with Global Entry we were outside the airport within minutes and on our way home, refreshed after a weekend away.
If you’re planning a trip to Barbados other great stops include Mount Gay Rum Tour, Atlantis Submarines Barbados, The Nidhe Israel Synagogue Museum, Richard Haynes Boardwalk, Gun Hill Signal Station, Andromeda Botanic Gardens, Morgan Lewis Sugar Mill, Barbados Wildlife Reserve, Farley Hill National Park, Welchman Hall Gully, and Harrison’s Cave Eco-Adventure Park.
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