Tobago Uncovered: 10 Must-Visit Spots on This Hidden Caribbean Gem

Tobago is one of the lesser visited islands of the Eastern Caribbean and gets more Trinidadians vacationing there than outsiders, but the rest of the world is missing out. As a boater the bad news is the island runs from the southwest to the northeast and only has three good anchorages with other possible ones based on the weather. The east side of the island is home to the oldest protected rain forest in the Western Hemisphere and the west side has most of the beaches. Getting around the island is super easy since there is a ring road with a couple roads going across the island. With all that said, let’s dive into my top ten for the island of Tobago.

10. Scarborough

While this is the main town of the island, there’s not a whole lot of interest besides Fort St George which is well worth a visit. This fort was built to help protect the island, but since it did pass between the Spanish, French, and English over the years I am not sure how successful you can call it. Besides the great fort there is a great museum and the view over the city is wonderful. Another stop you should definitely make is the botanical garden, as it is a relaxing walk among native and non-native plants. Of course I could not, not mention a great ice cream shop if there is one and B’s Homemade Ice Cream definitely fits the bill.

9. Crown Point

This is the southwest end of the island and is the location of the airport and where most of the tourists stay. For boaters, Store Bay gives you the best anchorage opportunity on the entire island and Store Bay Beach and Pigeon Point are quite popular. Fort Milford is a small little fort used to protect this anchorage from invaders and is kind of cool to check out. The local pier seems to make it into every travel brochure for Trinidad and Tobago.

8. Charlotteville

At the other end of the island, on the northeast point, is a great little community that feels cut off from the rest of the island since you have to go over the hills and drop down into it. Man O War Bay is a decent anchorage and you will find everything you need here, but in limited quantity. The pier and beach are nice places to hang out as you take it easy in this little community that feels as if the rest of the world left it behind.

7. Englishman’s Bay

Tobago has quite a few beaches to choose from, but my favorite was Englishman’s Bay. The water is fantastic and the sand is delightful, but what I enjoy the most was the rope swing off the bar’s deck and the small creek behind the beach. The best part is that this particular beach wasn’t that crowded and you definitely could have your own space here.

6. The interior

While the beaches get most of the attention on an island, the interior of Tobago is well worth exploring. My second favorite waterfall on the island, Highland Waterfall, was a great hike and a wonderful dip into a small canyon. The Hillborough dam was interesting as was the lake behind it and you can usually find locals with their small, caged birds hanging out up here taking in the fresh air. I also really enjoyed exploring Nutmeg Grove, although it was difficult to find. This is an old plantation ruins that had the remains of a watermill I found interesting and photogenic.

5. Little Tobago Island

A mile off the northeast coast is a small island that has been turned into a protective bird sanctuary. The only way on the island is to have one of the locals at Speyside take you across by boat, but it’s worth it. There are some wonderful hiking trails here and the birds truly are spectacular.

4. Genesis Nature Park

Halfway along the east coast, my buddy and I found an unexpected gem when we visited Genesis Nature Park. This is essentially a local’s backyard that is absolutely spectacular. He enthusiastically showed us parrots, cayman, a pick pocketing monkey, tortoises, and so much more. He even had a baby pig that we were able to help bottle feed. We had so much fun here.

3. Swiss Family Robinson sites

The 1960 Disney live action movie was filmed on Tobago. While the amazing treehouse did not make it past a hurricane in 1965, I still found it a lot of fun to visit the couple of beaches, waterfall (that happens to be a town’s water source), and hill (where they fought the pirates) that they filmed the movie. Given how long ago the movie was, a lot of people don’t realize it was filmed here but it is a lot of fun to find the various sites.

2. Buccoo Reef

You can’t visit the Caribbean without snorkeling a reef or two and this reef is spectacular. It sits just north of the southwest end of the island off of Pigeon Point and has lots of great coral heads to snorkel and is protected by a barrier reef. In the middle is a chest deep area of white sand that people like to hang out at and it’s called Nylon Pool. Also, around Pigeon Point you will find Bon Accord Lagoon and a spit of land called No Man’s Land where boats love to beach so people can get out to party.

1. Argyle Waterfall

My favorite spot on Tobago was definitely Argyle Waterfall. This is a multi-step waterfall and my buddy and I had a blast going from level to level. We were told there’s something like 30 plus small waterfalls making up this whole site and the best way to visit is to go from the top and work your way down, but we did it from the bottom and made it halfway up. It is just such a great activity and a fun way to be in the water.

I hope my top 10 of Tobago has perked your interest to check it out. Trust me, if you make it here you will not be disappointed.

Shane McClellan has written for ALL AT SEA since 2016.