Castara Bay Tobago

[petermichelle]

Hi everyone, we're traveling to Tobago in December and trying to pick our location. We want something quiet and off the beaten track with access to good dive shops. We've been looking at villas and apts in Castara Bay but we're not sure on the dive ops in that area. Any advice?

 

[Doc]

If Tobago is the end of the Earth in the Caribbean, and arguably so, Castara is outer space. It is a lovely way to spend time in a remote setting with stunning beaches. Not well known for SCUBA diving however. Tobago diving is well known around Crown Point (the Southern end near the airport) with Buccoo Reef, well visited for decades by cruise ships.

The rest of the island of Tobago, as it stretches North East, is an entirely different place. Castara, which faces to the North (Caribbean), is a very remote enclave. The most well known "new" area for diving is at the far Northern tip: Speyside.

Tobago is one of the few Caribbean destinations where this hard core I-gotta-dive-dive-dive guy looks at a week there as a splite between diving and driving the island in a Samurai. Most vacationers come for bird watching. I have blown off more than one dive just to drive the road (?) from Charlottesville down to Plymouth.

Here's a good map. http://www.oceanpoint.com/maps/interactive.html

Enjoy this jewel. Do not imagine that a liveaboard will give you even 1/2 of the total experience. After you get out of the "big" cities, you will find the most calm and gentle people.

 

[petermichelle]

Wow - sounds like you appreciate the beauty of Tobago, Roatan Man. Thanks for your reply - we were beginning to think we'd asked an impossible question! We've actually almost settled on changing our location to stay in Arnos Vale as it seems a bit closer to everything and still gives us a quiet home base with good diving fairly near by. We also considered Charlotteville but that does seem very very remote.

Btw Roatan Man, our favourite diving is in Roatan. We've been twice and logged about 30 dives -- wonderful! Will Tobago measure up?

P&M

 

[petermichelle]

We're also wondering about who to choose for dive operator. We've been in contact with Lisa at Tobago Dive Experience and she's been very helpful. But we don't want one of those overloaded cattle cars. Anyone know about them?

 

[Doc]

Wow - sounds like you appreciate the beauty of Tobago....Btw Roatan Man, our favourite diving is in Roatan. We've been twice and logged about 30 dives -- wonderful! Will Tobago measure up?

It's differenter. Here is our trip report: Myspace.com Blogs:148905954 MySpace Blog

Here's my answer: before you die, there are six places that you had better have seen in the Caribbean. Tobago is one of them, although I do prefer Speyside on the North End. Compared to Roatan? Roatan is known best and appreciated only by those who can go slowly with perfect buoyancy and appreciate the microscopic small stuff- I like the South side of Roatan a lot. Otherwise? Roatan is like any other Caribbean island if you don't see that stuff.

"My end" of Tobago is an entirely different kettle of Mantas. It is an E Ticket roller coaster ride that is an excellent preparation for the Galapagos. The right DM will be able to show you Mantas~ maybe. The larger operations and their DM's who went hands-on is what caused the Mantas to "disappear". Actually, they have just reformed where the established dive ops do not go. Before a DM will take you to where they might be, he is going to assess your skills. Not many will pass muster, then he's going to decide if the current is going to smash his boat on the rocks nearby. You're just not going to find that experience everyday.

There are many dives on Tobago that are much more tranquil and easy breezy. Stay to the many dive charters at Pigeon Point and the larger resort ops as mentioned. The area around Castara can be quite gentle.

We're also wondering about who to choose for dive operator. But we don't want one of those overloaded cattle cars. Anyone know about them?

Cattle boats? Depends on how you define them. A large group of good divers handled well does not a CB make. A large group newbie divers is a hard egg to handle. Maybe that results in a CB feeling? The larger the boat, the greater the possibility of widely varied dive abilities, right?

"Cattle Boats", most notably in places like Tobago, are much more likely to have piers, easy sloped boarding ladders, nice storage space, fresh water and a potty. There aren't many that do, but there are increasing numbers of operations with such elegant refinements.

I am a major nut case by any standards. In Tobago, I prefer a particular dive-op that is in a thatched hut, pea gravel floor, you have to wade out into the surf to the boat, crummy ladder, two outboards that are not linked together and not much else other than a standard 25 foot open fiberglass hulled boat. The guy that owns it is a piece of Island culture and his son will bust their butts to take you on the dive of your life. You had better had your ticket punched in every imaginable way before signing on with these guys. Mr.Toad's Wild Ride. We did 4 a day and one night dive. Absolute exhaustion where at someplace simple like CoCoView, we do that without even a blink. They take you to places like African Express (which describes your next stop if you miss the cutt off), Heart Attack, and Washing Machine. Other dive ops simply don't bother. They have too much to lose and are too easily spotted and chartered by the casual diver.

Now, do not misunderstand, there is lots to do on Tobago other than these hondo (North East end) dives with requirements of superb skills that include current diving and small boat surface recovery. The Cattle Boat question was asked, however, so there's my take on it. You can go local and tribal, you can take the path that is more calm and genteel. Let your skill sets decide, do not let ego get in the way.

Again, Tobago is an island of incredible unspoiled beauty. Waterfalls abound so fresh water access is not (yet) an issue. The ownership and title to land is so TARFU'd that I don't see a whole lot of development any time soon. The roads are really good, but understand that they are not up to our standards. There are no reflectors, so night time driving should be done at a crawl. On the South end and Southerly East side, the road is a frantic racetrack. About half way up North it gets into a mountainous set of switchbacks that I keep the rental Samurai in 2nd gear 90% of the time. Right hand drive and the cliffs to the right will do that to you.

In 2003 we drove the road S from Charlottesville along the Western side. We made it about 7 miles and had to turn back as the road turned into a landscape littered with 24" boulders from a wash out. I hear the road has been punched through. Too bad... I am sure it has threatened the many micro waterfalls that we used 4WD High Range to get under and the cattle grazing land we traversed.

The people, again, were worth the trip. That and the Roti. Yummy. Then there was the Caribe Beer.

Do not agonize. Go, have a look around, you will return.

 

[LBR]

We rented a house in Charlotteville when we visited in April 07. We had drinks a few times at the Blue Waters Inn and it seemed like a nice place to stay with great views of the water. I personally preferred the quiet pace of Speyside/Charlotteville vs. the more cruise ship-oriented spots. I think they have paved most of the roads on the island now but it still a slow drive anywhere due to the hairpin turns and domesticated animals wandering along the roads. Charlotteville is remote but we never had a dull moment there. Dove with Redman and recommend him, he is kinda hard to reach via email though and we ended up just driving up to his house and booking with him in person the day before. We had a blast in Trinidad at the Asa Wright Center, if you are into nature activities you may want to check that out too.
You can see my trip report here