Beauty & the beach: our guide to hitting Tobago's magnificent shores

Calm, turquoise waters and gleaming white sand — it’s everybody’s idea of a tropical paradise. Tobago has beaches endowed with every amenity you can imagine, as well as secluded inlets and quiet fishing bays for your Caribbean idyll.
 
In Tobago, you’re never far from the beach. In most cases, it’s just a short drive; if you’re lucky, it’s walking distance. Choose your beach destination according to your vacation mode. Fans of the active, social lifestyle will gravitate towards beaches with watersports facilities, souvenir shops and fast food outlets. In other cases, your only company might be a solitary pelican. There are beaches where local fishermen invite you to try your hand at “pulling seine”. The busiest beaches are concentrated in the Crown Point area. A good rule of thumb is that the further north you venture, the quieter the beaches become.
 

Crown Point
 

• Canoe Bay: a five-minute drive down a dirt road off the Milford Road, this scenic bay has a calm, shallow beach and an air of serenity. Tobago’s calmest and shallowest bathing beach, it is perfect for young families. Rarely crowded, with excellent facilities including bar and beachfront cabanas. Admission is TT$12 (children TT$6, under-fives free).
  
• Pigeon Point: Tobago’s most famous beach. This beach’s sparkling blue waters, fine white sand and thatched-roof jetty (recently removed) have graced many a postcard. Protected by Buccoo Reef, the calm waters make it ideal for families. Several watersports businesses operate here and along the entrance road; some glass-bottom boat tours also start from here. There’s an entrance fee of TT$18.
• Store Bay: a stone’s throw from the airport, this is the heartbeat of Crown Point and one of the most popular (and busy) beaches in Tobago. Glass-bottomed boats leave daily for trips to Buccoo Reef and the Nylon Pool. The area is alive with bars, craft stalls, and the famous crab ’n’ dumpling vendors. It’s also home to some of Tobago’s large hotels. Great for swimming, and snorkelling under coral cliffs at southern end. Excellent craft shopping, food stalls, changing rooms
   

Leeward Coast
 

• Back Bay: a wonderfully secluded small bay between Mount Irvine and Grafton, accessed via a cliffside trail. Good for body surfing, tanning and snorkelling. Due to the isolated nature of the beach, it’s best to go in a group.
• Bloody Bay: secluded, breezy beach with clear blue waters, nothing at all like its name! The name has many potential origins, among the most popular being from a battle fought during colonial times. 
• Buccoo: this narrow fishing beach is the centre of the action for Goat and Crab Races at Easter time. There’s a small beach bar on site.
• Castara Bay: stunning, quiet and unspoilt beach in a friendly fishing village, with calm water and fine golden sand. The centrepiece of a thriving fishing community, you can enjoy the sight of fishermen bringing in their nets (“pulling seine”) or bread baked in old-fashioned dirt ovens. Excellent facilities including a restaurant, stores and craft stalls. Accommodation nearby. A good place to stop for a meal when driving up the Leeward coast.
• Culloden Beach: good snorkelling. Follow the signs to Footprints Eco Resort but drive past the entrance.
• Englishman’s Bay: quiet and secluded crescent-shaped bay, hidden by trees, that is becoming increasingly popular. Its deep, clear waters offer good swimming and snorkelling. Craft shopping and restaurant onsite.
• Grange Beach (aka The Wall): just past the Mt. Irvine Golf Course, this is an ideal beach for swimming. A popular spot for afternoon dips.
• King Peter’s Bay: quiet, calm bay with dark sand. Good snorkelling and spear fishing.
  
• Parlatuvier: fishing village with a tranquil beach and a few snackettes.
• Mt. Irvine: a pair of beaches offering excellent facilities, snorkelling and surfing (in season). Surfers frequent this beach during the winter months, when a perfect right break peels across the reef. The hotel side offers refreshments and beach amenities, and is ideal for swimming and snorkelling. Snorkelling gear, canoes and hobie cats can be hired onsite. Facilities include a bar, restaurant, lifeguards, watersports and tour operations.
  
• Stonehaven Bay: a magnificent, rugged dark-sand beach beach with good facilities. The area is home to some of Tobago’s most luxurious resorts and villas.
• Turtle Beach: as its name suggests, this long, sandy stretch is a retreat for leatherback turtles during the nesting season (March to August). 

Scarborough
 

• Little Rockly Bay: this scenic stretch runs along the old coast road, with crashing waves and stunning Atlantic views. The area has several accommodation options, as well as restaurants and hangouts.
• Bacolet Bay: Used as a location in the 1960s film adaptation of Swiss Family Robinson, this black-sand beach is popular with surfers.
   

Windward Coast
 

• Bacolet Bay: used as a location in the 1960s Swiss Family Robinson film, this black-sand beach is popular with surfers
• Bellevue Bay: accessed off the Belle Garden Bay Road junction, the waters here are calm by windward-side standards
• Granby Point: windswept, dark-sand beach near an old fort. Benches and huts make this a cool place to stop on your way up the Windward coast.
• King’s Bay: picturesque long stretch with calm water and good facilities, including showers, lifeguards and shaded cabanas. A good place to buy fresh fish and witness the tradition of “pulling seine”
• Man O’ War Bay: the main beach near the serene village of Charlotteville, ideal for swimming. The area is well endowed with cottages, guest houses and eateries. The village is the main venue for the Fishermen’s Festival, held in June. Accommodation nearby
• Pirate’s Bay: a stunning beach with crystal-clear water and a fabulous view, accessed via dirt track from the end of the Charlotteville seafront, or by sea. Also accessible via the Leeward coast.  
• Richmond Beach: quiet, pretty beach near a river mouth.
• Speyside: Tobago’s dive capital, with sandy beaches within swimming distance of the reef, which can also be explored by glass-bottomed boat. Speyside and Blue Waters beaches both offer tranquillity and great snorkelling; the offshore reef is within swimming distance. Glass-bottom boat trips to Angel Reef, Goat Island and Little Tobago start here. The village of Speyside has a Tourist Office, good watersports facilities, an excellent range of accommodation and several good restaurants.