Wild Tobago

Castara occupies Tobago’s sweet spot for visitors. Joanne Husain looks at the village model for tourism demonstrated at Castara Retreats. All photos by Joanne Husain   The lodges look like a dream carved into the hillside above a small, authentic Caribbean fishing village: wooden cabins tucked among trees with the sea shimmering below. Beneath its postcard-perfect serenity, Castara Retreats is quietly but ambitiously reshaping what tourism can mean to operators and to visitors.   The accommodations at Castara Retreats perched on the hillside. Photo by Joanne Husain   Castara Retreats has long been known as a boutique eco-lodge, having opened its first rustic accommodation 25 years ago. Today, the property features 17 self-catering units, the Caribbean Kitchen restaurant, and a wellness space connected by footpaths that wind through tropical gardens. Accommodations have names such as Birdsong, Coasthanger, and the aptly named Hideaway, where I stayed for a few days...

Tobago’s tourism industry has been in the doldrums, but one west coast village is bucking the trend with a lively trade in visitors. What is it doing right? This report by Pat Ganase first appeared in the Contact magazine (September 2018) and is reproduced courtesy the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce.  Castara sells itself as the “real deal” in Tobago: an authentic Caribbean fishing village. But its property owners claim they don’t attend trade shows; they don’t advertise. How is it doing such good business? Is word of mouth so powerful? Is there some other way to reach a global market? If you search booking.com for accommodation in Castara Tobago, you’ll find 15 to 17 properties. SeaScape on Heavenly Bay, The Naturalist Beach Resort, Cottage Mango and Castara Retreats have recent rave reviews. On TripAdvisor, the top-rated accommodations in Castara are Castara Retreats, AliBaba’s Sea Breeze Apartments and Carpe Diem Villa with “seaviews from the bed...

There’s a quiet revolution taking place in Tobago tourism. It is not on the busy south-west of the island where big hotels straddle the beaches. But if you follow the winding Northside Road to the village home of a Prime Minister and President of the twin-island republic, you’ll discover the transformation of a fishing village into the quintessential Tobago adventure destination. Castara clings to the forested western slopes of the Main Ridge reserve and looks into the turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea. Here indeed is Paradise. Pat Ganase considers Castara. WaveSong at Heavenly Bay, Coast Hanger, Shady Mango, Sea Steps, Dolphin, Hummingbird, Breadfruit Grove, Sunset, Birdsong or Fiddle Tree! Ali Baba's Sea Breeze is tucked up a secret slope overlooking the quiet Castara cove.The names of cottages call to you and sing invitations to this vacation village on the west coast of Tobago facing the Caribbean Sea. Homegrown developments in Castara over the last 25 years have b...