BARBADOS FOR 40 - SOMETHINGS
For grown-ups who wish to escape the rat race, Barbados offers myriad opportunities for tranquility and energetic entertainment alike, says Cathy Hawker
Time is the ultimate luxury for most 40-somethings. A demanding career, possibly the dual pull of ageing parents and a young family – not to mention the need to keep fit. Add to that, the desire to take in some culture and squeeze in a little socialising before your friends forget you. Among the madness of full-throttle modern life it’s important to take time to enjoy yourself too.
Barbados provides the perfect place to hit the pause button and catch your breath. The island is safe, easy to reach with one direct flight from London and a destination offering up the ideal backdrop to entertain family and friends of all ages. It provides a tick-box list of activities for sports obsessives or the chance to kick back and chill on a blissful beach – “liming” as the locals call it.
If you only have a limited number of weeks’ holiday each year, you need to make them all count. For fortysomething grown-ups who want to roll back the years and party like they’re 20 – but with the added bonus of elegance and style – Barbados hits the spot.
A perfect day in Barbados will always start on the beach. Perhaps a run along the Barbados Boardwalk between Camelot and the buzzy Accra Beach on the south coast, or a bracing blast of surf on Miami Beach before the children arrive with their boogie boards to jump the waves. Or enjoy the ultimate chill of a solitary early morning dip on gentle Gibbes Beach on the west coast.
Barbados has 60 beaches and everyone will have their own favourite. The tranquil, turquoise west coast provides the safest swimming, while beaches on the south coast – Miami, Dover and Worthing – have more waves and also good opportunities for water sports. Crane Beach on the south-east coast consistently wins acclaim for its powdery white sands where crushed coral fragments give off a dusky pink glow at sunset.
The east coast beaches, beautiful Bathsheba for example, are not the place to swim. This is Barbados’ rugged wild coast, with similar soft sands to the west coast but added to by pounding Atlantic waves and unpredictable currents where serious surfers come to test their skills.
It is the best place for a bracing family walk. Also explore windswept Cattlewash Beach, one of the longest on the island, where rock pools provide safe, children-sized natural swimming pools. Then call in at nearby Round House (roundhousebarbados.com) for a late lunch of flying fish or classic Bajan fritters washed down with a fresh basil-mint mojito made with Barbados’ signature Mount Gay rum.
British businessman James Burdess lived in Barbados for 17 years. Now in his 40s and based in London, he still returns regularly for work and pleasure with his wife and three children. He has no doubt about the island’s appeal to energetic 40-somethings.
“Barbados offers so many opportunities for an active outdoors lifestyle,” says Burdess. “There is swimming, boating and fishing and also world-class kite surfing and windsurfing at Silver Sands on the southeast coast. Legendary local man and former Olympian Brian Talma runs a great school there. Then there are polo pitches, golf courses and many places to play tennis. Or if you prefer to watch others playing there is horse racing at The Garrison or cricket at the Kensington Oval.”
Barbados has five 18-hole golf courses and two nine-holes. The Green Monkey at illustrious Sandy Lane is the most prized while the newest, Apes Hill, is now seven years old. It has a delightful jungle atmosphere with monkeys threading themselves cheerfully through the trees and provides a wonderful vantage point with views of both the Caribbean and Atlantic coasts: ideal to take your mind off any wayward drives from the tee.
The island provides plenty of grown-up culture for adults who want entertainment. A highlight on Barbados’ social and cultural calendar is Holders Season, an international performing arts festival held over a fortnight in March each year. Now in its 23rd year, it features theatre, comedy and a range of music and is held at Holders (holdersseason.com), a beautiful classic 17th-century plantation house in five acres.
These plantation houses are a feature of the island, built by English settlers over 300 years ago. Some have been turned into hotels (Cobblers Cove) and many remain as private homes. A few are open to the public and well worth a tour for their historic and architectural interest. St Nicholas Abbey in the north, for example, is one of the last surviving Jacobean houses in the western hemisphere (stnicholasabbey. com). Barbados is one of the few Caribbean islands to have a long established and active National Trust (barbadosnationaltrust.org), determined to preserve the island’s history.
Limegrove (limegrove.com) on the west coast offers more modern pleasures. Billed as a lifestyle centre, it has international designers including Ralph Lauren and Burberry as well as a cinema, nightclub, restaurants and bars and hosts craft fairs and events. The newest addition is Fusion, a rooftop restaurant that opened in late 2015 and immediately added to the buzz around much loved and well-used Limegrove.
As the sun goes down, thoughts will turn to plans for the evening and a visit to one of the island’s standout waterfront restaurants. Classy favourites include Cin Cin by the Sea (cincinbythesea.com) and the understated elegance of The Lone Star (thelonestar.com), both on the west coast.
“The fun thing in Barbados today is that along with the established restaurants there are new ones opening too,” James Burdess adds. “As well as Fusion, the ever-popular Cliff opened its little sister right next door called The Beach Club, a great spot for parties or lunch.”
All that is left is to decide where to stay. Some of the Caribbean’s best-loved and stylish hotels line the evergolden west coast with plenty offering family fun on the south coast too. Many offer facilities including spas and kids clubs.
The range covers super-smart Sandy Lane (sandylane.com), a celebrity-magnet in high season, down to charming bed and breakfasts and guesthouses such as Sea-U-Guest House (seaubarbados.com) on the east coast where hammocks strung between palm trees provide a good view of the surfers on Bathsheba Beach.
For larger groups of families and friends, renting a property can prove an affordable and bonding experience. Flick through the rental properties online at Altman’s (altmanbarbados.com) and you can choose from a cosy apartment right up to a lavish and secluded beachfront villa – yet another example of Barbados’ wondrous variety.
Plantation houses are a feature of the island, built by English settlers over 300 years ago