"Beautiful beaches and friendly fishing village with some tourist facilities for independent travellers.

The sea is emerald and clear, good for swimming and excellent snorkelling at Little Bay. We saw many varieties of tropical fish and intact corals. You can watch or even help the local fishermen bring in their daily catch with seine nets. Frigate birds circling in the skies. Lots of free roaming chicken families, kittens and well behaved village dogs, mango trees, large lizards, tropical birds and bats.

We found Castara a perfect base to explore Tobago, away from the more commercialised Crown Point area. Lovely rustic small guest houses with great views over the bay, some family-style restaurants, three bars, ATM, supermarket, some tour operators for Jungle hikes, boat tours and car hire. Not far from Englishman’s Bay, Argyle Waterfall and Rainforest Reserve for excursions.

Castara’s laidback locals are used to tourists and embrace them with patience and kindness. We always felt very safe and looked after by everyone. The village has so far managed a great balance between local way of life and tourism. There’s even recycling throughout town! During the high season there are evening events like drumming party at the Boathouse, BBQ nights, or trips to Sunday School party in Bucco. Local fishermen happily take you on boat trips or fishing, and you can buy some of their catch to cook for dinner. Check out the Roti place for lunch and fab ice coffee at Cheenos. Wed and Sat some local ladies bake bread in a traditional clay oven near the fish market. If you want to sample Caribbean village life and have a quiet beach holiday surrounded by beautiful nature and wildlife - Castara is perfect!"

Daniela Herrmann

"Castara Bay

Tobago

Ruckus and racism Castara bay around bar and beach areas

My own fault really as I never really listened. An old man in Scarborough had said to me I might not like Castara to stay as I did not smoke. I said I did not have to hang next to smokers. But now, I see what he meant. Weed smokers are everywhere in this village, and there is no avoiding the smell. Then there are the constant bonfires which hang in the air like a blanket of stinking smog. So bad for the lungs and environment. Nature reserve?
Anyways, I moved from Bon accord to Castara as I thought I would move away from all the bars, clubs, and hullabaloo.
I stayed in fishing villages worldwide, and they were always peaceful and so charming.
Castara is not a usual fishing village. One of the noisiest and litter strewn places I have stayed in the Caribbean. Thumping music all day and night, from the cars wrecklessly whizzing by, to the cars parked outside my apartment. All these sounds are even worse than the bar below me. The racing cars keep driving away my birds. The vibration and their banging bass sounds had scared off all my rare birds, and the usual ones.
Next to the bus stop is a heap of smashed glass, smashed toilet, kitchen sink, fridge/freezer, and all sorts just fly tipped. The garbage absolutely reeks whilst standing waiting for buses that seldom turn up at all. Broken glass from smashed bottles, glass and plastic bottles, take away food boxes, and all sort of garbage just hurled onto the street and bushes by (always locals, not tourists), which is unreal as I have seen even professional workers do this often, and not just the uneducated person.
Then going to what could of been a lovely hike to waterfall. Bottles, (mainly glass), some smashed, plastic bottles, polystyrene boxes, and several Hennesy bottles, were on my path to get there. The Hennesy bottles were both by the waterfall itself.
Hiking everywhere around Tobago glass bottles everywhere. Litter and broken glass on the path, in the bushes, and hanging in bags from branches and makeshift hooks.
No one cares about the animals at all. Upon entering Castara, there are many dumped fridges/white goods on the road near the hill.
Everyday on the beach locals clean a portion of beach in several sections. Within a few hours, beach is filled with bottles and garbage like no one cleaned it. This is daily.
I have stayed just over two weeks. Multiple times daily, all day and every day, bonfires are smoked sending noxious fumes around the beach, whilst swimming, and even reaching my balcony.
Then I had guests in the property next door to me. The guests chain smoked the strongest weed for the entire duration of their long stay on their balcony. The wind always the entire day, would blow the smoke to my balcony and bathroom which would then make my entire habitation stink. The bar downstairs always had frequent weed smokers which would also drift upstairs.
One day I awoke really early one morning to see the largest American cockroaches on the wooden panel next to my window. One was just under five inches long and nearly two inches wide. I froze in fear as it was the largest I had ever seen in my life. I had cockroaches in the last property I stayed at in Bon Accord, but small ones. Both properties were wooden, and they come out of the cracks in the wooden buildings. Seen small ones after b"

Pied Piper

"Book your dirt oven baked bread... pumpkin bread, whole wheat, white bread, hops bread. Oh and they bake tarts, coconut drops and paymee too! Every Saturday & Wednesday. Call 388-9865. Buen provecho❣"

Gennike Mayers