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DESTINATIONS TOBAGO | CARIBBEAN


Whether clients want a sustainable stay or a spot that’s close to Tobago’s wildlife, nature lovers will find plenty to please at these hotels, says Clare Vooght


giant leatherback turtle hauls herself out of the waves and up across the sand, slowly and


purposefully, under the moonlight. With a few loud, guttural grunts, she uses her strong flippers to dig, scooping the sand away to form angel-wing trenches. She heaves herself around to face the other way, the moonlight reflecting in her eyes, then carries on digging her curved trench. Giant leatherbacks, along with hawksbill


and green turtles, all come to Tobago’s shores to nest, year after year. We’d just arrived in Tobago from London, not long before the sun’s peachy hues seeped below the horizon – and the last thing I’d expected to see while unwinding


with a beer at the hotel’s beach bar was a turtle laying her eggs. Yet it’s just one of many magical nature experiences I’m lucky to have during a blissfully warm week in Tobago – an island that, along with its turtles, is home to plenty more wonderful wildlife besides, including about 260 different bird species. And although it is, of course, impossible to


guarantee wildlife sightings, access to unspoilt nature is a given. Lush, rustic Tobago is much less developed than other Caribbean islands and is home to the oldest forest reserve in the Western Hemisphere (Main Ridge Forest Reserve), while more recently, its northeast area has been designated a Unesco Biosphere Reserve.


² travelweekly.co.uk 7 SEPTEMBER 2023 43


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