John Young
South Africa’s cricketers had two reasons to celebrate last Tuesday. The series was in the bag and the Caribbean Sea had finally produced waves big enough for body surfing.
All of Antigua’s 365 beaches are picture-perfect, even those with silly names like Jolly Beach, venue of the celebratory night swim. Tourists don’t go to Jabberwock Beach, fortunately for the endangered Hawksbill turtle that still swims these waters.
Justin Kemp nearly had a swim far from any kind of beach. The catamaran ferry carrying the team from the dark, volcanic beaches of Montserrat pitched violently and Kemp’s perch outside the rails nearly led to a dunking.
Montserrat is the only part of the British Empire still growing. Lava flow from the Soufriere Hills Volcano has added 100m to the island and ash deposits have further darkened the beaches. The view of the smouldering mountain, the warm welcome and the good cricket pitch make up for any deficiencies on the beach. Beach entertainment in Tobago, the little sister of Trinidad, takes on a new meaning on the Tuesday after Eaaster when the resort of Buccoo becomes the world’s goat racing capital.
Barbados and Antigua are the two most tourist-oriented islands but neither will allow hotels to own beaches. The road into Bridgetown has an assortment of seaside buildings. Unlike Antigua, they are not all tourist resorts. There are plush hotels, a police barracks and a luggage repair shop on Bay Road, but there are many “gaps” where locals can take a “sea bath”.
Sunrise swimmers in Barbados get to see the raking of the beaches. Sunset swimmers, however, sometimes get friendly offers to buy good ganja.
A magistrate recently sentenced a policeman to three years in jail for accepting a 30 dollar bribe so it’s a better idea to stay clean on the clean beaches of Barbados.