West Coast
Barbados’ legendary West Coast typifies the classic Caribbean holiday: warm translucent waters, powdery white-sand beaches and glorious golden sunsets – best appreciated with a cocktail in your hand. Also known as the Platinum Coast, on account of its exclusive beachside residences and opulent hotels frequented by the rich and famous, this stretch of shore includes the luxurious Sandy Lane Hotel – a favourite of many ‘A’ listers – and Royal Westmoreland, home to a host of other celebrities.
Since all beaches are public in Barbados, you can share the sand here with the rich and the famous, even if can’t lounge on the same monogrammed beach towels.
Holetown and Speightstown are the main population centres. Holetown, Barbados’ oldest settlement, has a more modern feel, with a vibrant nightlife scene and is better place to shop, both for supplies and souvenirs. It also offers some of the best snorkelling, just north of town, in the Folkestone Marine Reserve, which actually extends as far south as Sandy Lane.
Buses regularly ply the West Coast road from Bridgetown (Princess Alice Terminal) to Holetown and Speightstown (6am–midnight, earlier on Sundays), so it’s easy to beach hop by bus.
The coast road is also well served with petrol stations.