Castara Beach

Castara is what travellers picture when they imagine the old Caribbean, a fishing village wrapped around two palm backed bays where the boats still go out at dawn and the catch still comes in on the sand. Set on the slow leeward coast between the southwest and Englishmans Bay, it has a soft main beach, Big Bay, with fishing boats drawn up and a fish market shed at one end, and a smaller, quieter cove, Little Bay, a short walk over the headland. On the right morning you may still see the community hauling a seine net in together, a tradition that has all but vanished elsewhere, and in season turtles come ashore here to nest.

The honest read is that Castara is a living village rather than a resort, and that is precisely its value. The facilities are low key, a scatter of simple bars and fish kitchens, guesthouses up the hillside and not much else, so you come for the rhythm and the genuineness, not for polish or watersports. The water is usually calm and clear and swims and snorkels well, especially over at Little Bay and along the rocks, but there is no lifeguard and the leeward sea still has its days, so you read the water as you would anywhere wild. The reward is a beach that still belongs to its community.

For a slow traveller this is the place to settle for a few days rather than tick off in an afternoon. Swim early in Big Bay before the day warms, wander to Little Bay with a mask for the reef fish, walk inland to the Castara waterfall, and end the day with a rum at a village bar as the boats return and the light goes gold. Buy your fish lunch from the people who caught it, keep your distance from any nesting turtles and follow a local guide for the evening watches, and tread softly through the village. Castara gives its best to visitors who treat it as a community first and a beach second.