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The sea here can be rough and wild, the waves apparently unaware that Barbados is in their way, blocking their path across the Atlantic Ocean. Round the tip on the eastern side there are some lovely shingle coves to explore. Some are picnic spots but many are deserted.
Sights
Animal Flower Cave
North Point, St Lucy. Daily 0900-1600. US$5 adults, US$2.50 children.
This is one of the many caverns created by the pounding waves of the Atlantic Ocean, with its mouth above the sea when it is calm. The ’animals’ are sea anemones but there are now so few of them the cave should be renamed. There are various ’shapes’ in the rock which are pointed out to you and a pool at the mouth of the cave where you can swim looking out to sea. The view from North Point over the cliffs and ledges is dramatic and well worth the trip even if (or particularly when) the cave is shut because of high seas. Note that the floor of the cave is very stony and can be slippery. There is a bar, toilets and souvenir shops outside.
The Spout
Heading clockwise from Animal Flower Cave, follow the rocky coast and turn into the semi-abandoned North Point Surf Resort (park outside the wall to avoid being charged for parking). From the dilapidated resort, which has an enormous empty swimming pool, you can walk around The Spout, which has lots of blow holes and a small, rather dangerous beach. Good walks along the cliffs can be enjoyed, for instance from River Bay to Little Bay along the Antilles Flat, but beware as there is no shade and there are shooting parties during the season.
Little Bay
From the coast several back roads go through the attractive communities of Spring Garden and St Clements. Then at Pie Corner you can rejoin the coast for Little Bay, which is particularly impressive during the winter months with the swell breaking over the coral outcrops and lots of blowholes. Note the completely circular hole on the north edge of the bay. If you climb through this natural archway in the cliff, there is a big, calm pool, just deep enough to swim between the cliffs, and a line of rock on which the enormous waves break and send up a wall of spray. Wear shoes to stop your feet getting cut to pieces on the sharp rock.
Paul’s Point
Paul’s Point is a popular picnic area and very scenic. You get a good view of Gay’s Cove below, with its shingle beach (where it is safe to swim in the pools at low tide) and beyond it the 240-ft high Pico Teneriffe on top of a steeply sloping cliff. The white cliffs are oceanic rocks consisting of myriad tiny white shells or microscopic sea creatures. The whole of the coast to Bathsheba is visible and it is easy to see the erosion taking place in Corben’s Bay. Indeed you get an excellent impression of the Scotland District, see below, where the coral limestone has been eroded. The whole of this coast between North and Ragged Points has been zoned, no further development will be allowed along the seafront. If the ground looks wet park at the millwall by the Cove Stud Farm as it is easy to get bogged down.
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