About Barbados

Submerse in the diverse
The Land With stunning, white sand beaches, a temperate climate, breathtaking natural beauty and facilities to cater for virtually any land or sea-based sport, Barbados is the ultimate year-round sporting destination.

Located to the east of the Caribbean Sea, Barbados is part of the Lesser Antilles island chain. The island’s rich heritage is reflected in its delightful colonial charm. Picturesque fishing villages, quaint rum shops and bright chattel houses give the island its vibrant character.

Diversity is a noticeable theme on the island. The flat coastal regions make way for the rolling hills of the central highlands. The white sanded beaches and calm turquoise waters of the west coast are a short hop from the ocean-rolling spectre of the rugged east coast.

An inspirational location for any sporting tour.

Sport, sport, sport
The Bajans are hugely passionate about sport and whatever the challenge for your tour, you’ll be guaranteed big smiles but competitive action from your hosts. Beautiful cricket grounds tucked away in the central highlands, hockey pitches over looking the Caribbean Sea, rugby matches taking place as horses gallop around the pitch on race days at the Garrison Savannah – whatever your tour, the experience will live long in the memory.



Its Persons
Like all Caribbean islands, the local Bajans are charming and friendly, welcoming all visitors with open arms. The diversification of the island is again reflected in its persons.

90% of Bajans are descendents of the African slave labourers who worked on the sugar plantations. The remainder of the population includes groups of Europeans – Anglo and Euro-Bajans, local Chinese – the Bajan Chiney, Bajan Hindus from India and Muslims from Bangladesh. There are also many people of Creole and Hispanic descent.

A lesson in de lingo
Like much of the culture of Barbados, the Bajan dialect is a delightful mixture of European English and African languages. They have a wonderful way with words, as you may have read above - ‘persons’ instead of ‘people’. A crash course in Bajan dialect might be useful before you go!

Bajans love to say ‘we’ – instead of ‘tell us’ it’s ‘tell we’. Instead of ‘our house’ – ‘ we house.’ There are no ‘–ed’ endings for past actions - ‘it finish’, ‘it cook’. When using numbers there is no ‘s’ on the noun because the number itself shows the plurality – ‘3 apple’, ‘5 beer’.

Bajans rarely use the word ‘very’. Instead of ‘It’s a very pretty morning’, they might say, ‘De mornin’ pretty, pretty, pretty!’ A speeding car might result in a Bajan saying ‘de car went ‘long fast, fast, fast!’ or ‘de car went ‘long real FAST!’ with great emphasis on the word ‘fast’

Other Bajan expressions and their meaning:

• Sea-bath – Swimming
• Liming – Hanging around, like a lime on a tree
• The sea en’ got no back door – Once you get into something you can’t always get back out
• Trouble don’ set up like rain – You can’t always see trouble coming
• If greedy wait, hot will cool – Wait patiently and you’ll get what you want
• Tek time en’ laziness – Much can be achieved by taking one’s time
• Pretty-pretty things does fool li’l children – Superficial things impress superficial and naïve people
• Wha sweet in goat mouth does burn in he bam bam – what seems sweet and good can have very negative, painful consequences.

The sun is shining, the weather is sweet…
Barbados is said to have the best climate of all the Caribbean islands – tropical with constant trade winds. The average year round temperature is 30C with an average of nine hours sunshine per day - perfect conditions to cater for virtually any sport. There is a wet season from June to December but rain falls periodically throughout the year.

Well, I never…
During the 1800s Barbados was said to be one of the healthiest countries in the world. o The first records of rum and grapefruit are said to come from Barbados. o During her stay on the island in 1970, Nina Simone has an affair with well known prime minister and dedicated her song, A Single Woman, to him. Barbados is nicknamed ‘Little England’.

Key facts
Capital: Bridgetown
Flying time: 8 hours
Time zone: GMT – 4
Currency: Bajan dollar/US dollar
Language: English
Water: Safe from the tap
Electricity: 110v 50AC
Vaccination: None needed
Departure tax: $50 US