And now the rest of the Caribbean islands on our cruise. We walked round all of them in the overpowering heat but it was worth it and cruise ship cabins are air conditioned.

Tortola

Tortola is the largest of the British Virgin Islands. Once it was a hideaway for pirates but now its a tourist paradise. We spent our time at Cane Garden Bay doing nothing –   well drinking cocktails and paddling. It really is paradise.

 

St Maarten

We didn’t have long here but we chose our most adventurous excursion of the cruise. Helmet trekking involves walking along the sea floor wearing a huge diving helmet. The air pressure keeps the water below your mouth but you have to be careful to stay very upright. We were taken out in a small boat. You have to wear wet shoes but don’t need wet-suits. Walking down the ladder at the side of the boat is pretty scary. You just keep going down under the water until you reach the bottom. There are rails to guide you around the carefully placed objects on the sea floor and fish and sea creatures swim nearby. Apart from being very frightening for someone not at home in water this was a fantastic excursion.

Antigua

Another small island. This one is famous for sugar plantations and rum. Here we just walked round in the heat enjoying the sights.

 

Saint Vincent

Wallilabou bay on St Vincent was used for the pirates of the Caribbean movies. The island has the oldest botanical garden in the tropics, started in 1765 by the governor.

 

Saint Lucia

Another completely different island. We had a very full day here seeing rain forest and mountains. The Pitons are the must see sight, Gros Piton and Petit Piton. They were once worshipped as gods by the early inhabitants. We also saw the sulphur springs

 

Trinidad

The only island we didn’t enjoy.  Our trip to a mangrove swamp was great with amazing bird life. But later we walked around  Port of Spain and we just didn’t feel safe there.  This may have been over cautious behaviour by the ships crew but we were marshalled around and told not to leave the few central streets they were patrolling. We had a brief walk around and then went back to the ship for tea.

So our cruise finished where we started, back in Barbados. Every island was different, except for the heat on every one, we did lots of excursions from our cruise ship and had a fantastic time. I really hope the cruise industry can recover soon.