Our Prediction ABV Will Go The Way Of PBC Gathers Steam ...

Abandoned Four Seasons Hotel Project Burns

The Slow-Selling/No-Selling "One Sandy Lane" (formerly The Sands) Just Hit The Jackpot

"Superstar Rihanna has splashed out $22million on a beachside home on the Caribbean island of Barbados - after renting the same property last year.  The 25-year-old singer has bought a home at the luxurious One Sandy Lane resort on the island where she was born and raised.  Rihanna always returns to her native Barbados for Christmas and last year revealed she rented the same five-bed condo and planned on her mother Monica Braithwaite and younger brother Rajad joining her."

Read more ...

Pared Down Plans For Royal Westmoreland's Expansion Inching Forward ...Maybe?

"Efforts are on to salvage a $150 million luxury golf, residential and hotel project which has been waiting in the wings for more than three years.

Barbados TODAY has learnt that high-level talks involving senior members of the Freundel Stuart Administration and Royal Westmoreland are underway in an attempt to get that St. James luxury development’s expansion onto the nearby Lancaster Plantation property it owns underway.

Discussions have already been held with Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler, and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Senator Darcy Boyce is chairing a working group on the matter.

The major sticking point continues to be the granting of approval for the construction of a $4.4 million reservoir Royal Westmoreland officials said was necessary for the 18 hole championship golf course, hotel and other residences.

These developments were confirmed today by the Royal Westmoreland Construction Director, Ian Putley, who was cautiously optimistic about the likelihood a positive outcome within the coming months.

“We are currently in discussion with a working group led by Senator Darcy Boyce who is trying to get the confirmation of compliance with Town & Country Development Planning conditions letter,” the official told Barbados TODAY..."

Read more: Barbados Today

Holetown Waterfront Improvement Project

"... work on the Holetown Waterfront Improvement Project is progressing smoothly.

The project began this year following the completion of another Coastal Risk Assessment Management Programme at Heron Bay, which began last October to run for six weeks.

That section of the programme focussed on coastal enhancement, while addressing sea level rise, coastal erosion, climate change, as well as addressing storm surge and winter swells. It saw the construction of a series of groynes and elements of offshore work being done there.

Now, the Coastal Zone Management Unit has focused its attention on Holetown to stabilise the shoreline and creating a hazard resilient area that will involve the construction of a boardwalk as well as other offshore and shoreline features.

A source said the work there was on schedule and going great, and there was evidence today of workmen removing boulders from the much eroded Holetown beach where once existed one of the most attractive beaches on the west coast.

Once the project is completed, there should be an expanse of beach comparable to what would have existed in the 1980s, along with much needed and attractive improvements."

Source: Barbados Today

The Whales are back!

Read more: Barbados TravelAdvisor • View topic - The Whales are back!

Plans afoot to turn Holetown into a cruise visitor focal point

"Government wants to turn Holetown into a major cruise tourism hub.  Well-informed sources told Barbados TODAY that ever since August 2009, the Ministry of Tourism had been advancing a series of recommendations to drive cruise passengers into the historic St. James area.  It's all part of the plan to ease long-standing beach congestion, and suspected unlawful activity, in the Payne's Bay area.
The intention, sources noted, was to have cruisers driven into the area by taxis and other forms of transportation, and that there would be major cooperation between the National Conservation Commission, police, businesses and other stakeholders.  "It is considered that the beach area and urban infrastructure at Holetown has the capacity to accommodate a larger number of cruise ship visitors, the associated vehicular traffic movement and areas for parking," a Ministry of Tourism brief on the matter stated.
"All relevant Government ministries and departments should work collectively to put in place the appropriate environment at Holetown to accommodate an influx of cruise ship passengers in terms of beach chair vending, jet ski vending, safe swimming areas, provision for parking, signage for the regulation of vehicular and pedestrian movement and adequate policing," it added.  The ministry also said taxi drivers had an important role to play and should therefore "be approached with a view to having them redirect their cruise ship passengers to Holetown".  "Businesses in Holetown should be approached to encourage them to upgrade their facilities to accommodate greater cruise passenger visitation," it noted.  
Additionally, the suggestion was for the NCC to undertake a study "to determine the number of chairs, which a vendor should be licensed to rent per standard measured area of beach".  "This will assist in regulating beach chair vending at all beaches," the Ministry of Tourism document stated. Officials were concerned about the image behaviour in the area of Paynes Bay and now closed Blue Monkey Restaurant.  They said at the time that part of the problem was "an overwhelming number of cruise ship passengers" were being ferried there by taxi drivers, who were offered "monetary and in-kind incentives".  Sources pointed out that just last year several agencies were called to be a meeting hosted by Minister of Tourism Richard Sealy "to urgently examine some complaints brought to his attention about a particular location, namely, Paynes Bay.""

Source: Barbados Today article "Holetown a hub"

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West Coast Unprepared And Among Most Tsunami Vulnerable In Barbados

"While one coastal expert rated the island's tsunami readiness at "six out of ten", the head of disaster management disclosed there were "significant gaps" in the mechanism.

Deputy Director of the Coastal Zone Management Unit, Dr. Lorna Inniss gave preparedness for a tsunami a grade of six out of ten today in an interview with Barbados TODAY, but said preparations for the devastating natural disaster were continuing in earnest.

She noted that in another week there would be a simulation exercise involving disaster preparedness agencies and other stakeholders tracking such an exercise from the time the warning is received until after impact.

Director of the Department of Emergency Management Judy Thomas disclosed there was a significant "gap" in readiness -- a mass notification system to warn Barbadians of impending danger, remained unresolved.

She noted that the country still had "a long way to go in terms of putting down the mass notification warning mechanisms because we want to use the cellular networks and the putting down of sirens or the reactivation of the police siren system to give public warnings", she said

"Those are the last things that we have to do to ensure that we have our mass notification system, but the work has started and the work is ongoing. We have not abandoned the thought of getting our country aware of the tsunamis and what they can do, and receiving the warnings out of the Pacific and then having those warnings given to the Barbadian community."

Thomas said a major challenge was that Barbados no longer had a working national siren system, and beyond that there was no money "for a mass siren system at this stage".

And as hoteliers go about putting their disaster mitigation plans in place, there is a call from one the key spokespersons for Barbados' vital tourism sector to have a greater communication system and a proper education programme.

Executive Vice-President of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association, Sue Springer, said there should be a tsunami plan in place. "If there is a plan that's put in place, and with everything that's happening all around us, this level of expenditure to communicate that plan must take priority. We've had a couple of earthquakes tossed around us; we're watching it all over. Who says that we're sitting here so privileged?

"Education and communication must happen so that when the [warning] siren goes, we know and we tell everybody get out of wherever you are and head for the hills and not motorised either cause it will make no difference," she said.

Springer noted that 90 per cent of the hospitality sector was on the coastlines and a storm surge would be devastating to the sector.

That apart, the Ministry of Education was forging ahead with its evacuation plans, said Acting Chief Education officer Laurie King, in a separate interview today. He said that the Ministry was not waiting for an impending disaster to implement an evacuation plan and had carried out, and will continue to do, drills at schools situated along the coastlines and those in low lying areas.

There were also evacuation routes planned to take people to higher ground.

The rebuilding process could be easier for some than others, said President of the General Insurance Association of Barbados, Michael Holder. He explained that once policy holders had the necessary insurance in place, it should not present a problem.

He noted that normally where there was hurricane and earthquake coverage, there was also coverage for tsunamis.

But several Barbadians would be caught off-guard should a tsunami roll in. Some of the most vulnerable areas across the nation still have no real evacuation plans and no idea of what should be done in the event of such a natural disaster. Barbados TODAY paid a visit to a number of these coastal communities including Six Men's, St. Peter, Holetown, St. James, Half Moon Fort, St. Lucy and the message was the same neighbourhood after neighbourhood - no one was ready, no one was prepared.

Some blamed a failure on the part of the relevant authorities to adequately educate the public despite the launch of a public education and awareness week for the Tsunami And Coastal Hazards Warning System Project in March, last year. Others felt there was little or nothing they could do to secure themselves or their families even if armed with the necessary information."

Source: "Significant gaps remain in the island's readiness for a tsunami"

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Another Morning Breaks On The West Coast

From the webcam on Mullins Beach
(click link on the left to access)

See also: Save Mullins Bay

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6 Days In Holetown & Barbados: Bloggings of a New Yorker with a camera and a sense of humour

Follow link below:

Barbados TravelAdvisor • View topic - Interesting photos in this blog..

Limegrove Still Not Quite Ready For Primetime

If you were hoping to shop Limegrove this Christmas for that special luxury item for that special someone, you may be a little disappointed with the official opening of the much ballyhooed Limegrove Lifestyle Center in Holetown.  Not only were Louis Vutton, Hermes, Gucci, Calvin Klein, Armani and other high-end stores completely missing, but of the only two stores ready for the big opening day, one – Hallmark – is so ubiquitous that most discerning shoppers would consider it a no-name brand.  One couldn’t help wondering whether they were forced to open their doors in the still largely incomplete mall just to get rid of their stock of seasonal Christmas cards.
 
Limegrove is a work in progress, and that’s putting it mildly.  It’s more like an active construction site than somewhere you would want to shop.  Intrepid early adopter shoppers should be warned to leave their high heels at home and not to forget their hard hats.  Oh, and they should also bone-up and their dump truck-dodging skills.  I don’t know what’s the rush to open this unfinished product now when clearly it will miss both the Christmas shopping season and the entire key 2010-2011 winter tourist season.  Opening it now, if one can call it an "opening," only serves to remind everyone that Limegrove, like much of the tourism-related development on the west coast, is still in the throes of the deepest international financial recession since the Great Depression.

This recession has devastated tourism development up and down the west coast – projects upon which Limegrove was banking.  After celebrating (in the media) finally paying off its creditors last month, government is today admitting that they really have no firm date for the restart of the Four Seasons hotel and villa project.  Banyan Tree/Black Bess is looking for a buyer, St. Peter’s Bay reportedly has only sold two of its fifty-seven condos (to principals of the company), and Portico and others stand empty.  And, despite the Government of Barbados’ upbeat predictions and pronouncements the future remains bleak.  I mean, just who do they think they are fooling when the shots are really being called in Washington and even there - Feds Chairman Ben Bernanke, like the weather-forecasting ground hog, is predicting five more months years of winter recession.

We certainly wish Limegrove and it’s visionary developer, Paul Altman, all the best in these tough economic times.  If he is still holding on to it when the storm is over, he/we should have an excellent product on par with any of the high-end shopping centers we have seen in North America.  We loved the water feature and the gas lamps.  It’s position in the heart of Holetown across from First and Second Streets cements the area as the leader in tourism entertainment and shopping in Barbados and much of the Caribbean.  There still remains some concerns about flooding in Holetown (in spite of Mr. Altman’s boasting otherwise) and the wider ecological damage to the mangrove upon which it is built and what that portends for the future, but like most the rest of the world, I suppose we are leaving those headaches for future generations.  Right now the spotlight is on Limegrove’s coming out “party.”

We ran into Paul last night showing his wife around his latest dream coming to fruition, and he reminded us that he started out bagging groceries at Elmer’s Supermarket in Speightstown.  Well, Elmer Jordan is in the crypt underneath St. Peter’s Parish Church and a generation has grown up since his supermarket closed its doors.  The lesson for us all and Limegrove is that there is always a fine line between the crypt and success.

Click here for a few shots we took of Limegrove last night.

Click here to read some of our earlier posts on Limegrove.

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Condomania Seizes Batts Rock Beach

"The footprint for another major tourism project on the West Coast is being cleared, and persons associated with the project say it's a clear sign of investor confidence returning to the island.

The project, which planning consultant Richard Gill, noted involves "mega bucks", is being undertaken by British investors at Batts Rock on the St. James/St. Michael border of Highway One.

Today heavy duty equipment from C.O. Williams Construction was being used to prepare the site, while workmen from another operation were clearing brush and pruning trees in the heavily wooded area, a stone's throw away from the popular picnic spot and the multi-million dollar Four Seasons Hotel project on which construction is expected to resume next month.  Gill explained the "outline permission" had already been given by the Town and Country Planning Department, but that certain works had to be completed before final plans were submitted to the department.

These preliminary works will involve major changes to the access to the popular picnic spot, with a new vehicular access, equipped with appropriate sidewalks, being constructed from Highway One in the area of Walmer Lodge Apartments.  Additionally, a new footpath will be built from an area close to the existing entrance to Batts Rock at Prospect, and travel along the cliff edge and down to the beach.  Gill explained that this would take on the style of a boardwalk, would be well lit and landscaped, and guarantee resident a continuous access, not just to the beach, but the comfort of enjoying the ocean view from the hilltop. Only when these two accesses are completed, the engineer said, would the developer close the existing entrance start to push ahead with the main project, which would involve the construction of no fewer than 20 luxury condos and related facilities.

He explained that while they had broad permission from Town Planning for the project, specific plans now had to be completed. He noted too that the outline plan spoke to a number of four-storey buildings, but even that was still to be finalised.  "What I can say to you is that we are dealing with investors who have been coming to Barbados annually for many years and who understand and appreciate how Barbadians feel about the beach and access to it," Gill said.  "That's why they took the position from the very start that the project would be set back from the cliff and that Barbadians would continue to have unhindered access to the cliff and the beach. This project will be a win-win situation for Barbados. These people are totally committed to Barbados."

The developers, he added, would also be making a small portion of land beside the National Conservation Commission's children's play park available so it can enhance the facility.  Gill noted too that while getting all the necessary permissions had not gone as fast as anticipated, the developers understood fully the desire of authorities to ensure everything was done correctly, but their desire to push ahead was a sign of confidence in the country.  He said too he believed that now that the Four Seasons project was resuming, Barbados would see a pick up in development activity.  And while Gill could not say what the price tag on the project was, noting only that it involved "mega bucks", one neighbour said her family had been approached by the developer about two years ago to sell their plot for over a million dollars.

"We don't have any problem with the project, but we like it here so we declined," said Sheila Layne, who has lived at Walmer Lodge for more than 60 years, adding that a "Mr. Simon" had spoken to them about his plan to proceed with the project as recently as two weeks ago."


Source: Barbados Today 12/08/10

Wayne Rooney/Royal Westmoreland Hit By Storm

"I think you may be missing the point a little. I am sure those visitors totally accepted that the hurricane was an act of God. But I was also staying on the Royal Wesmoreland at that time and the service we received from the Royal Westmoreland management was certainly not first class! They displayed a total lack of care to their guests - the arrogance was appalling! For three days following the storm they did not even offer candles or water! The hotels on the West Coast seemed to be doing a fine job so I am not sure what was happening at the Royal Westmoreland. They obviously are not interested in fee-paying guests. We are not rich - just hard working people who had saved hard to afford a holiday..."

Click here to continue reading...

They Built Their Fancy Golf & Country Club Under A Rubbish Dump - Now Sandy Lane Is Complaining About The Smell. Well, Duh!

“Just below the communities of Arch Hall
and Bennetts in St. Thomas, the Sandy Lane
Country Club today added its voice to the
concerns about the recent worsening of the stench from
the Mangrove Pond Landfill.

Golf and country club manager, Elvis Medford told
Barbados TODAY this afternoon that they too have
been concerned by what they believe is an intensification of
the stench of garbage from the dump.

“Basically what we find is that there are some days when
the smell from the dump is a lot stronger, like for example
when there is a heavy turn over of garbage at the landfill.
We are directly down wind and being directly down wind
the smell is very strong. We have a restaurant and it can be
very annoying at time when it is full of people.”

The manager explained that they have had to employ
their people skills in explaining to their customers, some
of whom are very wealthy visitors, about the smells they
encounter while lunching there.

“It is never easy having to explain the smell from day
to day. What we try to do is, see what we can do to
explain the smell to them. So we try to use more pleasant
fragrances in cleaning and mopping some areas. We put
some sweet smelling stuff in the actual water so it takes
away some of the foul odor that comes from the dump,”
said Medford, adding that they have also seen an increase in
flies at the restaurant as well.

He noted though that he could not lay the blame for the
flies totally at the foot of the dump, but that they at the
club have had to look at their own practices and to boost
what they were doing in terms of keeping their surfaces
clean.

“We can’t blame it all on the landfill because some of it
is also pretty much your own hygiene ... if you have dirty
surfaces they will tend to attract more flies. So we have to
be on top of that, and naturally in the rainy time you see
much more flies around. As a result we have to clean much
more often.”

Similar to the residents, the manager said Sandy Lane’s
management has made its position and challenges with
regard to the smell known to the managers of the dump,
the Sanitation Service Authority (SSA). He acknowledged
that the residents in neighbouring communities would feel
the effects of the dump, which he believes is getting bigger.

“It is not just a problem for us but the Arch Hall
community and in some cases the smell itself is experienced
much further down wind and when you look at it, the
landfill has actually grown taller.

“It is the first time in my experience that I have seen
such. It is just getting taller and taller, so obviously it is
getting bigger. Then sometimes you get the odd fires and
that is not a good experience either. So there is heavy
smoke and sometimes it can burn for days. So I am sure
that there are residents, some of whom are asthmatics or
whatever the case may be, who would have concerns that
they would have expressed and made known.”

Among the other challenges, he said, was that the dump
trucks which use the Bennetts Road as a route to the
landfill, sometimes left rubbish behind in the roads, as some
of them travel at terrific speeds. He said they have had to
have the grounds staff clearing the road of refuse that fell
from some of the trucks. According to Medford, it was in
their interest not to leave it on the road, which runs
between the golf course and is the direct route to the
country club where customers come to eat.

Additionally, he said, another growing concern was that
of seepage and “what happens when it goes into the water
course [as] that too could have some bearing on our product.””

Source: Barbados Today 080910 p.30

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Something The Government Of Barbados Should Think About For What's Left Of The West Coast

"After years of welcoming well-heeled tourists from around the world with open arms, one of Tuscany's smartest, most discreet beach resorts is in revolt against outsiders, wealthy or not.

Forte dei Marmi – the traditional summer retreat for Italian captains of industry, writers and film stars – is changing the law to try to stop locals fleeing because of house prices driven out of control by incoming Russian millionaires. The town's combative mayor, Umberto Buratti, is reserving space next to luxury villas with sea views for new homes that will only be sold to locally-born buyers or long-term residents. Other Italian resorts with similar problems will monitor the experiment with interest.

"We want to safeguard the character of the town instead of seeing it turn into a place with no ties, as anonymous as a motorway service station," Buratti said.

"Not everyone here is rich or Russian," added local councillor Michele Molino. "You look at the designer shops round here and we could be in London."

Despite the economic crisis that has kept some smart Muscovites at home, local estate agents expect up to 500 Russian families to descend this summer, following in the footsteps of super-rich visitors such as Roman Abramovich and splashing out up to €100,000 at a time to rent villas for the season – albeit a snip compared with the €20m reportedly paid out to buy the biggest villas nestling behind bougainvilleas between the broad beaches and Apuan Alps.

"Five million is the norm now, but if you go just a few miles inland prices drop by two thirds, which is where the locals have disappeared to," said a local estate agent, Umberto Giannecchini..."

Read more:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/04/italian-resort-forte-dei-marmi-tourists

Limegrove Comes Under Heavy Environmental And Ecological Criticism

Limegrove under construction on the mangrove swamp in Holetown

(Click here for larger image)

Limegrove, the upmarket shopping, entertainment and residential development in the heart of Holetown has come under heavy environmental and ecological criticism from a professor of Marine Ecology and Fisheries at the local branch of the University of The West Indies. Professor Hazel Oxenford described Limegrove and another big tourism development in the works for another mangrove swamp site on the south coast of the island as having "the potential to devastate Barbados' already struggling coral reef population." She explained that mangroves protect coral reefs by holding back,slowing down and absorbing rainfall runoff which unchecked destroys coral reefs and animal life which live on them.

She did not mince words when she zeroed in on Limegrove: "You see in Holetown right now that ridiculous building complex which is going up right in the swamp. What is it going to do? They are turning [the swamp] into concrete to make the water run off fast, really fast water takes with it soil, garbage, anything. Say 'no' to that kind of building."

In the above photosynth you can see on the landside of the bridge where they have built a new concrete canal to channel the water through the swamp area. Recently in the local media the developer was boasting that with the new canals together with the new catchment pond miles inland at Farmers in St. Thomas built to facilitate irrigation of the new golf course at Apes Hill, they have finally solved the flooding problem in Holetown. Professor Oxenford and others believe such thinking is shortsighted, for with the reefs gone the coastline is more exposed to storms and erosion. And, with the beaches gone, so will the tourists, supposedly for whom these monstrosities are being conceived.

Click here to read original Barbados Today article.

Click here for more context to the mangrove swamp in Holetown.

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Lights Out At The Fairmont Royal Pavilion

"Luxury group Fairmont Hotels will plunge guests into darkness at the end of the month, when they turn out the lights at all 60 of their properties to raise awareness about climate change.

On 27 March at 8.30pm, Fairmont Hotels across the globe will switch off in support of 'Earth Hour', the world's largest climate change initiative.

Brian Richardson, Vice President of Brand Marketing & Communications at Fairmont Hotels, said:  "It furthers our ongoing support of environmental awareness and demonstrates energy conservation can go beyond just turning out the lights for an hour - it's about promoting a low carbon future."

To mark the occasion, a number of special green-themed events will also take place at the hotels. Those booking a stay at the Fairmont Hotel Vier Jahreszeitin in Hamburg can experience the ambience of a romantic candle-lit dinner at one of its award-winning restaurants, while guests at the Fairmont Monte Carlo in Monaco may choose to feast on a specially-prepared organic sushi menu, made entirely from sustainable produce harvested from the hotel's surrounding gardens.

For something a little more energetic, guests at the Fairmont Turnsberry Isle in southern Florida can take part in a three-mile run to raise money for a local environmental charity, before enjoying a complimentary glow-in-the-dark cocktail at the hotel's exclusive Lobby Lounge."

For more information, visit www.fairmont.com.
Source: http://www.cntraveller.com/news/2010/march/lights-out-for-fairmont-hotels-%281%29

Construction On Banyan Tree/Black Bess Golf & Villa Project Causing Local Headache

"CONSTRUCTION ON THE SITE of the $600 million Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts Ltd at Black Bess, St Peter, has taken a toll on 82-year-old Gellispie Springer.
Springer, who lives below the site at Upper Rock Dundo, St James, said her life has been disrupted by falling boulders and mould, loud noises from bulldozers and now a mass of water.
Whenever it rains, water gushes down the cliff above her and floods around her house and the road.
"If you see how the water rush down from there and flood my whole yard; I had to say Lord have mercy!" the elderly woman cried as she pointed to the cliff which is about 50 to 60 feet high..."

Click here for entire NationNews.com article.

Who knew that this project was restarted? Last we heard this project was shuttered and/or abandoned because of the recession. Be that as it may, the headache it is causing this old lady is another episode in a long string of problems construction on luxury tourism developments on or near the west coast have caused for locals and the environment. Some people in the area still blame a massive flood and rushing water which swept through the village of Weston, St. James several years ago washing one chattel house out to sea and drowning its occupant in the process, on construction related issues at the Royal Westmoreland golf and villa project. There has been no end of headaches for locals with the Apes Hill/Waterhall project involving everything from dry water taps to pushing people off lands. And, of course, the nightmare created in Road View/Mullins by the St. Peter's Bay condo project has been well documented on the Mullins Bay Blog. In all of these and other cases Government has stood aside with its arms folded and mouth shut - it too a victim and sometimes facilitator of the greed that currently grips Barbados by the throat.

New West Coast Boardwalk Already Buried In Sand And Rocks

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

Without much fanfare the new West Coast Boardwalk in Holetown was opened to the public recently, but that did not stop Mother Nature from "welcoming it into the fold" by way of some northerly swells which battered the west coast for several days last week burying large swaths of the concrete, steel and granite boulder structure in sand and large rocks.  As the photos above taken yesterday illustrate it is already forcing patrons to gingerly climb on top of curbs and otherwise find ways to bypass the obstructions.  We have seen this sort of thing with the South Coast Boardwalk already, so here we go again...

 

Click image to enlarge

First, however, let me highlight what I think are some of the positive things about the new boardwalk.  It is a fantastic place to watch our famous west coast sunsets.  Ample sitting has been provided particularly on the section between the old Holetown Chefette and Beachlands for locals and visitors alike to relax and take in those magical moments as the sun goes down in the evening.  In doing so this boardwalk has reopened for all to enjoy a huge section of our coastline which was lost to beach erosion and other impediments like seawalls and rock revetments, etc.  Even though there are no wooden slats like those on the south coast boardwalk already many people are utilizing the new concrete path for walking, jogging and otherwise getting in or staying in shape.  Theoretically, one should now be able to walk on boardwalk or sandy beach from the area around Discovery Bay Hotel in Holetown in the north clear through to Sandy Lane and Paynes Bay in the south.  Whether that is yet practical is another matter.

    

Click image to enlarge

For that reason some have already labeled it "the boardwalk from nowhere to nowhere."  It starts in the north near Zaccios Restaurant (formerly Cocomos), in my view destroying the little sandy beach that was already there, and continues south to the old Chefette where the paved walkway stops and the sandy beach that was there widened and lengthend.  It starts back behind the old Regent Hotel and ends in a pool of water at Beachlands.  Most of it is really a granite rock revetment which gives the whole project the look and feel of a cliff walk - something you would expect in St. Lucy on the north coast or parts of St. Philip and Christ Church in the southeast of the island.

 

Beachlands End 

Click image to enlarge

 

Sandy Beach in front old Chefette and former Regent Hotel

Click image to enlarge

I think the jury is going to be out a long time deciding whether this boardwalk is a good thing or bad thing.  It does present an ugly straight line and rocky front when viewed from the ocean with very little sandy beach gained for all the effort.  For those of us who remember the sandy beach that existed for almost the entire length of this project the question therefore is:  Where is the beach?

New Cave Attraction?

 

Apes Hill Cave

"Move over, Harrison's Cave. Here is Barbados' best kept modern-day secret. Welcome to Apes Hill cave, on the border of St James and St Andrew..."

Click here for entire NationNews.com story.