Your Ultimate Guide To Barbados

Bathsheba

If you're looking for a Barbados location offering diversity, why not visit the area of Bathsheba. Legend states that Bathsheba, the wife of King David, bathed in milk to keep her skin attractive and soft. As the mineral rich cascading white surf in this area of Barbados' East Coast is said to resemble Bathsheba's bath in appearance and health benefits, this nearby small village on Barbados' East Coast was thereby named Bathsheba.  

Bathsheba is first and foremost the main fishing village in the parish of St. Joseph in Barbados and home to a small community of several thousand fishing folk and their families. Bathsheba is approximately fourteen (14) miles up the east coast from Barbados' capital, Bridgetown. A wild and picturesque area, Bathsheba is probably one of the most notorious landmarks on the East Coast of Barbados.

The mystical village of Bathsheba itself has several quaint churches, while other nearby attractions include the Barbados Flower Forest, the tropical Andromeda Botanical Gardens, picturesque Tent Bay and the Cotton Tower Signal Station which is famous for its inspiring scenery and panoramic views of Barbados' Scotland District. Here you will also find Mount Hillaby which, at 340 metres above sea level, is the highest elevation in Barbados.

The ferocious Atlantic waves at this particularly Barbados beach can be very dangerous and rip tides and undertows mean it is definitely not safe enough for swimming. Bathsheba beach is scattered with large coral boulders that broke away from ancient coral reefs thousands of years ago and bathing in the inshore Bathsheba Pools carved out of this ancient coral - sometimes referred to as Barbados' answer to a hot tub - makes an invigorating alternative.  The Rum Punch parties in the Bathsheba pools are another unique experience in Barbados:

'There's naught, no doubt, so much the spirit calms as rum and true religion' - Lord Byron 

The magnificent Atlantic rolling waves found here do however make Bathsheba Beach one of Barbados' or even the Caribbean's best surfing locations. Local and international surfers flock here to either catch the best waves or to take part in the annual surfing championships regularly held at Barbados' 'Soup Bowl', a colloquially named natural phenomenon with beautiful white sands, huge boulders, rock formations and exhilarating breakers. Board hire, lessons and surfing tours can be found at Zed's Surfing Adventures (http://www.barbadossurfholidays.com/) or at Barbados Surf Trips (http://www.surfbarbados.com/). Experienced surfers hoping to visit the Soup Bowl in Barbados to experience the powerful waves can get up-to-date surf reports at http://www.yosurfer.com/. 

For those interested in geology, the Scotland district in Barbados contains thirty (30) to fifty (50) million years old rocks - clay stones, sand and siltstones, volcanic ash layers, chalk, and radiolarite, as well as some odd rock formations such as mineral concretions that resemble huge cannon balls. Bathsheba therefore not only offers visitors to Barbados unique sea, beach, sky and flora photo opportunities but also views of Bathsheba Rock, the imposing offshore boulder that rises from the Atlantic Ocean. 

If you would like to stay for a while in this beautify area of Barbados, the coastline in Bathsheba is dotted with seaside cottages and guest houses. If you just want a day out, there are plenty of local rum shops and restaurants to sample and the popular Round House Inn Restaurant & Bar (http://www.roundhousebarbados.com/home.htm) is two minutes walk from the Soup Bowl and has live entertainment Sunday lunchtimes. There is also a small fish market in Bathsheba where you can watch multi-coloured fishing boats coming in and out of the bay and purchase your freshly caught Barbados fish to cook and eat later.