Your Ultimate Guide To Barbados

Brighton Beach

Brighton Beach is situated on the South West Coast of Barbados, in the parish of St. Michael, with Freshwater Bay, Paradise Beach and Batts Rock Bay to the north, and the adjoining Brandon's Beach, the capital of Barbados, Bridgetown, and Bridgetown Harbour to the south. It is difficult to talk about Brighton Beach without mentioning Brandon's Beach, as merging into each other they appear to be one continuous beach, and although only at the northern end of the bay where Brighton Beach is located, Brandon's Beach is considered to be the start of Barbados' West Coast beaches.

Being the only beach in Barbados within walking distance of Bridgetown's Cruise Terminal, and the home of the Cockspur Beach Club (formerly the Malibu Visitor Centre and Beach Club), Brighton Beach in Barbados is a popular destination for passengers spending the day in Barbados after disembarking from one of the many luxury cruise ships that dock briefly at Bridgetown on a daily basis. Brighton Beach can get very busy with cruise ship passengers if there are several ships calling at Barbados, so look in the local papers for news of how many ships are expected if you want a quieter day at Brighton Beach.

The Cockspur Beach Club serves as both a rum distillery and a leisure centre. Tourists can tour the distillery and sample a cocktail, spend some time on the beautiful beach, have a go at some of the water sports on offer, such as wave runners, banana boats, water-skiing, windsurfing, Hobie Cat rides or kayaking, or join a beach activity such as volleyball, football or paddle tennis. Visitors can also rent beach chairs, visit nearby shops, or just relax and watch the world go by and ships sailing in and out of the Harbour. Brighton Beach in Barbados is a safe place to spend a day, with security personnel patrolling the beach and a lifeguard on duty. 

Due to its proximity to so many constructions and attractions, Brighton Beach in Barbados is a fairly lively, commercial beach. With a rum distillery and electricity plant in close proximity, and cranes and other large wharf side equipment in the distance, this beach may not be the idyllic tropical paradise you were hoping for. 

However, if you can endure the somewhat urbanized surrounding landscape, Brighton Beach is worth visiting. Unlike its UK shingle armoured counterpart, Brighton Beach, also in Barbados, it is an endless expanse of superbly soft, white sand, and the normally calm Caribbean Sea at Brighton's Beach in Barbados is an ever changing hue of blue, from the deepest inky ultramarine to a clear pale turquoise.

Small waves, minimal areas of reef and rocks, and rare occurrences of undertow mean the sea at Brighton Beach is suitable for swimming and relatively hazard free. However, many visitors to this beach tend to wear beach shoes in the water as there are often quite a few sea urchins lurking in some of the areas near the reefs.

There is an electricity plant at the northern end of Brighton Beach in Barbados, and Bajans frequently bathe there in the colloquially named 'hot pot', an inlet of hot water expelled from one of the plant's run-off pipes. Think before you jump in here though, as the strong currents and undertow created by the force of water coming out of the pipe can make this seemingly alluring area of water exceedingly dangerous.