St Lawrence Holidays

St Lawrence is the biggest personality on Barbados’ beach-fringed south coast. It gets its swagger from St Lawrence Gap, a parade of rum shacks, Bajan restaurants, and reggae-fuelled dancehalls where the island comes to party. But for those who prefer to relax, St Lawrence’s tropical beaches are exactly what you’d want from this sun-kissed Caribbean retreat.

For a place to doze in the sun, road test a few watersports, or just tuck in to freshly netted seafood, Dover Beach ticks all the boxes. This busy, 800-metre stretch of talc-white sand is five minutes’ walk from St Lawrence, and backs on to Dover playing field where local cricketers can be seen batting at the crease. Facing the town is St Lawrence Bay, or Little Bay, a thin ribbon of sand skirted by a wooden boardwalk. The water is knee-deep, meaning you can wade out to the reef that’s teeming with tropical fish.

Most of the town’s highlights are squeezed into a thin stretch of road called St Lawrence Gap, shortened to the Gap. There’s an international line-up of restaurants, from fast food chains to no-frills local eateries, and Chattel House Shopping Village, modelled on a sugar plantation village. And when night falls, the Gap really kicks up a gear as revellers come from across the island to party in its rum shacks and nightclubs.

Just 10 minutes’ drive away is Bridgetown, Barbados’ dapper capital. History buffs make a beeline for the Garrison in the south-east of town. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is crammed with British army buildings like the old military prison, now the Barbados Museum. If sport and drinking is more your thing, there’s the Kensington Oval cricket ground and the Mount Gay rum distillery – it’s the oldest of its kind in the world.