Things to Do in Tobago Cays

Snorkel the Horseshoe Reef

Drop in at the eastern edge and you'll drift over brain coral the size of cars while schools of blue tang part around you like you're Moses. The current does the work. You just float above green turtles that munch sea grass, occasionally kicking up clouds of sand that taste faintly of iodine.

Camp on Petit Tabac

This palm-speckled speck is where Jack Sparrow was marooned, and at low tide you can walk the entire circumference in flip-flops. Bring bug spray. The sandflies come out at dusk and they love ankles more than rum.

Kiteboard between the cays

The steady easterlies blow 15-20 knots most of the year, turning the lagoon into a giant butter-smooth runway. Launch from the windward side of Petit Bateau and you'll hear the kite lines hum like bass strings while you skip over starfish in three feet of water.

Feed stingrays at the sandbar

Wade knee-deep off Jamesby at 11 a.m. when the charter crews clean their catch. Southern stingrays glide in like grey pancakes to nibble fish guts. Their wings brush your calves, rough as wet velvet.

Sunset drift on a stand-up paddleboard

Push off from Petit Rameau just as the sun flattens into a red disc. The water turns mercury-silver and you can hear parrotfish crunch coral beneath your board. If the sky's clear, green flash sightings happen more often than locals admit.

On your own yacht - book a bareboat out of Grenada or Saint Vincent and sleep on the hook under star scatter

Union Island waterfront guesthouses in Clifton - simple rooms where you'll hear the halyard clink against masts all night

Mayreau's Saltwhistle Bay anchorage - sleep aboard a charter, then walk the salt-crusted path to Robert Righteous for rum at sunrise

Petit St Vincent resort, twenty minutes north - private cottages where butlers raise a yellow flag when you want service

Beach camp on Petit Tabac with park permission - bring a tent that handles 25-knot gusts and sand that gets into everything

Day-trip only - base yourself on Union Island and water-taxi in each morning if you need a real shower