Entertainment

In the middle of summer, the Heritage Festival gives islanders a chance to celebrate their history and traditions. Put on by islanders for islanders, it offers a spectacular taste of life here with theatre, processions and even an old-fashioned wedding.

For something completely different, don’t miss the races – goats and crab. Yes, jockeys run behind their goats in the high-speed races in Scarborough. Spectators study form and place bets on their favourites, who never end up in the cooking pot but instead undergo tough training routines and return to race year after year. Much more leisurely are the crab races, sometimes taking over an hour for the crustaceans to reach the finishing line of the 10ft-long course. Plenty of time to wait for the winner to come home, then.

Wherever you go on Tobago, the palm trees sway to the sounds of soca and calypso music. Sunday School in Buccoo village is the place to try your dance moves with the islanders. The massive beach party spills out onto the surrounding streets and sound systems belt out the music into the small hours. In April, an annual three-day jazz festival brings A-list performers; Sting, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, Natalie Cole, Earth, Wind & Fire and Elton John have been recent headliners.

Eating out

Expect to find a unique blend of African, Indian, Chinese, European and Latin American flavours. Kingfish, mahi mahi, cassava, callaloo, sweet potatoes and yet more curried crab and dumpling, are on just about every menu. You’ll also find curry and rotis, brought to the island by Indian workers in the 19th century.

Stag is the local beer of choice, cheap and available everywhere. But potent rum punches give the night a kick-start.

Diving

Tobago’s waters – where underwater visibility regularly reaches 130ft to 150 ft – offer as much variety as Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. They have every known species of hard coral and most soft corals as well. Highlights include the world’s largest brain corals – almost 13ft high and more than 16ft wide.

The best dive spots are at Speyside on the windward coast, where reef and underwater life includes manta rays, sharks and dolphins.

Charlotteville and the Sisters Rocks on the leeward side, and the Shallows at Crown Point, are also recommended. The busiest and most accessible dive spot is at Buccoo Reef. Barracuda and grouper dart among the coral and colourful shoals of angel, parrot and butterfly fish.

Shopping

Look for local handicrafts such as shell jewellery and carved driftwood among the souvenir shops at Scarborough and market stalls at Store Bay. Or buy beautiful batik sarongs on the sand at Turtle Beach.

Foodies will want to take home local spices, sauces, jams and honeys. If the rhythm of Caribbean life is too good to leave behind, buy CDs of calypso, soca and reggae favourites.

History

Christopher Columbus landed

here more than 500 years ago, after which Dutch, English and French navies turned the island into a battle zone that changed hands 31 times before it was finally given to the British in 1814. The British were determined to keep it: at Fort King George, looking out over the Atlantic coastline, the cannons could hit targets three miles out to sea.

In the the pretty town of Plymouth, Tobago’s first European settlement, the big attraction is Fort James, the island’s oldest stockade. Built in 1811 by the British, its coral-stone walls and four cannons look out over Turtle Beach.

Here, too, is a reminder of Tobago’s history of slavery – the double grave of 23-year-old mother Betty Stiven and her child. The headstone inscription reads: “What was remarkable of her; she was a mother without knowing it, and a wife without letting her husband know it, except by her kind indulgences to him.”

Betty, believed to be the African maid and lover of Alex Stiven, a Dutch planter, died in childbirth, and this cryptic memorial was left in her honour by the white man whose relationship with a black slave had to remain a secret forever.

What would Daniel Defoe have made of that? Whether it’s truth or legend, it’s widely believed that Tobago was the model for his novel Robinson Crusoe.