Photo Credit: Beach View Barbados
The first chapter in the story of modern day Barbados opens on a virgin western shore in 1625, where the first British boots touched the coral island in the area now known as Holetown. At the time – and with no stretch of the imagination – King James I of England lent his name to the area, and for several years it would be referred to as Jamestown.
Later, but still centuries ago from the present, the name would change to Holetown, which was the doing of the seafaring class that navigated to Jamestown on transatlantic trade business with their destination set as the safe harbour called The Hole.
Just as it was then, Holetown remains an active commercial district, offering duty free shopping at popular stops including the Limegrove Lifestyle Centre and local favourite Cave Shepherd which is a mainstay on the shopping landscape. A lesson in the island’s grassroots is brought through vendors selling their craft in and around the endearing chattel house village, whose architecture is also an ode to Barbados’ heritage. But, for the more discerning crowd, strewn all across the historic town are restaurants including the fanciful Tides Restaurant, cafes, lounges including the Drift, the Red Door nightclub and bars that are ready to take you off your feet and entertain you.
Besides the man made wonders of the town, the natural path through Holetown leads right back to the water’s edge, where a boardwalk now beckons romantics and sea-gazers to its perch along the pristine coast before they take their plunge-of-passage to an authentic Barbadian platinum coast experience.
