This is another island that didn’t quite manage the cut in the Sunday Times travel section.
TOBAGO
BEST FOR: fans of lovely beaches and lush natural world and those wanting something other than a cookie-cutter Caribbean experience.
It is a beautiful little island (42 x 10 km) with an undeveloped coastline (lots of unspoiled beaches), first-class diving around Speyside, a glorious spine of rainforest, mountains, world-class birding and great Tobagonian food. However, do read the Home Office Travel Advice (gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice) fro trindidad & tobago.
STAY AT:  swanky Magdalena Grand has three pools, a golf PGA course, a spa and all-oceanfront rooms. Virgin Holidays (0844-557 4321, http://www.virginholidays.co.uk) has it from £1,391pp, B&B. Less ritzy, Coco does have a wonderfully relaxed atmosphere, ten acres of tropical gardens and a good restaurant. British Airways (0844-493 0758, ba.com) has it from £1098 B&Bs. The Villas at Stonehaven (001 868 639 0361, stonehavenvillas.com) is a collection of fourteen three-bedroom villas with full kitchens and private pools (plus a larger communal one), bar and restaurant and is a very good choice for families. Tropical Sky (0843 249 5884, tropicalsky.co.uk) has seven nights from £1149pp.
DRINK/EAT AT: “Sunday School” at Buccoo Beach is a late night mélange of steel drums, cheap beer and rum, chicken, fish and lobster stalls. Get there after 11. Local food is a mix of African, Chinese, Indian, European and Latino flavours. Sample it at the Store Bay Beach Facilities at Crown Point, which is a collection of kiosks serving reliable and cheap food – under a fiver for something like a goat curry roti and soda – on a very busy beach near the airport. Or try the red snapper fillets with lime butter or the crab cakes at the busy little Fish Pot (001 868 635 1728, allow £25-30pp) at Pleasant Prospect, Black Rock.
BEST BEACH: You will recognise Pigeon Point Heritage Park (£2 adults, £1 6-12s, under 6 free), with its thatched jetty, from a thousand brochure shots, but that doesn’t stop it being a fabulous stretch of white sand with warm, aquamarine waters and plenty of facilities. Lots of others, but take care on remote ones, such as otherwise beautiful Back Bay.
DIVERSIONS: Immerse yourself in the teeming rainforest and its birds, snakes, lizards and trapdoor spiders with NG &Co Nature Tours (001 868 660 5463, newtongeorge.com, from £39 half-day). Or try a new tour – stand-up paddleboarding through the lagoons and mangrove swamps with Stan Up Paddle Tobago (001 868 681 4741, standuppaddletobago.com, from £38.50)
MORE AT: Trinidad & Tobago Tourist Office (0844 846 0812, gotrinidadandtobago.com).