Argyle Waterfall
East of neat Glamorgan village, the Windward Road passes the Richmond waterworks on the right before returning to the coast at the tiny village of Belle Garden. Another few kilometres further along Carapuse Bay will take you to the entrance road to the much-visited Argyle Waterfall, the island’s highest waterfall, tumbling 54m out of the greenery into a deep pool.
Just past the entrance, you pay the entrance fee at the Roxborough Estate Visitor Service Co-Operative booth; there’s also a café selling soft drinks and snack. To access the falls, you follow the easily passable cocoa-tree-lined path to a grassy car park. Official guides wearing blue, green or yellow Argyle Waterfall shirts will be waiting here to walk with you to the falls (the guide’s services are included in the entrance fee, although a tip is expected), giving a brief history of the Roxborough Estate and pointing out birds and flowers on the way.
The falls themselves are a pleasant fifteen-minute walk from the car park, and you can hear the water long before you reach it. Argyle is one of Tobago’s most accessible cascades, but to see the best parts you’ll have to exert yourself a little and climb up the right-hand side along steep and sometimes bushy paths. There are three main waterfalls; the second is particularly strong – increased flow during the rainy season (June–Nov) creates a constant fine mist that soon soaks you to the skin. The second tier is great for a dip in a natural jacuzzi, as there are plenty of rocky seats on which to perch and get a pounding shoulder massage. If you’re feeling energetic, climb up even further to the deepest swimming pool – and the smallest section of waterfall – where you can dive or swing in Tarzan-style on a vine. If the climb doesn’t appeal, drive right up to the highest swimming spot.
Flagstaff Hill
The Windward Road strikes inland from Speyside’s eastern outskirts on its way from the Atlantic to the Caribbean coast, climbing steeply upwards through the island’s central spike before plummeting down to the opposite shoreline. Tobago’s most easterly portion of tarmac marks the last sign of “civilization”; northeast of here, the land is completely undeveloped, with no electricity or piped water for the hardy handful of small-scale farmers, bush hunters and fishermen who live here. Just before the descent to the Caribbean, there’s a signposted turn-off for Flagstaff Hill, with the paved road sweeping past some very fancy homes. At the crest of the hill, the road opens up to reveal a wide grassy area dotted with benches and overlooked by a lofty communications tower and mobile phone mast. The wind whistles through the metal and the views are absolutely superlative: Tyrel’s Bay, with Little Tobago and Goat Island to one side, and to the other, Man O’ War Bay, Booby Island, Cambleton Battery and, much further out, Sisters Rocks. This excellent vantage point was once used by British and French soldiers, who used mirrors to warn their colleagues stationed at Cambleton Battery below of an approaching ship.
Granby Point
Just beyond Mount St George, you’ll pass Studley Park Quarry on your left, a busy commercial enterprise that’s steadily eating into the surrounding hillsides. Beyond the unassuming village of Studley Park, home to Tobago’s municipal dump, a right-hand turn onto a short gravel track leads to the sea at Granby Point. The track ends at a car park where you’ll find a small children’s playground. A flight of concrete steps leads off the car park and through some rather fly-infested bush to Fort Granby, originally built on Granby Point by the British in around 1765 to protect Georgetown and briefly occupied by the French between 1781 and 1787. Nothing remains of the original fortification; the cannons are long gone, replaced by pretty gazebos, mown lawns and picnic tables. The views of the sea and nearby Smith’s Island are fantastic, and there is good swimming to be had on either of the beaches which flank the point. Barbados Bay to the right is the more populated; the fishermen’s shacks on the sand make it a good spot to hang out, while the more deserted Pinfold Bay on the other side is a better bet if you fancy sunbathing; neither has any facilities, however, and both are only accessible from Granby Point. There’s a small bar in the car park at the base of the steps, serving drinks and basic meals.
King’s Bay
Turning inland east of Roxborough, the Windward Road swings through the hilltop village of Delaford, making one almighty bend at the outskirts to reveal a breathtaking view of the spiky coconut plantation surrounding the beautiful, deep blue King’s Bay below. The beach here is one of the few along the windward coast to provide changing facilities, and offers gentle waters, reefs and fine dark sand; nonetheless, it’s almost always deserted save for the lifeguards. There are also six attractive gazebos on a strip of grass next to the beach which make good spots for picnicking, and a small café selling snacks and drinks. The profusion of Carib Indian artefacts found here (on display at the Tobago Museum) indicate that King’s Bay was once the site of a large settlement; some suggest that the bay is named after Carib cacique (chief) King Peter, though it’s more likely that that honour goes to King Peter’s Bay on the Caribbean coast.