CAPITAL: Bridgetown

POPULATION: Approximately 278,000

CLIMATE: On average eight to nine hours of sunshine. Temperature between 75 F and 90 F year round.

GEOGRAPHY: A 21 mile x 14 mile Caribbean Island.  The West and South Coasts have calm Caribbean

waters and endless beaches. While the East coast offers breath-taking scenes of the Alantic ocean crashing against the rugged with small pockets of shallow water for bathing

OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: English  with a broad dialect.

CURRENCY: BDS $2  = US $1 approx.

                         GBP £1  =  US $2 approx .                            

DRIVING: A temporary yearly Barbados license costs BDS$10 and is obtainable from car rental agencies and Police Stations.

TIME: GMT-4 hrs. There is no daylight saving time in Barbados.

ELECTRICITY: Electricity in Barbados is 110 volts/50 cycle.

DRESS CODE: Swimsuits are for the beach and it is not acceptable to go shopping or into a restaurant without covering up. In the evening restaurants are casual but elegant and dress shorts are acceptable, except for exclusive dining where dress codes will be stipulated.

RELIGION: The main religion is Anglican, but there are over 100 different nominations.

TRANSPORT: There are  government owned buses and they are blue and yellow with BM on the registration plate..There are privately owned mini buses services that run on specific routes.  All taxis are licensed and should display ZR or ZM on the reg plate. If you prefer it is simple to hire a jeep, luxury executive car, chauffeur driven limousines and helicopters.

MEDICAL SERVICES: There are plenty of doctors and pharmacist available. There is 24 hour emergency medical assistance at the newly opened Sandy crest on the West coast and late night opening at FMH clinic in Bridgtown  

SHOPPING: Shopping ranges from local craft to exclusive international duty-free stores.The heart and soul of shopping in Barbados is Broadstreet in the capital, Bridgetown. Giant department stores and tax-free shops line the street. Several smaller towns, such as Holetown in St. James and Speightstown in St. Peter offer exclusive designer wares. The Sheraton Mall is great for general shopping and  Coconut walk and st Lawerence gap chattel house village,  in Christchurch offer many handicraft and gift shops. 

Tax-free shops – show your passport and ticket at point of purchase, but don't forget to hand in the forms at the airport on departure!

• The United Nations Development Index (1996) ranked Barbados third in terms of quality of life among 160 developing countries worldwide (Hong Kong and Cyprus ranked first and second respectively). Barbados ranked ahead of countries such as Spain, Italy and Ireland.

• Research and surveys show that visitors highlight the friendliness of Barbadians as its greatest and most pleasing asset. This is reflected in the highest repeat visitor factor in the region of 39%

• The people of Barbados have a history of long ingrained Christian principles, a sound and free educational system with a literacy rate of 97%

• Barbados has the third oldest parliament in the world with 358 years of an uninterrupted parliamentary system of government.

• Barbados was the only vacation destination in this Hemisphere with a scheduled Concorde service. One of the retired British Airways concordes now resides at our international airport as an exhibit. 

• The island is just 21 miles long and 14 miles wide!

• We are the only coral island in the region with all white sand beaches.

• Barbados has excellent drinking water filtered by its coralstone foundation.

• Excellent telecommunications.

• The Grantely Adams Airport is an international hub providing direct and connecting flights to hundreds of destinations worldwide

• Consistent cooling North-East tradewinds.

If you would like to enquiry about something specific, please do not hesitate to contact us.